Sobriquet said:
within MD/PhD programs? In medicine it seems like there are unfortunately hierarchies of prestige (surgery and derm perhaps being at the top, family practice and peds at the bottom). And I'm just wondering--for no other reason than curiousity--whether that's true in science PhD programs. Like is one type of science PhD considered more presitigious or impressive than another? I'm talking about typical PhD programs that MD/PhDs might matriculate into, like chemistry, biomed engineering, neuroscience, etc.
To my knowledge, there is no hierarchy of prestige between various programs. At least this was my perception as I was doing the graduate phase.
To all you rising mudphudders out there, there are several issues at hand when picking a PhD department in which you will be doing your thesis work:
(1) First and foremost, your PhD department will be the department your thesis adviser is affiliated with. If your mentor is only in one department, that is most likely gonna be the department that grants you your PhD...read no further.
(2) If your mentor has multiple departmental affiliations, then you have your pick. Then certain factors come into play:
a) Field of interest - if genetics is your main topic of interest, perhaps join a genetics department. if biochemistry is your shindig, pick biochem. if you want something generic, pick a broad department like cellular/molecular biology. if you love brains, neurons, and systems neuro, pick the neuroscience department. etc etc etc.
b) Coursework requirements - this is one frequently overlooked aspect. MD/PhD students are under quite a bit of time pressure to finish the PhD phase as quickly and efficiently as possible. Now, this should not be at the expense of learning how to do science. If it takes 6+ years to learn how to do solid science, so be it. But, I would caution against joining a department where there is so much coursework that this would just delay your progress. Remember, the far majority of learning science comes from doing benchwork, conducting and troubleshooting experiments, and proposing/thinking through projects and NOT by sitting for hours in a classroom.
c) Qualifying exams - most departments make you defend a proposal in a field ENTIRELY DIFFERENT from your thesis field. However, some departments out there are allowing students to do a prelim proposal on a field related to their thesis or even on their thesis project. Opponents to this approach will claim that allowing a student to do this will rob him/her of his/her opportunity to think up an original and scientific research proposal. I disagree with this. Your thesis proposal is THE most important proposal during your graduate career. This should be the focus from DAY ONE especially for us mudphudders.
In summary, I don't think there is much of a hierarchy. You're not gonna see biochem researchers diss the neuroscience researchers in the same way that the surgeons piss all over the internal medicine docs. The world of biomedical research is so broad that we must all appreciate one anothers' expertise. As for picking a department, I strongly advise you to pick the path of least resistance...having to do your thesis research and defense is stress enough...no need to add to that.
