PhD/MD?

I'll be doing just that this summer. I had applied to medical school previously (95,96) but was never able to even get an interview. I went into a PhD program and decided to try for medical school again. I'm not really sure what you're asking, so if you can elaborate, it'd help me answer your questions.

 

I was in a PhD program and have left it and decided pursue an MD instead. It is difficult to decide not to finish something but I knew it something I did not really want to do. A life in academia just wasn't for me. I would still like to always continue teaching in some form or another, but the traditional university setting is not that appealing to me.

Although I did not apply MD/PhD, if the research bug bites me hard while in medical school, I would not rule out the option of starting up the PhD again (although my previous research had nothing to do with medicine whatsoever).

 

It is also possible to enroll in an MD/phD program, and complete your phD program before you begin any MD work. Some MD/phD students prefer to do it this way so that their MD education will not be interrupted before 3rd year.

 

I think all the programs (I don't know of any exceptions but they could exist) do it that way. You do the first two years with the medical students, than 2 to 4 years to complete the PhD, then you do years three/four of the medical program to complete the MD.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by mpp:
<strong>I think all the programs (I don't know of any exceptions but they could exist) do it that way. You do the first two years with the medical students, than 2 to 4 years to complete the PhD, then you do years three/four of the medical program to complete the MD.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">University of illinois champaign-urbana starts teh md/phd program with the phd part.

As for the original question, some people do phd then MD. I personally think the MD PHD route is MUCH better that PHD/Then md, if you knew from the beggining (much cheaper, a little shorter, and more intertwined).

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by mpp:
<strong>I think all the programs (I don't know of any exceptions but they could exist) do it that way. You do the first two years with the medical students, than 2 to 4 years to complete the PhD, then you do years three/four of the medical program to complete the MD.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">My understanding is that even though the standard program is set up that way, students can elect to do their phD part first (phD for 3 yrs, then straight MD for the next 4 yrs). I don't see why any MD/phD program would care what order their students choose to do it in, and I know a couple students at different schools completing their phD before their MD in MD/phD programs as well.

 

this is what i want to do as well (within the confines of a program, though). i dont want to have the worry of being accepted into an MD program, so i can focus on getting a PhD first. do you know if this is common or would i need to put in a "special request" to do this? how big of a deal is it for them to let you do it?

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Yiha:
<strong>kutastha-

Did your PhD degree help you a lot in getting into medical school? What made you decide to go back to medical school after going through years of PhD program?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I don't think it really helped. I never got an interview before and have only received 4 this time around (and 19 rejections). I decided to try again since that drive never really went away, even though it was suppressed during the first few years.

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif"><strong>Do you also work as research assistant (like during PhD program) while being a medical student? Is it possible given the busy schedule of medical student?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I'm not a medical student - I'm applying now. I don't think working in a lab during the year would be advisable. Yet, during the summer I know that many students find a lab to work in for those few months, but I can't imagine having enough time to take on lab work, at least in a rewarding way.

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by ckent:
<strong> </font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by mpp:
<strong>I think all the programs (I don't know of any exceptions but they could exist) do it that way. You do the first two years with the medical students, than 2 to 4 years to complete the PhD, then you do years three/four of the medical program to complete the MD.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">My understanding is that even though the standard program is set up that way, students can elect to do their phD part first (phD for 3 yrs, then straight MD for the next 4 yrs). I don't see why any MD/phD program would care what order their students choose to do it in, and I know a couple students at different schools completing their phD before their MD in MD/phD programs as well.</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">I think it is possible to do this at several programs, although I don't know if any program director would particularly encourage this route. You'd probably have to talk with them individually to get their take on it. One issue could be that having the first two years of medical school before deciding on a lab might allow you to 1) be exposed to a wide range of topics, 2) delay having to choose the type of research you want to do, and 3) allow you to integrate some clinical knowledge into your thesis work. Additionally, if you wanted to maintain clinical contact during the PhD phase, it would help to have some prior medical background.

Just my 2 cents...

 

Is it possible to enroll in a PhD program, do 3 years of the PhD, and then apply to the MD/PhD program in the same school...and have those years of PhD work count?