MD/PhD in Linguistics? Program/school suggestions?

[hoya09]

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I'm looking to do an MD/PhD in Linguistics. Researching these programs is difficult so I'd appreciate suggestions. I'm already applying to Mich State and U penn.

 

[achamess]

Generally, people do graduate work in a field that will enable them to make contributions to medicine or basic science research. That is the stated goal of the NIH at least, which funds the MSTP. How would you make the case that a linguistics major will be useful and necessary to your career as a physician-scientist?

 

[strangeglove]

Generally, people do graduate work in a field that will enable them to make contributions to medicine or basic science research. That is the stated goal of the NIH at least, which funds the MSTP. How would you make the case that a linguistics major will be useful and necessary to your career as a physician-scientist?

Linguistics is highly relevant for neurology (think aphasia), pediatrics (think autism) and psychiatry (think formal thought disorder). It is sometimes helpful to peer outside of the molecular/cellular box when thinking about human health and disease.

That said, I would recommend looking into the Harvard/MIT combined program, where you would have the chance to work with both Pinker and Chomsky, which would be amazing. Michigan and Penn would also be good places to look. Also, you might consider cognitive neuroscience as an alternative to straight up linguistics, so that you could do fMRI or lesion research on language (the NIH does like it when you are interested in the brain). Places like Wash U and U Iowa (even without Damasio there) are excellent for this kind of work.

Good luck.

 

[hoya09]

First of all- my reason for choosing Linguistics is based on my research. Though I would like to thank the first poster for his or her insight, I would have to humbly disagree that Linguistics is irrelevant to medicine. My research is in medical discourse, specifically in doctor patient communication. I recently coauthored a book segment on the topic and in the rash of follow up publication requests and presentations that have followed, I have noticed a lack of experts in both medicine and sociolinguistics. I believe that communication is central to effective medical care and that my research will positively impact the field of medicine, not just the handful of linguists interested in it. As my specialty outside of medical discourse is cognitive language, I also fall in to the category of people described by the second poster. Again, thank you first poster for the opportunity to defend my choice. I have a feeling that I'll be doing this in any interview I might get 🙄

Second poster- Thank you! I'll check out the Harvard/MIT program immediately. I hadn't thought of it and I agree, it'd be awesome. 😀

Please keep the suggestions coming!

 

[achamess]

I didn't say Linguistics is irrelevant. I was just interested in hearing how you would argue for its utility in your medical career. That's why I asked. I admit I worded my original post poorly.. My apologies. Until recently, I was a Linguistics and Biochem double major, so obviously I've got nothing against Linguistics. 🙂

 

[gbwillner]

Just realize most adcoms will have the same skepticism about your choice of PhD. Be prepared to justify it... furthermore, most programs will not suit your needs and have regimented lab rotations etc., that will not at all apply to you.

 

[hoya09]

To achamess, sorry- I misread your intent.. also, I'm a Biochem/Ling double major (Psych minor) too! I thought I was the only one. I'll PM you, I'd be interested to hear about your experiences.

To the next poster- yeah I know I'll be defending my choice quite a bit. The schools I've spoken to about it have been very open, but I'm sure there will be some questions along the way. I'm not sure what you mean about rotations that might not apply to me and if you have the chance to elaborate on that I'd appreciate it. My research background also includes 4 years of inorganic synthesis, so I wouldn't be opposed to doing some traditional biomedical research if that's what you mean. From what I understand though, I'd be splitting my time between Linguistics and clinical rotations. I'm here to learn so please correct me if I'm wrong.

Also, if anyone is interested in reading my MD/PhD or research AMCAS essays, I'd love feedback (I'm more than willing to reciprocate). Thanks again!

 

[gbwillner]

What I mean is that your curriculum may have to be tailored specifically for you, and you only. Many programs have integrated curriculae that have special courses for the MD/PhDs since their graduate work will take place of some basic science coursework. This will not work in your case, and you may be on a track that is separate from other MD/PhDs and the regular med students. There may be ample resistace to this. The rotations I spoke of can come at different times during the training but will not at all apply to you. Why do biochemistry when it will not apply to your PhD? Again, you will have to be on a separate track. I bet there will only be a handful (and a small one too) of programs that will A) accept a Linguistics PhD as a valid use of their funds and B) be flexible enough to let you go your own way when it comes to the curriculum. You may have to look at programs that have no integration between the MD and PhD (there are plenty).

Good luck!

 

[JHopRevisit]

I think you can't get MSTP funding (everyone, please correct me if I'm wroing, but the NIH does restrict to biomedical, I think). I think you would have to look at schools with significant private funding. Harvard/MIT would be amazing, obviously, but I think their private funding might be restricted to a few fields. The issue has less to do with relevancy toward medicine than with what funding schools have and if it's restricted in any way.

Hmm...I said "I think" a bunch of times cause I don't really know. But I'm guessing that funding's as much of an issue as "relevancy."

