Need help deciding... should I add that phd?

[luckyDO]

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Right now I'm at a medical school and I am interested in obtaining a PhD as well. I enjoying performing research---in fact, I miss the research lab but I am not sure if it is worth it financially and socially if I play to practice medicine or perform clinical research. Any suggestions? Are there things that you have to give up doing the extra PhD on top of your medical degree?

 

[uproarhz]

Right now I'm at a medical school and I am interested in obtaining a PhD as well. I enjoying performing research---in fact, I miss the research lab but I am not sure if it is worth it financially and socially if I play to practice medicine or perform clinical research. Any suggestions? Are there things that you have to give up doing the extra PhD on top of your medical degree?

I guess the obvious answer would be the number of years you'd be practicing and earning a decent salary... so yeah time and money... If you are pretty sure that you will be a clinician first and foremost, then it won't make sense to do the MD/PhD. You can always do a combined residency/fellowship at the end and do limited research on the side. If you have any doubts about wanting to do research in the long run, you need more time to figure things out.
Maybe if your med schools and your schedule allow, you can do a summer rotation before you decide on signing up for this. You can also get involved in a clinical research and see if that alone will bring you the same enjoyment as being in the lab. If it does, then I'd say just go with the MD, if it doesn't then apply for the PhD. I don't know if I said anything that you hadn't thought of yourself, but hope this helps.