Questions on academic medicine

[Caveman7]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I've been really interested in the idea of academic medicine, although I don't think my understanding of the field is entirely clear. To my understanding, an academic physician often does a mixture of the four: 1. cares for patients 2. teach and mentor students 3. research 4. health policy. I am interested in all four things, but am wondering in this day and age if a md/phD is necessary to pursue a career in academia in terms of the research side. On that note, I've been considering the MSTP route, but I don't know if my numbers hold up, along with the fact that I've no publications (had some real bad luck). Is there anything else I should know about academic medicine?

 

[eagle34]

It's really hard to split up one's time between 4 things that you mentioned above and do it well as an expert. Academic physicians can do a mixture of things but they usually have a clear focus of one - either patient care, research, medical education, or something else (e.g. public policy, etc). So, if an academic physician focuses on research, then he spends the majority of his time doing research and then has a couple of patient clinics a week.
You don't need to have PhD to be an academic researcher - a lot of physicians I know who spend majority of their time in research do not have PhDs. Some have MPH or MSc degrees, usually with focus on epidemiology/biostatistics to better understand research methods and analysis. Those interested in research spend a few years during fellowship doing just research. Plus there are tracks in residency that lead you to a career in research.

 

[Barcu]

As eagle said, those are 4 things an academic researcher can do, but it is rare to spend a significant time on all 4.

There are physicians who mostly teach, and see patients occasionally and may do some research too. There are professors who mostly just see patients and may give a lecture occasionally and will have students that rotate with them. There may be professors who mostly research and occasionally are in clinic. It's kind of a mix, and it also depends on the type of institution you are at. More will research at a school with a higher research ranking.

You don't need extra degrees to research, but it does help. If you want to spend most of your time doing research, looking into MD/PhD is not a bad option. Most of the big research physicians at my school are MD/PhD, but not all of them.

 

[Narmerguy]

I also advise you to check into this forum: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=32

Where a lot of the users focus on having an academic career with the research component being particularly important.

What others have said I agree with, and will say that you don't need a PhD to do research. Some feel that the PhD helps them a lot, others feel that it actually is detrimental. Either way, I wouldn't assume you're not qualified. You don't need pubs and you may still be competitive with your grades, you should check out that forum.

 

[Caveman7]

thanks guys