MS or Research Position before MD-PhD in Epi

[batuhan234]

Hi! I've just graduated college and got into an MS in Global Health program and have been offered a research data analyst position with an epi department, both of which would be two years. I'm hoping to apply to an MD-PhD in Epi and wanted to know what your thoughts are on doing an MS (which is partly funded and would include my own research thesis) or taking up the full-time research position with regard to applying to the MD-PhD.

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[mk536]

It depends on your goals and the program curriculum. The research position will likely be far more productive than the research MS and will be more likely to benefit your MD/PhD applications. On the other hand, if the global health program provides a strong foundation in epi and biostats, it may provide you with the background and preparation for a far stronger PhD in epi (a field where it is the norm for PhD candidates to have master's degrees and work experience in the field), or give you the ability to graduate in a reasonable time frame from the PhD, as a good few of the top epi programs do not make curriculum accomodations for dual degree students. A caveat regarding this last point is that most epi programs will not accept credit from other institutions (if your global health program is at Hopkins and you take their epi sequence, you would have to repeat the basic epi sequence if you did your PhD at UW).

 

[SonhosDaVida]

Correct me if I’m wrong but I thought data analyst positions aren’t in basic science/translational sciences, which is not what MDPhD’s are looking for.

I thought MDPhDs are looking for basic/translational wet bench research.

 

[mk536]

I thought MDPhDs are looking for basic/translational wet bench research.

This is definitely true, so frankly neither of these paths would be helpful for a normal applicant, and there are challenges applying to MD/PhD programs as an applicant in epidemiology because of this. I felt that a number of the adcoms/PDs I interviewed with were dubious of my background even at a school that had an incredibly strong program in my field. I had a friend who was told at one school that they straight up would not accept an epi candidate directly into the program even though their website seemed to mention it as a possibility and the school had a strong department. Applying in epi is almost more like being a humanities applicant. You have to check that schools will consider epi applicants, and, if so, if there are additional application steps to take.

All that said though, if OP is looking to do their PhD in epi, having significant research experience in the field (whether in the analyst position or through their MS thesis) is still helpful for making a stronger application, and diving into bench work for two years is likely not going to be that helpful for their development as an epidemiologist.