The worth of a dual degree program - MD M.Ed

[Thenewguy02]

I am considering applying for a dual degree program, and it is influencing my decision for choosing a medical school. I enjoy teaching (albeit at a middle school level currently and some college physics back at my university). I've been involved in my universities "flipping" of the classroom. This is an area I want to work in with curriculum development as well as being an educator myself once I've finished medical school.


There are a lot of schools out there, but very few that offer this dual degree (MD M.Ed.) Is it worthwhile to go to a slightly lower ranked medical school that offers this degree? Will this degree differentiate myself significantly?

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[LizzyM]

I do think that it would be far better to do this type of academic training after your medical training and at the start of your first academic appointment. Most faculty I know who are doing curriculum design do not have this credential but at least one person in leadership does and earned it his 30s, IIRC.

 

[DrHart]

I am considering applying for a dual degree program, and it is influencing my decision for choosing a medical school. I enjoy teaching (albeit at a middle school level currently and some college physics back at my university). I've been involved in my universities "flipping" of the classroom. This is an area I want to work in with curriculum development as well as being an educator myself once I've finished medical school.


There are a lot of schools out there, but very few that offer this dual degree (MD M.Ed.) Is it worthwhile to go to a slightly lower ranked medical school that offers this degree? Will this degree differentiate myself significantly?

I imagine that getting the masters separate is the most common route. Very few schools that I've seen offer this type of dual degree program. Personally I wouldn't choose to go to a lower ranked school for both an MD and a M.Ed when you can go to a better school if you do them separately. Although I would bet some of the older and experienced folk on here will tell you if you want to develop curriculum, you don't necessarily need both degrees. Nor do you need both to be a medical educator. I would talk to a school advisor about this.

 

[Dr. Jan Itor]

Like the other posters have said, you don't need a masters for what you want to do. I have my M.Ed. and it's really done nothing for me other than a 2k/yr raise when I was teaching.

However, if you still want to get your M.Ed., it would be fairly easy to do as an attending. Most schools offer online classes and none of them are all that time-consuming. And it sounds like you might already be licensed, so you probably wouldn't have to deal with observation and student teaching.

But I bet once you have the MD, you'll not want the M.Ed.


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[Thenewguy02]

I appreciate the feedback! It sounds as though the M.Ed. during my medical education isn't the optimal time to do it, if it is worthwhile to do it at all. I think if I decide to attend this school it will be because I like it more than the other. There is one option within M.Ed. at the program that I am looking at is research focused, albeit a new program (M.Ed in Quantitative Methods | Psychology and Human Development | Departments | Peabody College of Education and Human Development | Vanderbilt University), and not necessarily following my goals of education reform, but still of interest to me. Would this type of degree help with matching, or is it still something best left until after? The 1 vs 2 extra years if you do it in medical school appeals to me.

 

[oopsaloo]

I think if I decide to attend this school it will be because I like it more than the other. There is one option within M.Ed. at the program that I am looking at is research focused, albeit a new program (M.Ed in Quantitative Methods | Psychology and Human Development | Departments | Peabody College of Education and Human Development | Vanderbilt University), and not necessarily following my goals of education reform, but still of interest to me.

1) Vandy is a great school.
2) If you like any one school over the others, that itself is enough of a reason to choose that school over others that might be perceived in "higher in rank". The added benefit is having the dual degree option should you want to do it.
3) OP, if you're passionate about education, then follow that passion and do what you love. Sounds like you're in a unique position as someone with professional teaching experience compared to many med students without that professional experience.

 

[LizzyM]

I appreciate the feedback! It sounds as though the M.Ed. during my medical education isn't the optimal time to do it, if it is worthwhile to do it at all. I think if I decide to attend this school it will be because I like it more than the other. There is one option within M.Ed. at the program that I am looking at is research focused, albeit a new program (M.Ed in Quantitative Methods | Psychology and Human Development | Departments | Peabody College of Education and Human Development | Vanderbilt University), and not necessarily following my goals of education reform, but still of interest to me. Would this type of degree help with matching, or is it still something best left until after? The 1 vs 2 extra years if you do it in medical school appeals to me.

This would not be a good idea if you want to be involved in medical education and work as a physician. This M.Ed. is preparing data analysts for school systems although it sounds like they are realistic in the assumption that many will be lured away to data analyst jobs in academic medical centers (better money to crunch numbers in clinical research studies than the standardized test scores of grade school kids). Med schools have number crunchers who assess student performance on exams, flag and notify those who fail or are borderline, and so forth. (Instructors and lecturers don't grade their own exams, they merely draft exam questions.)

The physicians I've met who have expertise in medical education have been more focused on theories of adult learning, training the trainers, how to teach and evaluate trainees in clinical rotations, how to develop training modules learning team based learning or problem based learning techniques, and the evaluation of these techniques compared with more traditional models of med ed.

 

[theNDhopeful44]

It would be easier for us to give you advice if we knew the other schools besides Vanderbilt that you're choosing between.