- Joined
- Jun 28, 2012
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Hi all,
Long time lurker, first time poster. I believe I have read most if not all of the phd to md threads which have been very insightful and helpful, however I still have a couple of questions.
Currently I am a 3rd year at a large public university that transferred from community college. I have a ~3.5 GPA and have not taken the MCAT. When I began college, I thought I was dead set on medical school, but after working in a lab for the first time I have found a passion for research. Naturally, I started seriously considering MSTP or getting a PhD after medical school but I came across a couple of problems.
1. I will most likely only be able to raise my GPA to a ~3.6 which would put me at a slight disadvantage when applying to MD let alone MSTP programs.
2. I have come to realize that at this point in my life, I really love science, but to get the grades to be competitive for medical school, I feel I would be sacrificing actually learning the material in my classes so I can memorize as much as possible.
I definitely want research to be a part of my career. Ideally I would love to run my own lab, mentor the students in my lab, and have the freedom to do really cool science.
However I also would really like to see patients in a clinic as well. I want to make a tangible difference in people's lives, and I also think that it allows physician-scientists to stay grounded in a way by keeping the big picture in mind: to alleviate the suffering caused by human disease.
Sorry for that long, idealistic, probably incredibly naive introduction. Basically what I am saying is that at this point in my life, I don't want to just memorize a bunch of information that I would actually enjoy learning, I would much rather spend 4-6 years in a lab doing, conversing about, and learning science. After that, I can reevaluate whether I want to continue down the academic TT route, or go to medical school in which case I will (hopefully) be wiser and more willing to go through those years of mental cramming.
So my question is, is this a good reason to consider getting a PhD first, or am I just too idealistic and stupid to see reality?
Long time lurker, first time poster. I believe I have read most if not all of the phd to md threads which have been very insightful and helpful, however I still have a couple of questions.
Currently I am a 3rd year at a large public university that transferred from community college. I have a ~3.5 GPA and have not taken the MCAT. When I began college, I thought I was dead set on medical school, but after working in a lab for the first time I have found a passion for research. Naturally, I started seriously considering MSTP or getting a PhD after medical school but I came across a couple of problems.
1. I will most likely only be able to raise my GPA to a ~3.6 which would put me at a slight disadvantage when applying to MD let alone MSTP programs.
2. I have come to realize that at this point in my life, I really love science, but to get the grades to be competitive for medical school, I feel I would be sacrificing actually learning the material in my classes so I can memorize as much as possible.
I definitely want research to be a part of my career. Ideally I would love to run my own lab, mentor the students in my lab, and have the freedom to do really cool science.
However I also would really like to see patients in a clinic as well. I want to make a tangible difference in people's lives, and I also think that it allows physician-scientists to stay grounded in a way by keeping the big picture in mind: to alleviate the suffering caused by human disease.
Sorry for that long, idealistic, probably incredibly naive introduction. Basically what I am saying is that at this point in my life, I don't want to just memorize a bunch of information that I would actually enjoy learning, I would much rather spend 4-6 years in a lab doing, conversing about, and learning science. After that, I can reevaluate whether I want to continue down the academic TT route, or go to medical school in which case I will (hopefully) be wiser and more willing to go through those years of mental cramming.
So my question is, is this a good reason to consider getting a PhD first, or am I just too idealistic and stupid to see reality?