MD/PhDs going into peds

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chhsu

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I'm just curious if there are any mud-phuders going into peds and any impressions of specific programs concerning research. I know there aren't as many of us in peds compared to path, IM or radiology, but I know there are some out there.
 
Although I am not an MD/PhD, I have been invited to physician-scientist interviews since I am PhD-like and am very interested in research. Here is the info I have so far on some of the programs

Univ of Washington:
- Very interested in developing a strong research component in their program.
- Amazing programs through the university itself, but the shining star is their relationship with the Hutchinson center. Absolutely amazing place which could be considered one of the premier cancer research centers in the nation/world.
- Very supportive faculty that are excited by students interested in research
- They had a separate day for phys-sci applicants and were very attentive to our questions
- Funding for students was unclear

CHLA:
- The chairwoman of the hospital is very interested in physician-scientists and developing future researchers
- The program has good funding (#5 in nation for pediatrics)
- A bit heavily weighted towards oncology (good for me), but am told that in no way does this detract from other departments. The department seems to fund itself quite well.
- Personal experiences here have been mixed (I am a USC student). Some of the faculty are a bit flaky at times about following through with big ideas, so finding a good mentor is crucial.

Stanford:
- Losing their program chair to boston childrens
- Spoke with research interested students, and they said that funding is not a problem at all. If you need it, then it is supplied
- Facilities are amazing, particularly if you are interested in stem cell research. Its Stanford.. nuff said
- Interviewed with a researcher, and he emphasized the interest of faculty in student research

UCSF
- Active MMP program that guarantees fellowship spot and research support if accepted.
- Interested in obtaining and nurturing physician-scientists
- Sorry, but didn't get much good info from program directors
 
Hi there,

Yes, I'm an MS3 mud-phud interested in Peds (can't stand treating adults, but can tolerate them as parents!). I'm interested in Peds GI or Heme/Onc, since these both correlate w/my research interests. LOL...it's funny b/c my PhD IS in PATHOLOGY!

Would love to hear res program reviews from other mud-phuds who are now applying/interviewing in Peds🙂 Please keep it coming!
 
So far I've gone to 2 places that have research tracks.

U Michigan offers a fast track as well as other research opportunities. Their faculty are VERY supportive of research and they are top 10 in NIH research funding in the country as far as peds departments. They are heavily recruiting MD/PhDs and I had the opportunity to talk to the deans of research and the head of fellowships who were both very supportive of me pursuing some type of research during residency.

Rainbow is the other place. They don't have fast track or research tracks but do offer research opportunities. They too are trying to get MD/PhDs aboard. They peds-genetics residency (allowing board certification in both in 5 years) has a 1 year research component.

I'll post more about research opportunities as I go. Rybaby, thanks for the posts so far on research programs out West. I'm heading out there soon.
 
University of Rochester offers both Fast Track and a formal research track for residents, and is very supportive of residents who do research.
 
I'm a 4th year MD/PhD currently applying for pediatric neurology programs so I thought I would make a plug for that peds subspecialty and mention a couple of programs where I have encountered a strong research focus.

One way to do peds-neuro is by completing one year of peds followed by a year of research (in a peds neuro topic) and three years of peds neuro training after which you are BE for Neuro c/ special competency in Peds Neuro. This provides a great opportunity for people to continue research training without doing multiple post-docs/fellowships in a field with excellent growth opportunities since there is a HUGE needs for pedi neurologists. Optionally, you can do 2 years of peds followed by 3 of peds neuro and be BE for both.

I agree with the prior posts concerning Rainbow and Wash U which I found to be very research friendly.

Vanderbilt's Chair(s) in Peds and Neuro are both very strong basic scientists and supportive of folks interested in doing research. I am not sure how Vandy peds feels about peds folks fast-tracking but you can take advantage of a second half-day/week clinic opportunity during the Y-2 and Y-3 years to get started on a research project which could concievably carry over to fellowship.

Cincinnati Children's is an underappreciated research monster. They are building their THIRD research building and have a very strong program for training in clinical research. They are also 2nd in NIH funding for peds programs.
 
