Not doing a residency?

[peony]

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Is anyone here doing a post-doc instead of a residency? What are the additional job options available for someone who has an MD/PhD besides the traditional industry/academia/teaching jobs available to a PhD? Or does the MD not mean much if one doesn't have a residency attached to it? Thanks!

 

[RxnMan]

From the assorted professionals I've spoken to (MDs, MD/PhDs, PhDs, etc) the MD is not as marketable as an MD+Internship at minimum. An internship will enable you to get your license. e.g. You will be much more valuable to a company or lab running a clinical trial if you are able to prescribe drugs. Doing a MD without a residency will close doors.

For the jobs available to a MD/PhDer outside of academia, look at the stickies at the top of the forum.

 

[mudphudwannabe]

If you are not yet in med school and are thinking of not doing a residency (which means you wouldn't practice clinical medicine), I would seriously reconsider doing an MD/PhD. While some MD/PhD's end up not practicing medicine, I think it is going to be very frustrating to spend 4 years of your life in med school when it doesn't relate directly to your future career plans. If you're just interested in doing biomedical research or perhaps working in industry, a PhD alone would be much more efficient.

 

[peony]

Actually I'm posting for someone who is currently an M3 (done with the PhD). 🙂

 

[Fencer]

I agree with RxnMan. An internship might permit you to earn a medical license in several states, which would increase your market value within industry. In academia, you would need to complete your residency and become board certified to be able to attend for 1-2 months of the year on the wards, supplementing your income. The MD would not increase your income within a basic science department unless you are bringing that extra revenue.