Hello SDN!
New account for anonymity.
So my ultimate goal is to get into a strong academic research focused residency in order to one day have a career in academic medicine. My medical school offers a no extra time (so still only 4 years) M.D./M.S. degree where course work is taken over the summers it sounds like an amazing program that is very open to helping work with me in balancing the two commitments. The only thing is it costs 10-12,000$.
So I was wondering if this was a smart financial decision in order to help me reach my goals for academic research heavy residency and in future job prospects in academic medicine.
Thanks in advance for your responses,
TI-83
What classes would you be taking? Things like Stats and Research Methods would probably be worthwhile, but random Biology stuff might not be.
If it was basic science, I would say just focus on research. But I think the yearlong masters or certificate programs in clinical and translational science can be valuable in getting more comfortable with biostats, epidemiology, study designs, regulatory and other issues related to those types of research. So if the coursework and research covered that, then it might be worth it for you. So you'll really need to evaluate what those courses you'd take will cover. On the other hand, there are residency/fellowship programs that will provide these opportunities to you without the added cost. You could just try to do a project now and go that route later in your training.
I want to address this whole issue of scam degree programs being offered as an adjunct to traditional medical school curriculum. Its that time of year when the new M1s are at orientation and being sold this non-sense by their admistrators.
The purpose of so-called higher education is NOT really to gain knowledge (not of biostats, epidemiology, research methods, etc.). There are very rare exceptions, but by and large, the purpose of getting a degree is to gain Credentials. Specifically credentials requisite to pursuing a specific career path.
See this is often confusing to people because of all the propaganda, but think about it. If you really wanted to learn biostats, the last thing you should do is pay thousands of dollars to some corrupt group of schmucks called university administrators who in turn will pay some a$$hat to stand in front of a room and read you a series of powerpoint slides made by a textbook company (that you also had to pay hundreds of dollars).
In the modern day, you can simply go on your computer or cell phone or (if old school) to your local library. You can access free lectures (by lecturers far better than the average professor) and you can essentially teach yourself.
The benefits of modern tech mean that you dont have to spend a year learning stuff in the most inefficient way possible.
See back in the day, before the internets, there was an argument for extra coursework because that was really the only way to learn directly from people with intimate subject knowledge. But thats not the case today.
Earlier there was a thread where a young lady was saying she got into a med school program that was an extra year so they could spend 12 months learning "rural sociology." Said lady thought taking that curriculum would help her become a rural physician. Of course, you do not need to incur the opportunity cost of an extra year of school plus tuition just to practice rural medicine (nor do you need it to do NIH research).
If on the other hand its the M.S. degree you are after for its own sake, you have to ask yourself the question, "are these 2 letters required for me to do what I want?" In the case of the OP, the answer is a resounding No.
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