Tissue Regeneration...PhD or MD?

[ThinkTooMuch]

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If i want to be involved in reasearch that attempts to find ways to restore human tissues would an MD or PhD be better? I do not have any personal need to be a "Doctor" or have patient contact other than to the extent trials would require human participants.

 

[DendWrite]

If i want to be involved in reasearch that attempts to find ways to restore human tissues would an MD or PhD be better? I do not have any personal need to be a "Doctor" or have patient contact other than to the extent trials would require human participants.

As long as you're willing to collaborate with an MD, I don't think you need one yourself. In fact, a PhD is most likely your best bet if you just want to get down to research ASAP. You sound like a great PhD candidate, actually. Some people I know see the MD as a "fallback," which is somewhat true...I know a few MD/PhD's who went into private practice because they didn't like / weren't super-successful at the research thing after they got the degree. It's the only caveat emptor ... it's possible to get an MD after a PhD, but it certainly makes things much longer.

For instance, take a look at how many PhD only people are working at Wake Forest (http://www.wfubmc.edu/Research/WFIRM/Faculty.htm) ... basically one of the best regenerative medicine research departments in the country that I'm aware of.

 

[ThinkTooMuch]

cool thanks.

 

[tensoranalysis]

I think you'll find differing philosophies. In general i'd go with simpler is better, and support the PhD only route. However, one could make the argument that a large element in research is intuition and understanding your system to the nth degree. If that is your research philosophy and you couple that with wanting to help and see your system on a personal and day to day basis, then by all means push for the MD/PhD.

You can also find some Physician investigators who have given up practicing completely, and the MD degree serves as a strong educational foundation on which they are researching diseases or potential advances to human medicine.

Regeneration medicine is also where my heart is, and for my specific case, the MD degree is absolutely necessary to the research I want to do. For one, learning everything you can about the human system is more than just absolutely difficult, but incomparable to the education and experience you'd receive in Med school. Further, I am a sole believer that a lot of research is intuition and being immersed in all aspects of your goal to help. For example, one of the most potent combinations in my opinion would be an oncologist or pathologist that researches cancer biology.

My opinion, wasn't necessarily asked for, but there it is..