MD qualifies you for?

[D0CTORX]

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I know you can work in the clinical setting, and all that.

But if you want to just do research, as a job, by just earning my MD will i be able to do so?

Also, is there pharmaceutical research or jobs? I am really interested in the drugs side of things, such as the drug design, affects, illegal drugs, etc. Anywhere that will fit in?

 

[Poetic Silence]

Yes.

You need to complete an internship year and pass USMLE step 3 before you can apply for a license to practice medicine.

However, if you want to do research, you'd be better off with a PhD or MPH.

 

[Disinence2]

Sounds like your interested in Medical Toxicology, which is an unappreciated yet completely badass specialty

Look into it!

 

[Renaissance Man]

I know you can work in the clinical setting, and all that.

But if you want to just do research, as a job, by just earning my MD will i be able to do so?

Also, is there pharmaceutical research or jobs? I am really interested in the drugs side of things, such as the drug design, affects, illegal drugs, etc. Anywhere that will fit in?

At a lecture this week, they showed us a slide where MDs had actually gotten more NIH funding then MD/PhD in the early 2000s. So I would say you definitely can do research. However if you "just" want to do research, why not just get a PhD?

 

[kavorca]

It was instrumental in landing me a residency

 

[Law2Doc]

I know you can work in the clinical setting, and all that.

But if you want to just do research, as a job, by just earning my MD will i be able to do so?

Also, is there pharmaceutical research or jobs? I am really interested in the drugs side of things, such as the drug design, affects, illegal drugs, etc. Anywhere that will fit in?

Agree with the above posts. You can do research with an MD, but it's schooling and training is not well designed for that. An MD without license and residency is pretty much worthless. The MDs who get research grants are not those without clinical practice experience. So too the guys who get jobs in the pharmaceutical industry -- they rarely hire an MD right out of med school, but they certainly hire PhDs. If you know you want to just do research and not be a clinician, do the PhD. If you want to research "on the side" but primarily be a clinician, get the MD. It's really that simple.

 

[Negotiator]

Agree with the above posts. You can do research with an MD, but it's schooling and training is not well designed for that. An MD without license and residency is pretty much worthless. The MDs who get research grants are not those without clinical practice experience. So too the guys who get jobs in the pharmaceutical industry -- they rarely hire an MD right out of med school, but they certainly hire PhDs. If you know you want to just do research and not be a clinician, do the PhD. If you want to research "on the side" but primarily be a clinician, get the MD. It's really that simple.

Additionally, bear in mind the debt you could quite potentially incur by doing an M.D. with the intent on doing research. From my personal experience, not to deter you from medicine, but I have a number of friends who are doing science (namely chemistry) based Ph.D.'s who are not paying a cent for that education.

In fact, doing something like a chemistry Ph.D. would likely open up your options for job placement afterwards, and could save you quite a bit of money.

As Law2Doc said, M.D.'s that are doing research have also completed years of clinical work, which comes after all of the medical training.