Medical How shouldI answer "Why not MD/PhD"?

[tantacles]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Hi (again),

My first post was long enough, so I thought I would move this question here.

As someone with a relatively heavier background in research (+I originally prepared to go to graduate school), I can anticipate that I will receive interview questions on my reasons for not applying for an MD/PhD - I would really appreciate feedback on whether any of these reasons are misguided/inadequate:

1) After doing wet-lab for 3.5 years, I became interested in computational research in my last semester of college, but without any deep computational research experience before the 2021 application cycle, I did not have the confidence to commit 6-8 years to such a program + wasn't worth the risk of waiting one more year to apply (already taking 1 gap year)

2) I've been told that because computational research moves rather quickly, by the time I finish my residency + subspecialty training (I want to specialize in pediatric or adult congenital cardiology), what I learned/studied during my Ph.D. would not be as relevant for when I would finally start research

3) Instead of doing an MD/Ph.D., I was planning on getting an M.S. in applied math/computational engineering after completing my residency + subspecialty training so that I could be better posed to identify and address clinically-relevant questions

4) I'm not quite sure if I want to pursue an 80/20 research/clinic split - I know that I want research to be an integral part of my career, so my imagined plans are in the spectrum of being an independent investor to being a collaborator for another lab rather than assuming the role of a traditional "physician-scientist"


Also, if asked in interviews about career goals, is it okay for me to not know how much of a research focus I want to have? (E.g. 80/20 split, 75/5/15 split (the 5% being teaching), etc.)


Thank you!

Generally, these questions are not rocket science. A simple answer like, "I wanted to switch over my focus on caring for patients" or "I enjoy my research, and I realized that clinical medicine also held a huge draw for me.

Every kind of answer you can think of is acceptable as long as you can explain that you want to focus on clinically caring for patients as that is what you will be doing in an MD program.

I think most interviewers will not focus on this question in a confrontational way, and what you're likely to get is something along the lines of, "You have an exceptional research background. Do you have any plans on continuing to do research throughout medical school and after medical school?" And in this context, it would be completely acceptable to talk about potentially getting a master's degree after you finish.

That being said, I understand that you are interested in adult or pediatric congenital cardiology, and I would let that be an interest rather than letting that define your discussion. To put it extremely plainly, if you are asked, "do you have any interests in any fields?" say something along the lines of, "I have an interest in cardiology" rather than, "I want to do congenital cardiology in adults and children." Acknowledging the uncertainty of your final choice of career path can make you seem wiser and telegraphs to admissions committees that you are keeping an open mind without explicitly having to say it.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

You should anticipate that question just as you should with TMAY. I want to hear your reasons and where your passion lies and how that path does not get you there. We might ask you to think critically on your decision just as we would any decision you have made of significance. If what you wrote is truthful, great.

 

[lord999]

I'm going to ask a specific question: computational biology, bioinformatics, biomedical engineering/devices, or clinical informatics? There's differences between the fields, vast ones. There are certain expectations for a background for a couple of the medical tech fields.

2. ?? Not sure who you heard this from. Yes, the tech changes, but underlying problem solving process doesn't. There's plenty of the above who are productive in their 50s and older who were on UNIX systems.

Parenthetical comment: I would not accept you to an MSTP in this field or any if you stated Assumption 2 to me in that way for lack of sufficient work and interest. You should not be told, you should know.

 

[lord999]

Also, if you want to get an MS in Biomath or the CS majors, you need at minimum ODE and PDE as well as Linear Algebra. It is highly preferable that you have Real Analysis (Math) or an advanced Data Structures (temporal, graphs, and numerical optimization) class as one of your undergraduate courses.

As far as career split, there's no way to determine a preference before you start your postdoctoral. Most of the medical researchers in computational who practice tend for a 30/30/40 (clinical, research and paper writing, and research administration meaning grants) out of a 60 hour workweek. You spend more time in research administration than even in research.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

I also want to comment: why you don't want to pursue your master's degree now? Get that out of the way because you won't have as much time as you think you would if you graduated with your MD (and definitely not MD/PhD). It also sets your potential med school application apart since not that many med students will hold a master's degree in that field.

 

[lord999]

Hi,

Thank you for all of these responses!



I am (currently) interested in advancing patient-specific computational models for planning surgical outcomes in congenital heart disease patients. I majored in biomedical engineering and have taken upper math classes in diff eq/linear algebra, and it was through a couple of computational modeling courses that I became interested in this field in the first place.

Thank you for your feedback on Assumption 2. This was a new opinion/line of thought that I learned from talking to an MSTP on SDN that I realize I shouldn't have been so quick to accept. I would say that assumptions 1) and 4) are truthfully my defining (and original reasons). Would you say that these two together would be a reasonable justification that adcoms would accept? (Along with my reasoning that, regardless of my research path, I am certain that I want to be directly involved in patient care and thus am pursuing the MD?)

Ok, you do have the background for this. Depending on how you want to contribute, either take a numerical methods class for your final year or analysis. If you are in HST, then drop in either the DBMI and the BIG seminars to get a taste of both sides. Also, If you happen to be a local site for NSQIP, I would consider working in that particular laboratory as it has data and other environmental details that you may be interested in.

 

[Neuronix]

I interview and my recommendation is to just say that you're still interested in research but not sure you want to commit to a majority research career as expected by MSTPs. That's a perfectly reasonable answer.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Fair question! When I realized my computational interests in my last semester of college, I was at a bit of a different crossroads in deciding whether to stick with what I had more experience in vs. exploring a completely different research field. Although the computational field fascinated me/loved learning about it in class, I honestly did not feel confident in my suitability without hands-on experience. Thus, instead of spending money + 1-2 years on a master's degree before med school and running that risk, I decided to use my gap year (this year) to work in a computational modeling lab as a post-bac research assistant.

So far, I am enjoying the work and do not regret exploring these new research interests. Because of this, I have actually started to become more torn between my current plan of getting an MS after residency and internally transferring into an MSTP program (provided that I get accepted to a school and, of course, if that is even possible for the specific school that I get into). I am curious how adcoms would respond to this?

Do your homework on the departments and schools willing to support you. That should narrow down your choices. Id also suggest applying to Carle Illinois.