Dropping the MD?

[Lil Mick]

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Has anyone had experience with this--dropping the MD part and enrolling PhD-only? Or known someone who went through that?

I'm sort of at my wits end with life satisfaction since starting medical school and giving up a lot of my research, and I'm at an impasse with the medical administration...

If you know anyone, please PM me.

 

[Ombret]

One of my classmates did this, early in her PhD training; she just was doing great in the lab and saw her career going that way; it has been a great decision for her; but she had actually gone to the lab after MS1, so she only burned one year in med school.

I think you are finding out first hand why people find it hard to excel at both clinical and research in their career. If you are really back in the clinics and have sunk in enough time to get this demoralized, then presumably you have just one year left. Just grit your teeth and finish, your MD may come in handy later and you have already mostly earned it. If your research is super hot and is cooling down while you rot away on rotations, maybe your PI can find you a tech or grad student to help (see Neuronix's recent post on back to the clinics advice).

 

[Neuronix]

I could just never imagine myself doing a PhD only given the funding and job market these days. I think that's why the number of students going to PhD only is very, very small these days while it used to be more common when funding was better in the past. If you're okay with the uncertainty in the PhD job market, then go for it.

If not, keep doing research in fourth year and match in a research-oriented pathology program. That expands your career options tremendously over PhD only IMO.

 

[bucks2010]

I'm admittedly jaded, but I would never wish upon anyone the long-hour, low-wage, no-end-in-sight toil that post-docs go through. It's definitely not for everyone. Best of luck to you if you can stomach it.

 

[Ombret]

Maybe the OP had a really kickass experience in grad school. I would think that it would be especially frustrating to come out of a really productive PhD and get tossed back into the clinics as an ordinary citizen. However the moral hazard is obvious--your luck may not hold up in your next lab/project/phase.

 

[Lil Mick]

Not back in the clinics yet--wouldn't be for a while. My PhD isn't in biology, so I'm sure the MD wouldn't hurt, but it might not be necessary for my research and teaching. I've had nothing but positive experiences with several groups with several different areas of study in my field, and my research has been going amazingly well... I think I'm going to try to stick it out and see where it goes from here. Thanks, everyone!

 

[eforest]

I''d try to stick it out with the MD too. I want to do research ultimately but realistically the economy sucks and the MD makes you more competitive for research careers AND it gives you SO many options. I have just an MD but would have gone for MD PhD had I gotten my #*$ together earlier.

 

[Shifty B]

I agree that you should stick it out. At the very least, talk to a postdoc who has been looking for a faculty job for a couple of years before quitting.

 

[Neuronix]

I was very happy in the research world my first two years of grad school. See if you still feel as enamored with research at the end of your PhD before seriously considering any changes like this.

 

[solitude]

Has anyone had experience with this--dropping the MD part and enrolling PhD-only? Or known someone who went through that?

I'm sort of at my wits end with life satisfaction since starting medical school and giving up a lot of my research, and I'm at an impasse with the medical administration...

If you know anyone, please PM me.

in the many years our program has been around, only one student has done this, back in the 80s. It worked out really well for him--he's NAS, HHMI, etc now. But times have changed a lot since then. I want to agree with everybody else but on the other hand, there are times when you have to take risks. If you really hate medicine and have no intention of ever doing a residency, I vote quit med school. I see Neuronix's point though: why not do MS2, then see if you still feel the same way when your PhD is over?

 

[miscalculated]

Has anyone had experience with this--dropping the MD part and enrolling PhD-only? Or known someone who went through that?

I'm sort of at my wits end with life satisfaction since starting medical school and giving up a lot of my research, and I'm at an impasse with the medical administration...

If you know anyone, please PM me.

I cannot hammer this point home hard enough: DO NOT drop the MD part. I considered doing this, but am so glad I made it thru the crazy experience that is medical school.

If you drop the MD, you will kick yourself for years to come.