MD/PhD in Philosophy?

[VardamanBundren]

Hi guys,

I will graduate next year with a BS in Psychology. However, throughout college, I have become very interested in Philosophy, and I was wondering if it is possible to pursue an MD/PhD with the PhD in Philosophy.

Is it ridiculous for me to be thinking of this, given my major? I have the credentials to get into medical school, but I really think Philosophy would make me more well-rounded intellectually and in practice as a physician.

I appreciate absolutely any help.

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[punkedoutriffs]

Have you ever studied modern academic philosophy? I don't mean the readings in your undergraduate philosophy courses. I mean the published works of graduate level and beyond. It's nothing like platonic dialogue or the Dionysian-inspired outpourings of Nietzsche. It's so specific and narrow in its scope and focus that I can't imagine how in the world it will make you a more well rounded physician.

 

[Ismet]

Yes, it is possible. I know Georgetown has an MD/PhD in philosophy dual degree, but other schools might offer that as well.

Some schools are also quite flexible and will allow you to take a leave of absence to do a "make your own" dual degree program...a med student here is currently at Harvard Law and she'll come back for her 2 clinical years when she has her JD. I'd imagine other schools have this flexibility.

 

[Nymphicus]

Possible but not probable. The MSTP and most MD/PhD programs are funded to produce physician-researchers.

 

[OCDOCDOCD]

In theory (no pun intended), this is allowed. In practice, however, it's almost never done. The NIH isn't paying millions of dollars to make the glut of humanities PhDs even worse. Even non-MSTPs are really only concerned with creating scientists, specifically translational biomedical researchers. The farther away your interests lie from that kind of research, the less likely schools are to accept you.

In the rare cases where a person was accepted to pursue a humanities PhD with their MD, it's likely that their goals in that field were still relevant to medicine (eg social science research looking at cultural medicine). Your best bet with philosophy would be to be interested in bioethics, but even then I don't really see MD/PhD programs passing up an applicant who wants to do a traditional biology PhD for an applicant who wants to do philosophy.

There are a couple practical things that you should consider as well. First, doing a philosophy PhD just to be "well rounded" is a really, really bad reason to undertake a PhD. If you want to be well rounded, just read philosophical works in your spare time. Second, humanities PhDs take forever to complete, and philosophy is probably one of the longest PhDs on average to complete. Whereas a biology PhD takes an average of 5-7 years, a philosophy PhD takes an average of 10-12. That's not including the MD portion of your education (add 4 years) or your internship and residency (add at least 2 years). Is it really worth 7 more years of your life?

It also sounds like you only want to practice medicine. While it's true that many MD/PhDs end up going into medicine rather than academia, they usually don't start out that way because getting an MD/PhD is a terrible decision if your goal is to be a physician. If your goal is to spend most of your time in the clinic, do yourself a favor and get an MD.

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Email this guy and ask "how do I become you."

http://bioethics.iu.edu/people/affiliates/richard-b-gunderman/

 

[sinombre]

Have you considered double majoring in philosophy and psychology?

 

[red doctober]

It's definitely possible as I have met someone accepted to an MSTP this year who was planning on doing a PhD in philosophy. The aim was to have the philosophy part deal with medical ethics. That said, not many programs will be open to the idea. You should definitely ask schools first to see if they will seriously consider you before applying to them.

 

[plumhill]

Hi guys,

I will graduate next year with a BS in Psychology. However, throughout college, I have become very interested in Philosophy, and I was wondering if it is possible to pursue an MD/PhD with the PhD in Philosophy.

Is it ridiculous for me to be thinking of this, given my major? I have the credentials to get into medical school, but I really think Philosophy would make me more well-rounded intellectually and in practice as a physician.

I appreciate absolutely any help.

What do you mean when you say "interested in Philosophy?" What courses have you taken? Have you taken things like Nonclassical (or even just Symbolic) Logic, Metaphysics, Epistemology, Phenomenology, Existentialism, Moral Philosophy, etc, and still retained interest? Getting into a Philosophy PhD program without a Philosophy major (or at least a hefty minor) is going to be challenging. Philosophy isn't just reading Kant or sitting under a tree thinking about the meaning of life. Your writing and analytical skills need to be top notch, and you have to demonstrate an ability to do serious philosophical work on fairly complex topics. If you are TRULY interested in Philosophy, then I don't think doing a Masters or a PhD is a bad idea. You can do them separately (as opposed to part of an MD/PhD program). Many in the field of Bioethics have at least a Masters' in either Philsophy or Ethics or Bioethics or something related. A PhD is a bit more rare, but not unheard of. But getting through a PhD program in Philosophy takes a SERIOUS love of the discipline, and you have to REALLY prove that through your coursework.

 

[911 Turbo]

Isn't philosophy almost useles? Wouldn't something related to ethics be a better degree?

 

[circulus vitios]

I don't think patients will view a PhD in philosophy as something that makes you 'well rounded.'

 

[plumhill]

Isn't philosophy almost useles? Wouldn't something related to ethics be a better degree?

Ethics = part of Philosophy. But yes, a more specific degree in Bioethics/Medical Ethics/etc would be viewed as more useful, although all of those require some general Philosophy work.

 

[ssee77]

get your ma in ethics... georgetown is a great school for that. also many ne schools are. look up dr. christensen -psychiatry. you can teach an ethics course , do clinical /ethics related research and serve on an ethics committee with the ma/md. thats what he does. I interviewed him for the medical ethics course I ta and thats my plan as well. some schools let you do it in 4 years, so just extra money not time.

 

[TwistinD]

I work at Georgetown. You cannot currently get an MA in bioethics there. I got mine from Case Western Reserve SOM. Also, they have the MD/PhD in Phil on paper but their last student to sneak in the program was 5-7 years ago. The Phil department is highly highly beaurocratic and will not accept anyone looking to do that program anymore due to intense uni politics.

Try Pritzker or UTMB's MD/PhD in medical humanities.

If you have anymore Qs, feel free to PM me. This happens to be my area of expertise.

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using SDN Mobile

 

[ssee77]

I work at Georgetown. You cannot currently get an MA in bioethics there. I got mine from Case Western Reserve SOM. Also, they have the MD/PhD in Phil on paper but their last student to sneak in the program was 5-7 years ago. The Phil department is highly highly beaurocratic and will not accept anyone looking to do that program anymore due to intense uni politics.

Try Pritzker or UTMB's MD/PhD in medical humanities.

If you have anymore Qs, feel free to PM me. This happens to be my area of expertise.

Sent from my ADR6410LVW using SDN Mobile

? I am 100% certain he got his masters in ethics from gtown ... my pi got his PhD from there and extensively described the masters program?

http://som.georgetown.edu/prospectivestudents/degrees/dualdegree/

it is the very last option....
professionalism and ethics. I visited the school last semester and asked med students about it... they said its still an option?

 

[TriagePreMed]

Have you considered double majoring in philosophy and psychology?

I agree. I would much rather spend an extra year or two in undergrad than waste my time with a philosophy doctorate. There simply isn't any benefit for a doctor to do the highly abstract philosophy in academia.