Don't know where to find an NIH funding list but here is a link to the Cincin Children's website where they make the claim of being

"Third nationally in National Insititutes of Health funding to full-service children's hospitals "

It contains links for all their research foci.

http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/research/about/

When I was there I was told they were #2.
 
Hello,

I actually had a converstion with our chairwoman about this, and I believe that there is a location on the NIH website where you can scroll through the list of grant funding recipients. However, you will have to specifically select out the pediatric facilities. However, at the time we found that the top 5 where:

Boston Childrens
CHOP
Univ of Cinncinati (?)
Texas Childrens
CHLA

I hope this helps🙂
 
Hello,

I actually had a converstion with our chairwoman about this, and I believe that there is a location on the NIH website where you can scroll through the list of grant funding recipients. However, you will have to specifically select out the pediatric facilities. However, at the time we found that the top 5 where:

Boston Childrens
CHOP
Univ of Cinncinati (?)
Texas Childrens
CHLA

I hope this helps🙂

http://grants.nih.gov/grants/award/rank/MedSchool_Departments.cfm?Department=PEDIATRICS

There are a number of different ways to compare institutional grant funding, all of them seriously flawed. In this case, some institutions report the funding as going to the hospital and others to the medical school and it can be difficult to sort those out. Additionally, a lot of key funding, especially in the basic sciences, that goes to "pediatric" investigators would be listed under other departments such as genetics in some institutions. Also, rankings may or may not separate out training grant funds. And this doesn't even begin to address the question as to whether it really is NIH funds by which we should compare institutions or whether K08's are more or less important in these considerations than other NIH sources.

Consider also whether your residency selection choice, whatever degree(s) you have, should really primarily depend on the research status of the institution. There are a few residents who do substantive research during residency, but most don't until fellowship, including MD/PhD's.

Regards

OBP
 
Finished visiting CHOP and BOston:

Boston: Suffice to say that they now how to impress! The Phys-sci day includes meeting with the program director and intern selection chair, and talking about the focus on research at HArvard, over catered lunch. You then go on individualized meetings with 2-3 researchers throughout the Harvard insititutions to talk about opportunities and career paths available at the insititution (FYI, got a personal limo for travel between facilities). Afterwards, you recongregate at BCH to chat and answer questions, before being taken out to dinner by the current resident MD/PhD people.
Pros:
- Highest Pediatric research budget (150 million)
- Multiple locations for work (Broad institute, Channing labs, Whitehead, MGH, BWH, BCH, Harvard medical school.. you get the idea)
- Greates amount of experience placing applicants in alternative pathways
- Was implied to entire group that a residency slot was available if wanted it, and fellowship slots would be similarly easy to obtain.
- Planning to build another ~10 story research building near hospital in next 5-6 years

CHOP: Unfortunately, no Phys-sci day offered, that I am aware of. Facility has 2nd largest budget, and extrememly active research community.
- Abrahmson facility was stunning
- Faculty VERY receptive to student interests,
- Building an 8 acre research/outpatient facility across street, thast would be finished by 2009-2010. Almost doubling research space
- Fewer MD/PhD people than Harvard

Drop me a line if further questions🙂
 
I know there aren't as many of us in peds compared to path, IM or radiology, but I know there are some out there.

According to my data collected here:

http://www.dpo.uab.edu/~paik/match.html

MD/PhDs entering Pediatrics constitute the second highest numbers (92/861) amongst all specialties, behind Internal Medicine from 2004-2006.

Caveats are of course, that this data is incomplete.

Popular residency programs for MD/PhD's entering peds, 2004-2006:

Children's Hospital Boston, 16
CHOP, 12
Chicago-Comer, 6
Cincinnati Children's, 4
Johns Hopkins, 4
Michigan-Mott, 4

Also see this thread:

http://drslounge.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=250547

Hope this helps.

D&G
 
Huh. I have to say I'm really surprised. I thought there would be more in path and rads than peds but I guess I was wrong. Thanks for the info!
 
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