I will be choosing my thesis lab soon for my school's MD/PhD programs and it feels like a tough choice between these two different labs, which is a good thing. However, I am concerned that my choice of a PhD in one of the two the different fields will limit what residency programs I want to get into. Let me be more specific.
In the future, I would like to do a research residency at a university hospital in neurology. I am interested in mitochondrial dysfunction as they related to neurological diseases. In all of my training so far, I have not been able to work directly on a project pertaining to mitochondria, so I would like to do that for my thesis work.
The one lab:
Studies mitochondrial very intensively, but mostly in cardiomyocytes and asks questions related to cardiovascular disease. However, the PI has shown interest in taking on a greater variety of projects, as the are doing a neuroscience project right now with one postdoc. The PI has also supported my interest in bringing new projects to the lab, be they what they may, so long as they stay within mitochondrial subject matters. The lab and PI also make a lot of effort into getting their work published in high impact journals and into going to conferences to make connections.
The second lab:
Is a neuroscience and has become interested in mitochondria. They are more interested in their specific aspect of neurobiology to study, and have found mitochondria/metabolism to be a hot field right now. The PI has also supported my interest in bringing new projects to the lab. The lab publishes well, but not as well as the first, and there isn't as much push to go to conferences.
There are of course more distinctions between the two that I am leaving out, but I wanted to give enough background to ask this question.
Does getting a PhD in something other than the neurosciences make it more difficult for applicants to research residencies in neurology? Or, do residencies programs look at the quality of the work, rather than it's subject matter, when determining the potential of a research-interested neurology resident? If I were to go to the first lab, can I come back to the neurosciences later in my career?
In the future, I would like to do a research residency at a university hospital in neurology. I am interested in mitochondrial dysfunction as they related to neurological diseases. In all of my training so far, I have not been able to work directly on a project pertaining to mitochondria, so I would like to do that for my thesis work.
The one lab:
Studies mitochondrial very intensively, but mostly in cardiomyocytes and asks questions related to cardiovascular disease. However, the PI has shown interest in taking on a greater variety of projects, as the are doing a neuroscience project right now with one postdoc. The PI has also supported my interest in bringing new projects to the lab, be they what they may, so long as they stay within mitochondrial subject matters. The lab and PI also make a lot of effort into getting their work published in high impact journals and into going to conferences to make connections.
The second lab:
Is a neuroscience and has become interested in mitochondria. They are more interested in their specific aspect of neurobiology to study, and have found mitochondria/metabolism to be a hot field right now. The PI has also supported my interest in bringing new projects to the lab. The lab publishes well, but not as well as the first, and there isn't as much push to go to conferences.
There are of course more distinctions between the two that I am leaving out, but I wanted to give enough background to ask this question.
Does getting a PhD in something other than the neurosciences make it more difficult for applicants to research residencies in neurology? Or, do residencies programs look at the quality of the work, rather than it's subject matter, when determining the potential of a research-interested neurology resident? If I were to go to the first lab, can I come back to the neurosciences later in my career?
