Master's before Med school and residencies

[twistpink]

Hi everyone!
(sorry if this isn't the correct thread to post this in, I'm new.)

I have a question about the benefit of having a master's in a biomedical science when applying to residency. I read somewhere that the majority of people who are successful applicants to certain residency programs have dual-degrees. Is this true? I am already in med school but I have the option of taking an extra year to get a master's at my undergrad. Would it be better to do this or to do an MD/PhD? I heard that you should only do an MD/PhD if you're really interested in being a PI in the future.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Mansamusa]

How much will the masters cost and will you be publishing research during the masters?

 

[twistpink]

The master's will be about 50k. The goal would definitely be to get published during the master's.

 

[Mansamusa]

Not worth it. Just get a paid research job and get pubs from there.

 

[twistpink]

So residencies prefer publications over dual degree applicants?

 

[Mansamusa]

I think it is the quality of the research you do that residencies care about- not that you took some masters courses. If you have a bunch of good papers, no one is going to question your research ability just because you don't have a MS. It's a lot of money when you could easily to do research for free or for a salary. Just my opinion

 

[P0ke]

So residencies prefer publications over dual degree applicants?

Yes, they care much more about your accomplishments than the letters after your name. A master's might help a little bit in demonstrating interest in a particular field, but I don't think it's worth 50k + 1 year of your life. Unless it's something you are absolutely passionate about, don't do it.

 

[lmn]

Your MS is costing you $50k for the price of it + ~$200k++ from the year of attending salary you miss out on. What year are you in med school? You should have plenty of time to research during your m1 year, m1 summer, 1st half of 2nd year, and possibly some during 3rd/4th year. Unless you are going for a super competitive residency or specialty that requires lots of research, you should have plenty of opportunity to beef up your residency application. There is no reason to do a master's, and imo really no reason to delay your graduation unless you are one of the few who end up needing to take a research year to boost your application (but this is something you will decide in the latter half of medical school).

 

[twistpink]

Thank you both for the information! I'm staying with my university for med school so I will be able to continue doing the research I've started in undergrad into med school.

@lmn I'm in undergrad but I've been accepted into the med school here.