MD/PhD - What fields are open to choose for the PhD?

[loveoforganic]

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Title pretty much says it all. Was thinking psychology in particular.

 

[JJMrK]

I'm guessing it depends on the school. I doubt psychology is a common one, though.

 

[loveoforganic]

Yeah, I have low hopes, but you never know 🙂

 

[orrghead16]

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=32

If it is limited, it is usually to the biomedical and life sciences, which are the most common PhD choice. Some programs have BME, physics, so on. Some also have social science options. It all really depends on the program.

 

[loveoforganic]

Thanks for the info, guess I'll just have to look by program.

 

[schrizto]

The PhD can be in whatever the school has that's available.

 

[Mattabet]

Agree, depends on the school, but common ones are things like BME, biochemistry, bioethics, anatomy sometimes (I think I've heard), things of that nature. If your medical school is attached to a university, as opposed to it's own entity, you may have more options.

 

[YeOldeMan]

The "openness" depends on your undergrad work too. You won't be able to do Physics unless you did significant work in Physics during undergrad. From what I've heard...you can do Econ (and probably the other biz PhDs -- Finance, Accounting, etc.) if you have the math and stats prereqs done. Biosciences are common...as well as some engineering. I'm not sure why they wouldn't let you do Psychology as long as you get accepted to it. Why don't you call up the schools you are interested in in particular, or at least check out their websites.

 

[sleepy425]

If you are really committed to pursuing a social sciences/non-basic sciences PhD as part of an MD/PhD, then it will be available to you if you choose the right schools to apply to. I know Penn allows it, and I know Harvard and Michigan do too. I know there are plenty of other ones too, but not all allow it. But I'm glad to hear you're considering MD/PhD, and you should definitely come to Penn so I can finally meet you!

 

[loveoforganic]

Penn is just a tad cold for me, having lived my whole life in either south Louisiana or Alabama. Who knows though, maybe by the time I apply I'll be in the mood for some chill.

Thanks for all the info.

Edit: Followup question - I feel like I'm in sort of an interesting situation, so I'm going to explain then ask.

1) I had a kind of crappy first semester of college because I wasn't that interested in what was being taught, combined with poor study habits. Second semester, I had an amazing gen. chem teacher that completely reinspired me, out of the dedication he showed his students, the passion he showed for his work, and the interesting manner he presented the material. I signed up to work in his lab, and it's very interesting and enjoyable. I plan to continue to research in his lab for the remainder of my undergrad both out of interest and out of appreciation for the inspiration he put back into me.

2) I'm a double major, psych and chem. The way my schedule is working out (the set up for classes is very restrictive due to prereqs), I won't be taking the prereq for psychology research until second semester this coming (junior) year, so the earliest I think I could be doing research is coming into senior year.

So, long story short, I don't think adcom would like that, given the doctorate I'd be desiring. Even if I were to begin researching senior year, I'm not sure if I should drop the chemistry research or attempt to do it concurrently.

Any advice? Thanks a bunch.

 

[sleepy425]

Penn is just a tad cold for me, having lived my whole life in either south Louisiana or Alabama. Who knows though, maybe by the time I apply I'll be in the mood for some chill.

Thanks for all the info.

Edit: Followup question - I feel like I'm in sort of an interesting situation, so I'm going to explain then ask.

1) I had a kind of crappy first semester of college because I wasn't that interested in what was being taught, combined with poor study habits. Second semester, I had an amazing gen. chem teacher that completely reinspired me, out of the dedication he showed his students, the passion he showed for his work, and the interesting manner he presented the material. I signed up to work in his lab, and it's very interesting and enjoyable. I plan to continue to research in his lab for the remainder of my undergrad both out of interest and out of appreciation for the inspiration he put back into me.

2) I'm a double major, psych and chem. The way my schedule is working out (the set up for classes is very restrictive due to prereqs), I won't be taking the prereq for psychology research until second semester this coming (junior) year, so the earliest I think I could be doing research is coming into senior year.

So, long story short, I don't think adcom would like that, given the doctorate I'd be desiring. Even if I were to begin researching senior year, I'm not sure if I should drop the chemistry research or attempt to do it concurrently.

Any advice? Thanks a bunch.

first of all, I grew up in Louisiana and lived there my whole life until a few days ago, so I'm not buying that excuse 😛.

Anyway, I hate to give the advice I'm about to give because I would never have followed this advice myself, but maybe in your case it might be worth it. You might want to consider taking a year off to do dedicated psychology research. When I was interviewing this year, I met sooooo many people who had taken a year off to work at NIH or continue research they had started before or something. If you're like me, the idea of taking a year off might be very hard to swallow, but, frankly, you're going to be spending so many years in an MD/PhD program, so you might as well be sure it's something you want to do.

Now, another thing to consider is whether you might want to continue your chemistry research. There is a niche for chemistry-inclined people in medicine since most physicians seem to think that chemistry has no place in medicine (I'm not trying to bash physicians, it's natural that they feel that way, even though it would be better if they didn't). If you want to continue the chemistry, you will have to clearly formulate your career goals before you start interviewing because it is much easier to convince someone that you know the connections between neuroscience and medicine than between organic synthesis and medicine (because, honestly, what most hardcore organic chemists do these days, natural product synthesis or reaction design, does not justify the combined degree. there are some things that do justify the combined degree tho).

The last thing you could consider is finding a way to do something involving both chemistry and psychology. I'm not that familiar with psychology research, but I'm sure there are ways to do it. Also consider behavioral neuroscience.

But also remember, you don't have to do the combined degree. It might not be the best for you, but before you write it off, look into these options.

 

[loveoforganic]

first of all, I grew up in Louisiana and lived there my whole life until a few days ago, so I'm not buying that excuse 😛.

Anyway, I hate to give the advice I'm about to give because I would never have followed this advice myself, but maybe in your case it might be worth it. You might want to consider taking a year off to do dedicated psychology research. When I was interviewing this year, I met sooooo many people who had taken a year off to work at NIH or continue research they had started before or something. If you're like me, the idea of taking a year off might be very hard to swallow, but, frankly, you're going to be spending so many years in an MD/PhD program, so you might as well be sure it's something you want to do.

Now, another thing to consider is whether you might want to continue your chemistry research. There is a niche for chemistry-inclined people in medicine since most physicians seem to think that chemistry has no place in medicine (I'm not trying to bash physicians, it's natural that they feel that way, even though it would be better if they didn't). If you want to continue the chemistry, you will have to clearly formulate your career goals before you start interviewing because it is much easier to convince someone that you know the connections between neuroscience and medicine than between organic synthesis and medicine (because, honestly, what most hardcore organic chemists do these days, natural product synthesis or reaction design, does not justify the combined degree. there are some things that do justify the combined degree tho).

The last thing you could consider is finding a way to do something involving both chemistry and psychology. I'm not that familiar with psychology research, but I'm sure there are ways to do it. Also consider behavioral neuroscience.

But also remember, you don't have to do the combined degree. It might not be the best for you, but before you write it off, look into these options.

Ha, I completely forgot you were from Louisiana. Fine, I'll consider Penn 😛.

The chemistry, in particular organic synthesis, is just a peripheral interest of mine - it isn't my plan to pursue it professionally, at least not now. That would possibly be subject to change after medicinal chem, but we'll see then.

The year off is not something I'd be inclined to do, but it honestly 🙂() sounds like it might be the best route. I'm going to have to do some searching. Thanks for the help 🙂

 

[dmblue]

An MD/PhD adcom is going to see your app and wonder how you know that you want to do Psychology research. If you haven't done it yet, then that will look bad.

Ask your MD/PhD questions here:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=32
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=32
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=32