MSTP vs. Fellowship

[Maxprime]

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Me: 1st year grad student in neuroscience @ state med school, applying to med school this year (late), so maybe next year too. My MD/PhD will probably be a year shorter due to this year's coursework.

I definitely want to spend the majority of my time doing clinical medicine, but I want the ability to teach in both the clinical and classroom settings. I also think I would prefer to end up at an academic medical center.

Is it more worth my time to spend 2 years finishing my PhD in a MD/PhD program or save those 2 years and do a fellowship. I plan on being surgical, so residency is going to be looonnnggg. Also, how much does a PhD benefit scalpel-jockeys?

Thanks in advance.

 

[xanthines]

It sounds to me like research isn't a big part of your future plans, so I'm not sure if MSTP would be something worthwhile for you. You most definitely do not need a PhD to teach at an academic medical center. If you think research might be in your future I'd recommend MSTP.

I don't know this for sure, but it seems like a PhD isn't too handy for "scalpel-jockeys."

-X

Me: 1st year grad student in neuroscience @ state med school, applying to med school this year (late), so maybe next year too. My MD/PhD will probably be a year shorter due to this year's coursework.

I definitely want to spend the majority of my time doing clinical medicine, but I want the ability to teach in both the clinical and classroom settings. I also think I would prefer to end up at an academic medical center.

Is it more worth my time to spend 2 years finishing my PhD in a MD/PhD program or save those 2 years and do a fellowship. I plan on being surgical, so residency is going to be looonnnggg. Also, how much does a PhD benefit scalpel-jockeys?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Maxprime]

It sounds to me like research isn't a big part of your future plans, so I'm not sure if MSTP would be something worthwhile for you. You most definitely do not need a PhD to teach at an academic medical center. If you think research might be in your future I'd recommend MSTP.

I don't know this for sure, but it seems like a PhD isn't too handy for "scalpel-jockeys."

-X

Thank you for your response - I agree with everything you said. I mostly wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on something. I'm also much more interested (at the moment) in clinical more than bench research, so I also think that favors a straight MD route.