mentor selection

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Adcadet

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hey all -
it seems the choice of a mentor comes up in nearly every thread here, yet is rarely addressed as it's own discrete topic.

I've heard people, here an elsewhere, mention that having a PhD for a mentor can be tough as they often are clueless about what to do with MD/PhD students. I'm very seriously considering sticking with my current PI for my PhD, who happens to be an MD (only). I find this great, as he basically has the type of job I want. He started an MD/PhD program, but dropped the PhD but later did a research fellowship. He has been very vocal about the benefits of doing the PhD, and getting the research training up front.

Is anybody's mentor an MD (only) who does research? Are there downsides to this? Benefits? Thoughts?

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My current mentors at the National Cancer Institute are all MD's (4 total - 2 of them are MD/PhD's) and I can tell you that I purposelly sought them out due to their MD training. I've found that in comparison to just PhD's, these folks are much more people oriented and although they work long hours, they are very easy to get along with and respect the fact that I have a life outside of research.

For me, these are the things I look for in a mentor:

1) Can this person relates to my life i.e., I have a family and in my past experiences, those with family lives better understand my family issues.

2) Tenure. Nontenured folks tend to be too difficult to work with in my opinion.

3) Graduate's a PhD student every year or every other year.

4) Publishes at least once a year.

5) Allows and funds students to travel to meetings to present data.

6) Being at the National Cancer Institute or some other governmental research agency means that the PI's here don't concern themselves with getting funding which I think decreases the stress levels ALOT. Energy is spent focusing on getting good data and getting published. It's also one of the many reasons getting accepted to a local university (Georgetown, Howard, or GW) or a university that would allow me to do my dissertation here, would be a good idea for me. Plus I wouldn't have to relocate my family.

Just my thoughts......................
 
In addition to pathdr2b's excellent advice, I will add a few notes:

A strong MD/PhD administration will also help you when you select a mentor. If you tell them what kind of person you would want to work with, a good director or assistant director will be able to crank you out a list of people you should meet. They should also be able to go to bat for you if things are going wrong.

Strong MD/PhD programs also provide funding for their students to visit conferences. I think at least one conference per year, even if you have nothing to present, is very important during your education. If you are at a program that does not set this money aside for their students (interviewees, you guys should be asking about this!), and you feel that you would want to be going to conferences, be sure to find a mentor that will put up the cash.

While you're at it, before you make any decisions, interview the students in the lab you're trying to decide on. Make sure that PI is really telling you the truth :)

I also believe that is important, but certainly not crucial, to find a MD or MD/PhD mentor. Those mentors who have the dual degrees were in our shoes once and understand what we are going through. We certainly do not want to be stuck with a PhD who does not feel that MD/PhDs are real PhDs and subsequently try to keep us doing our PhD for 5+ years. Sure, not all PhDs are like this, and that's why talking to a prospective mentor and his students are so important. A track record of having MD/PhD students graduate in reasonable times also is helpful in this regard.
 
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