Opportunities from PhD

[Medstart108]

I'm a resident in a surgical specialty considering doing a PhD (4 yr) during residency in a basic science/translational lab. It is done by surgical residents in the past, but i'm wondering from those who have wet lab experience, what are the side benefits of doing a PhD other than running your own lab? I've never worked in a wet lab, only have done clinical research, but I've been pretty jaded by clinical research and I just don't enjoy it enough to want to really make it a big part of my career (I still enjoy it enough to make it a small part of my career though, a lot of doctors publish papers here and there but don't like run big clinical trials etc). Truthfully, I don't necessarily see myself running my own lab in the future as I want to be a good operative surgeon and I don't think I have time to do both well. I do see myself doing research (clinical and translational) and also doing something academic, like device development and/or implementation or even admin related like bringing in technologies, working with device companies etc. Does working in a wet lab have any sort of side benefits apart from running your own lab?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[tortuga87]

Basically no. The PhD is a waste of time, particularly wet lab, if you will not use it afterwards. If you want to invent new devices then get a proper BioE PhD and work for somewhere like Medtronic. You do not need a PhD to try out devices that are already invented and are in clinical trials

 

[Medstart108]

Basically no. The PhD is a waste of time, particularly wet lab, if you will not use it afterwards. If you want to invent new devices then get a proper BioE PhD and work for somewhere like Medtronic. You do not need a PhD to try out devices that are already invented and are in clinical trials

Would you be able to get a BioE PhD without an engineering background? What about a masters in BioE?

 

[AZDev]

Engineering graduate programs, to my knowledge, generally require at least some form of engineering undergraduate program. I would be very surprised if one accepted you without that background (regardless of which engineering field it is from).

Source: I am a graduate of a Biomedical Engineering undergraduate program and am applying to MD-PhDs (specifically BiomedE PhDs).

 

[eteshoe]

Like @Argzero mentioned it’ll be difficult to get into even a BME masters degree w/o some prior engineering experience(or closely related - decent mastery of computational techniques, etc).

Honestly OP from your description, a masters would honestly be sufficient for your career goals. But even that’s not really necessary. If you can secure a 2-3 yr block of protected research time during your surgical residency and work in a translational BME lab (preferably one that interfaces w/ surgery a lot), you’ll gain the skills you want w/o having to take a bunch of coursework and etc to get another piece of paper.

My experience: ChE undergrad + worked as an engineer for a few yrs before working on my MD/PhD (though I have no real interest in any surgical specialties)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk