PhD in Immunology before Residency

[Dr. M17]

Hello Everyone!
I hope you're well. I am a final year US-Img who is considering doing a PhD. I haven't given my Steps yet. A PhD Immunology (not in America but in top 150 university globally) is what I'm thinking. I plan to pursue a career in heme/onc. Since immunotherapy is the future, can this help me in my match application for medicine? Or will the PhD have more effect on my fellowship match? I know MD-PhD is beneficial when applying to Rad Onc but don't know about IM.
This last question might be weird but do MD-PhD students pursue MBAs often? Someone suggested me to get business experience and then work in cancer startups.

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[Ubba]

I hope you're not doing this strictly to bolster your candidacy for Heme/Onc, a specialty that's always just a few reimbursement adjustments away from becoming not financially worth the opportunity cost of fellowship.

To answer your question, though, any MD/PhD is essentially guaranteed to match at a competitive residency and a fellowship, absent visa issues,

 

[Dr. M17]

I hope you're not doing this strictly to bolster your candidacy for Heme/Onc, a specialty that's always just a few reimbursement adjustments away from becoming not financially worth the opportunity cost of fellowship.

To answer your question, though, any MD/PhD is essentially guaranteed to match at a competitive residency and a fellowship, absent visa issues,

Wow. I didn't know that. Could anyone please tell me more on why heme/onc is not worth financially the opportunity cost of a fellowship?

 

[NotAProgDirector]

If you want to practice clinically in the US, do NOT do a PhD now. The delay you will create will be fatal to your career. In fact, you're already behind as far as planning is concerned -- you should have already taken at least S1 so you could do use clinical rotations in your final year. Many / most sites require that you have passed at least some of the step exams.

 

[Dr. M17]

If you want to practice clinically in the US, do NOT do a PhD now. The delay you will create will be fatal to your career. In fact, you're already behind as far as planning is concerned -- you should have already taken at least S1 so you could do use clinical rotations in your final year. Many / most sites require that you have passed at least some of the step exams.

It'll only be a 2 year PhD. Do you think that is too much of a delay? Should I keep doing some sort of rotations in between?

 

[Ubba]

I didn't say it's not worth it. I said that it (like many other specialties) is vulnerable to potential structural reimbursement changes that could render specialization in this field a financial loser of a decision if enacted. As things stand now, it's likely financially appropriate to pursue fellowship if the passion for the field is there. But I would not recommend that someone spend years pursuing a PhD just to essentially guarantee a match in Heme/Onc. Financially speaking, at least. If you have a personal reason to pursue the doctorate, that's a different ballgame.

 

[NotAProgDirector]

Yes. And a 2 year PhD won't impress anyone here in the US.

 

[mlfpprf]

It'll only be a 2 year PhD. Do you think that is too much of a delay? Should I keep doing some sort of rotations in between?

PhD programs are NOT 2 years long. Masters are 1-2 years long. Start your residency and fellowship as early as possible.

 

[mszzeta]

Hello Everyone!
I hope you're well. I am a final year US-Img who is considering doing a PhD. I haven't given my Steps yet. A PhD Immunology (not in America but in top 150 university globally) is what I'm thinking. I plan to pursue a career in heme/onc. Since immunotherapy is the future, can this help me in my match application for medicine? Or will the PhD have more effect on my fellowship match? I know MD-PhD is beneficial when applying to Rad Onc but don't know about IM.
This last question might be weird but do MD-PhD students pursue MBAs often? Someone suggested me to get business experience and then work in cancer startups.

Do NOT do any research OUTSIDE of US. Doing research in US may help in certain circumstance, if you can build connections and clinical experience. Doing PhD is too much and not worth. The MOST IMPORTANT is your USMLE scores. Having a green card can also be tremendously helpful

 

[Dr. M17]

Do NOT do any research in OUTSIDE of US. Doing research in US may help in certain circumstance, if you can build connections and clinical experience. Doing PhD is too much and not worth. The MOST IMPORTANT is your USMLE scores. Having a green card can also be tremendously help.

Will the green card help me much even though I graduated from a foreign university?

 

[mszzeta]

Will the green card help me much even though I graduated from a foreign university?

Yes. Having it alone is certainly not a ticket to match, but will significantly increase your chance (still, I would consider the score single most important factor...And it is to a large degree "modifiable" based on your effort and time)