haresparebear
Full Member
- Joined
- Feb 22, 2023
- Messages
- 11
- Reaction score
- 6
[deleted]
Last edited:
[deleted]
- Thread starter haresparebear
- Start date
- Status
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2005
- Messages
- 27,743
- Reaction score
- 51,543
Do you have any medical schools nearby?* If so, you might search their faculty listings for MD/PhD and MD/MS with a focus on those who have a Master of Science in Clinical Investigation. This became a pretty common degree for people to earn during fellowships as the feds poured money into developing academic medical centers' training programs in clinical and translational research. Once you've identified some faculty, have a look at what they've been publishing (most schools make it easy and the publications are shown right on the faculty member's page) and then pick a few to cold call (or email) with a request to shadow or to do an informational interview to learn a bit about how they combine medicine and research.
That would be my recommended approach to getting an idea of how people actually combine their two degrees. Keep in mind that almost all MSCI grads did med school first and then earned the MSCI in the final two years of fellowship training.
*if you don't have any medical schools nearby you could still contact people at almost any med school and ask if you could do an informational interview by phone or Zoom.
That would be my recommended approach to getting an idea of how people actually combine their two degrees. Keep in mind that almost all MSCI grads did med school first and then earned the MSCI in the final two years of fellowship training.
*if you don't have any medical schools nearby you could still contact people at almost any med school and ask if you could do an informational interview by phone or Zoom.
I interviewed for MD/PhD this year, and it seemed like having a family is difficult while training, but not impossible- at least 2 students at each interview day I went to had children. I got the impression that it would actually be easier to start a family during your grad school years (typically years 3-6) than it would be during M3/4 or residency.
I think you would be competitive for MD/PhD programs, however it may be difficult to justify why you want the PhD if you don't plan to focus on research. The 'classic' MD-PhD aims for 80-20 split for lab to clinic time.
Doing the MD-PhD for financial reasons is imo, not worth it. You don't have loans, but you miss out on at minimum 4 years of earning. MD-PhDs also typically go into academic medicine, with lower salaries.
As I am just starting my MD-PhD journey, I can't offer much advice on long term career paths- but what I did when I was trying to figure this out was just cold email people in my institution and ask if they had time to chat about their career path. Look for clinicians who do research and see if they'd be willing to talk to you about it.
I think you would be competitive for MD/PhD programs, however it may be difficult to justify why you want the PhD if you don't plan to focus on research. The 'classic' MD-PhD aims for 80-20 split for lab to clinic time.
Doing the MD-PhD for financial reasons is imo, not worth it. You don't have loans, but you miss out on at minimum 4 years of earning. MD-PhDs also typically go into academic medicine, with lower salaries.
As I am just starting my MD-PhD journey, I can't offer much advice on long term career paths- but what I did when I was trying to figure this out was just cold email people in my institution and ask if they had time to chat about their career path. Look for clinicians who do research and see if they'd be willing to talk to you about it.
- Joined
- Oct 14, 2011
- Messages
- 20,225
- Reaction score
- 15,309
Suggesting: Student Research and Publishing and Physician Scientists .
The APSA also hosts occasional webinars, archived on YouTube. You should be able to find their chats which are usually run by other MSTP students. I'm sure your question has crossed many students' minds, and the APSA should have some stories from some PS's who "made it."
Also, what specifically are the questions you have for specific career paths? My colleagues at the NIH OITE have done numerous career workshops and chats that are also archived on YouTube over the years.
The APSA also hosts occasional webinars, archived on YouTube. You should be able to find their chats which are usually run by other MSTP students. I'm sure your question has crossed many students' minds, and the APSA should have some stories from some PS's who "made it."
Also, what specifically are the questions you have for specific career paths? My colleagues at the NIH OITE have done numerous career workshops and chats that are also archived on YouTube over the years.
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2016
- Messages
- 2,360
- Reaction score
- 2,771
I won't sugarcoat too much (and there's some good advice above about how to get some additional info on the dual degree pathways). If you don't have a strong reason to pursue a PhD then don't do it. The PhD is a very fun time to explore and grow your scientific skillset - it's also super frustrating when experiments or planned studies don't work out as expected and you spend a lot of your time troubleshooting. I say this as someone who's wrapped up their PhD but had to delay getting back to the clinic by a yr due to experiments shifting my timeline. Overall I enjoyed it but I cannot stress that it's not for everyone.
As far as family planning - there is not great time but grad school is certainly an option (though I wouldn't advocate the PhD just because of that lol).
You can certainly build a career as a clinical heavy attending physician that takes on some smaller or easier to implement research questions. That training is usually pursued during residency or fellowship (depending on your specialty).
As far as family planning - there is not great time but grad school is certainly an option (though I wouldn't advocate the PhD just because of that lol).
You can certainly build a career as a clinical heavy attending physician that takes on some smaller or easier to implement research questions. That training is usually pursued during residency or fellowship (depending on your specialty).
Last edited:
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2005
- Messages
- 27,743
- Reaction score
- 51,543
Just picked a top school at random at looked at a couple divisions with in the Dept of Medicine to get some examples of the kinds of things MDs with MS degrees are working on.
(MD/MSc)leads an NIH-funded program focusing on the hormonal alterations that occur with aging and the clinical impact of these changes Current projects include studies defining cutoffs for thyroid dysfunction in older men and women; the role of thyroid hormone treatment in cardiovascular disease, hormonal treatments for the frailty syndrome; and metabolic changes in men and women who sustain a hip fracture.
(MD/MS) conducts patient-oriented diabetes research that aims at understanding the pathogenesis of various forms of diabetes and the in vivo mechanisms of new diabetes treatments. Dr. R..'s research program is in particular focused on islet function and replacement in type 1 diabetes and pancreatogenic forms of diabetes such as cystic fibrosis-related diabetes.
(MD/MSCE (MS in Clinical Epidemiology)) How simple blood tests – using new markers – can predict heart damage with cancer therapy. We are also studying the role of new blood markers of oxidative stress – and how they can predict who will develop heart damage with anthracycline chemotherapy.
(MD/MSc)leads an NIH-funded program focusing on the hormonal alterations that occur with aging and the clinical impact of these changes Current projects include studies defining cutoffs for thyroid dysfunction in older men and women; the role of thyroid hormone treatment in cardiovascular disease, hormonal treatments for the frailty syndrome; and metabolic changes in men and women who sustain a hip fracture.
(MD/MS) conducts patient-oriented diabetes research that aims at understanding the pathogenesis of various forms of diabetes and the in vivo mechanisms of new diabetes treatments. Dr. R..'s research program is in particular focused on islet function and replacement in type 1 diabetes and pancreatogenic forms of diabetes such as cystic fibrosis-related diabetes.
(MD/MSCE (MS in Clinical Epidemiology)) How simple blood tests – using new markers – can predict heart damage with cancer therapy. We are also studying the role of new blood markers of oxidative stress – and how they can predict who will develop heart damage with anthracycline chemotherapy.
- Status
Similar threads
