Physician-scientist path advice for M3

[Ask Jeeves MD]

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Hey, I am looking for insight into setting up a career as a physician-scientist in radiology. My favorite thing about M3 so far has been the imaging and interacting with the radiologist which made me think about applying for rads. I am a MD/PhD student with a background in molecular biology and I want to have a lab in addition to clinical work. I was wondering if this kind of set up is possible in rads and what my chances are of matching to a program that would have the research opportunities/funding available to transition into an independent investigator.

3rd year MD/PhD
Midwest mid-tier program

Step 1: 245
Step 2: Not taken yet
Pre-clinical: Mostly honors
Clinicals: 4 passes
Research: 5 publications before med school (1 first author), grad school paper is pending acceptance, 2 radiology projects with 1 being written up at the moment, 2 other projects in ENT and Rad onc being written up
EC: Minimal, some free clinic and volunteering at children's hospital

Thank you

 

[GadRads]

It's possible to be a physician scientist in radiology, but I think more challenging than in fields such as IM and pediatrics. Workload is going up and as an attending you have to look at each study closely, and this takes time. When you take an academic job, you hope you'll find a department that will give you protected time to build your research program without slashing your salary.

Some programs have dedicated research tracks such as Penn and UTSW. At UTSW you have to do an additional year, so not ideal. At Penn, UCSF and MGH it's possible to devote most of you R4/PGY5 to research without taking an additional year.

It is very competitive at the top, but I think all these programs will look at your application.

 

[Ask Jeeves MD]

Great, thank you for your reply. I wish I enjoyed IM more because the path would be more straightforward. For rads is it possible to have multiple research days a week to run a lab or do people do weeks on/off? Sorry for the basic questions, I spoke with the residency director here and they said they weren't very familiar with the research track.

From working at a big name place then now at very middle of the road program I get that training at a top research institute is almost a prereq to getting physician scientist job. I always feel bad saying that because I really like my home program and think they do a good job training/teaching. It is good to know that I might have a chance at big places because nothing in my application is very spectacular.

 

[Cognovi]

For rads is it possible to have multiple research days a week to run a lab or do people do weeks on/off?

Yes. Because there is no need for continuity of care on multiple consecutive days, radiology is amenable to all kinds of schedules.

 

[Dave1980]

Possible but highly unlikely unless you are bringing in grants to offset your lack of clinical productivity,

 

[SeisK]

Possible but highly unlikely unless you are bringing in grants to offset your lack of clinical productivity,

Which isn’t necessarily difficult if you’re coming from a top 20, doubly so because grants in radiology are less difficult to achieve than in other scientific fields because of the lack of interest in research, triply so because OP is an MD PhD.

Id say “highly unlikely” is highly unlikely in this circumstance.

 

[Dave1980]

Which isn’t necessarily difficult if you’re coming from a top 20, doubly so because grants in radiology are less difficult to achieve than in other scientific fields because of the lack of interest in research, triply so because OP is an MD PhD.

Id say “highly unlikely” is highly unlikely in this circumstance.

Getting grants is REALLY hard in any field. We aren't talking about $15,000 RSNA grants we are talking about NIH R01 grants for hundreds of thousands of dollars. They don't put any amount aside for Radiology...sorry but the above comment is just wrong.

 

[Cognovi]

There's nothing special about radiology and getting funded as a researcher. There are radiologist-scientists in proportion to the size of the field. They're concentrated at top institutions, as with other fields. A molecular biology background is fine, as is engineering. MGH, for example, has 10 active R01 and U01-funded projects split among 6 radiologists who practice clinically a minority of the time. The topics span the entire spectrum from bench biology to clinical research to health services research.

1. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results
2. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results
3. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results
4. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results
5. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results
6. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results
7. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results
8. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results
9. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results
10. Project Information - NIH RePORTER - NIH Research Portfolio Online Reporting Tools Expenditures and Results

To answer your original question, this set up is possible in rads. If you're motivated to do research, the opportunities are there. Go for it.