The emerging field of medical geology

[Whitefox]

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I have recently come into an interest in geology, but it stands at odds with my great interest in medicine and biomedical research.

However, if recent articles are any indication, medical geology is a discipline that is slowly emerging. You can see evidence of this below.

http://www.geologica-acta.com/pdf/vol0503a05.pdf
http://www.medicalgeology.org/pages... Geology - an emerging speciality Selinus.pdf


So my question is: does anyone here see pursuing an MD/PhD in geology as a possibility and is a career as a medical geologist a feasible option?

Are there even any programs that acknowledge geology as a possible PhD field, or would I be on my own for funding in that regard? Would I have to enter a 5-6 year geology graduate program and medical school separately?

 

[StIGMA]

It may be more palatable to express an interest in epidemiology/public health (if you are interested in those aspects) or molecular biology/hard sciences with a focus on medical geology, rather than on geology primarily.

It depends on what specifically you would like to do, and your research options will be limited by the investigators at your future institution. For example, would you be more interested in the health impacts of arsenic exposure on metabolic pathways and coming up with potential therapeutic options to these environmental exposures (which is not primarily a geological question), or are you more interested in how arsenic seeps into ground water/other means of exposure?

If you are simply interested in exposures/field work, you do not need a PhD. An MD with perhaps a year of well-selected public health/geological research would suffice for your career interests. If you are interested in medical geology/geology, why do you need an MD?

It would help if you stated precisely what type of questions you would like to address.

 

[mercaptovizadeh]

I have recently come into an interest in geology, but it stands at odds with my great interest in medicine and biomedical research.

However, if recent articles are any indication, medical geology is a discipline that is slowly emerging. You can see evidence of this below.

http://www.geologica-acta.com/pdf/vol0503a05.pdf
http://www.medicalgeology.org/pages... Geology - an emerging speciality Selinus.pdf


So my question is: does anyone here see pursuing an MD/PhD in geology as a possibility and is a career as a medical geologist a feasible option?

Are there even any programs that acknowledge geology as a possible PhD field, or would I be on my own for funding in that regard? Would I have to enter a 5-6 year geology graduate program and medical school separately?

I think you could better sell this by doing a PhD in environmental chemistry, with a focus on bioinorganic chemistry and heavy metals....some potential tie in to therapeutic metals, such as platinum and gold. I just don't see any other application of geology.