On route from the PhD to the MD

[Ed05]

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Been following this thread for awhile and would definitely love some advice onto which route is more beneficial from individuals that have gone the PhD to MD route or been in a similar situation

Graduated with my PhD in Public Health in December (research on environmental pollutant exposure & risk of cardiopulmonary disease) and at a fork in my career. Recently got accepted into a SMP program to start this year but deferred my acceptance to Fall 2019 to get more work experience.

Right now I have the option of doing a post doc at a medical school in my related research field or take on a role as a data analyst at a cloud-based tech company that helps with continuing education of healthcare professionals. The salary is much higher at the cloud-based tech company then the post-doc position but doing research in my related field is very interesting and obviously would help my CV once I apply to medical school.

Also the reason why I applied to do a SMP is because my undergraduate grades were below the pre-medical standards of being a worthy applicant (3.0 GPA overall, 2.8 science, and missing a year of organic chemistry).

Please help!

 

[Entadus]

In considering the salary difference between your 2 job offers, how much debt do you currently have (if any)?

 

[Forever Geebs]

Been following this thread for awhile and would definitely love some advice onto which route is more beneficial from individuals that have gone the PhD to MD route or been in a similar situation

Graduated with my PhD in Public Health in December (research on environmental pollutant exposure & risk of cardiopulmonary disease) and at a fork in my career. Recently got accepted into a SMP program to start this year but deferred my acceptance to Fall 2019 to get more work experience.

Right now I have the option of doing a post doc at a medical school in my related research field or take on a role as a data analyst at a cloud-based tech company that helps with continuing education of healthcare professionals. The salary is much higher at the cloud-based tech company then the post-doc position but doing research in my related field is very interesting and obviously would help my CV once I apply to medical school.

Also the reason why I applied to do a SMP is because my undergraduate grades were below the pre-medical standards of being a worthy applicant (3.0 GPA overall, 2.8 science, and missing a year of organic chemistry).

Please help!

If your goal is to get into med school, don't waste your time with an SMP at this stage unless you have so many science/math related credit hours that taking additional higher level science courses won't correct. As an example, if it will take another 30 hours to bump your GPA from a 3.0 to a 3.1, save your time and money and knock out the SMP. HOWEVER, as you noted, your current GPA is far below the average matriculant (and applicant, even) so major reinvention is required and most likely at the undergrad level.

You seem very passionate about your research. What is your motivation to go into medicine?

 

[futuremdforme]

Take whichever job will give you the flexibility to apply and interview to med school! You don't want to get fired for going to interviews. My initial inclination is that the postdoc is more flexible but if you can work from home (ie work from whatever city you are interviewing in) the tech job can be good (and a good talking point) too.

 

[Ed05]

In considering the salary difference between your 2 job offers, how much debt do you currently have (if any)?

I paid a large portion of it last year so its manageable (less than 40K). However, the difference in salary is ~20K per year

 

[Ed05]

If your goal is to get into med school, don't waste your time with an SMP at this stage unless you have so many science/math related credit hours that taking additional higher level science courses won't correct. As an example, if it will take another 30 hours to bump your GPA from a 3.0 to a 3.1, save your time and money and knock out the SMP. HOWEVER, as you noted, your current GPA is far below the average matriculant (and applicant, even) so major reinvention is required and most likely at the undergrad level.

You seem very passionate about your research. What is your motivation to go into medicine?

As much as I love doing research, I don't get the same fulfillment as when I deal directly with patients. I was very fortunate enough to have a great amount of patient contact during my undergraduate years (worked as a part-time patient coordinator for 2 years) and that opened my perspective of the medical field (both good and bad). Although research is an important aspect of medicine, I believe directly helping an individual is 10x better.