 

[strangeglove]

I think you can't get MSTP funding (everyone, please correct me if I'm wroing, but the NIH does restrict to biomedical, I think). I think you would have to look at schools with significant private funding. Harvard/MIT would be amazing, obviously, but I think their private funding might be restricted to a few fields. The issue has less to do with relevancy toward medicine than with what funding schools have and if it's restricted in any way.

Hmm...I said "I think" a bunch of times cause I don't really know. But I'm guessing that funding's as much of an issue as "relevancy."

Most MSTPs, because they have dedicated funding, will actually make some allowance for non-traditional PhDs. I know a few people who've done PhDs in literature and anthropology, for instance, who went to very respectable programs such as Harvard and UCSF. It's programs like these that actually understand the value of humanities and the so-called human sciences for medicine.

 

[JHopRevisit]

Most MSTPs, because they have dedicated funding, will actually make some allowance for non-traditional PhDs. I know a few people who've done PhDs in literature and anthropology, for instance, who went to very respectable programs such as Harvard and UCSF. It's programs like these that actually understand the value of humanities and the so-called human sciences for medicine.

Harvard has private funding for certain fields. Didn't think UCSF did, are you sure about that? It's less about what the school thinks has value, and more about what they're allowed to fund. I think we had to talk the NIH into allowing us to fund bioethics and history of medicine, but I think that was already considered a stretch. Again, anyone who knows please let me know what the limits on MSTP funding are, if any.

 

[Ariodant]

UCSF allows med anthro.

 

[GWD]

I am not going to disagree with gbwillner, as I've seen him do nothing but consistently offer insightful and well-thought advice.

He's right in the fact that you will most likely find many programs that are unreceptive to letting you pursue a non-traditional track, but I wouldn't let that be an impediment to you if you are earnest in your ambition.

Your credentials seems substantial, and your motivations sincere. I'd encourage you to go for it. Keep in mind, academia is inherently beaurocratic (sic). And like any business, the ultimate reality is essentially the bottom line. But if you are willing to buck the system a little bit, and especially if you have the support of your PI behind you, it's possible to accomplish nearly anything.

For instance, my appointment is in the Dept. of Surgery, which neither offers a PhD, nor is recognized by the MSTP at my school. Now this involved my PI getting a secondary appointment in another department (paperwork the administration CERTAINLY didn't want to do), and imagine my joy when I found out I had to tell my PI she would need to reimburse said department for the initial years of my fellowship if she wanted to keep me (they just wanted to get paid for what they had already invested in me), but we were committed to it, and we got it done.

The morale of the story is, if you are truly dedicated to what you want to do, there are always ways over/under/around/through fences others try to put in front of you. And for the record, I agree with your thesis.

I will re-emphasize gbwillner's point though. You should be flexible to the will of any program... at least until you are able to get your foot in the door and establish yourself.

G'luck.

 

[drhaibane]

A fellow Hoya!

You might consider doing your PhD in neuroscience, studying neurolinguistics. It will be MUCH easier for you to get accepted (and funded) if you go the neuroscience route instead of the linguistics route. Since you're at GU, check out what Michael Ullman (http://neuro.georgetown.edu/faculty/ullman.htm) or Rhonda Friedman (http://www9.georgetown.edu/faculty/friedmar/index.html) do. Both Michael and Rhonda have faculty appointments in the linguistics department as well as in the neuroscience program (Rhonda is also head of the caucus of the medical center). Their research is greatly applicable to medicine, specifically aphasics, anomics, pediatric developmental issues, etc. There are quite a few MD-PhD programs that have people studying neurolinguistics -- Pitt/Carnegie Mellon, Stanford, Iowa, UCLA, USC/Caltech, UCI, UIChicago, etc.

I'm actually an MD-PhD student at Georgetown doing cognitive neuroscience. Hopefully that helps! Shoot me a PM if you have any questions.

-- drhaibane

 

[URHere]

I would agree with the above poster - it may be easier to enter a neuroscience program and then seek out a dual advisor situation to tailor your work to linguistics. If you go that route, I would suggest looking at University of Rochester - they have a very strong linguistics program and they have a large number of linguistics researchers who either have dual appointments in neuroscience or who collaborate with neuroscience researchers.

 

[sourislinguist]

It seems to me you're looking for an Applied Linguistics program. Here is a list of some good ones:

Boston University, Boston

University of California, Los Angeles, California

University of Hawaii at Manoa, Hawaii

University of Arizona, Arizona

Columbia University, New York

University of Maryland, Maryland

University of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Georgetown University, Washington, DC

Indiana University, Indiana

University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, Illinois

City University of New York (CUNY), New York

University of Iowa, Iowa

Portland State University, Oregon

 

[OddNath]

Hey there

Just another plug for neurolinguistics- my PhD work is looking at speech processing in normals and dyslexics with fMRI. I realize your interest is more in the sociolinguistics aspect, but perhaps you could find a way to incorporate fMRI if it helps you find a lab more easily?