Trying to decide between MD and PhD

[rollingstone27]

I was wondering if anyone has been in the situation, and what you did to aid you in making a decision.

Is there an SDN equivalent forum for students pursuing a PhD degree?

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[gmcguitar4]

Do you prefer patient contact or research?

 

[drno31]

I've heard this before and found it to be helpful:

Only go into medicine if you can't see yourself doing anything else.

Medicine is hard path to follow and if you're doubting it now, how will you feel when you're studying for Step 1?

 

[Slowpoke]

I was wondering if anyone has been in the situation, and what you did to aid you in making a decision.

Is there an SDN equivalent forum for students pursuing a PhD degree?

I once had this same dilemma on my own plate.

In the end, I reasoned that I would be able to do research as an MD if I were to ever be unfortunate enough to realize that the clinical responsibilities of being a physician were not to my liking.

I think in order to go down this route of reason, you have to weigh clinical medicine higher than scientific research.

In response to drno, I think it is healthy to doubt and to question. It is only through such processes that you truly come to terms with what you are doing.

 

[dougfunnie]

Do you prefer patient contact or research?

This.

Either type of advanced degree leads to a job that usually involves more than regular 40-hr weeks. Think about what you would be happier doing all day, every day, for 40 years. You have to love it.

A simplified version of how I made the decision:
1) imagined myself doing research all the time and teaching on the side
2) realized that my projects exhaust me and I would burn out quickly if I had to do this for a living
3) went back and spoke with a relative who is a physician, shadowed them
4) realized that working with patients was my calling
5) realized the teaching aspect was what was drawing me to non-medical academia, and that physicians are still teachers

 

[dougfunnie]

Should have refreshed before posting. I agree with you, Slowpoke, on the questioning part. I grew up with that "I want to be a doctor" idealism, questioned it in college and thought about grad programs, and ultimately the rejection of the other profession is what brought me back.

I'm not sure how I could write a PS if I hadn't ever seriously questioned my motivations like I did.

 

[Slowpoke]

I'm not sure how I could write a PS if I hadn't ever seriously questioned my motivations like I did.

100% agree with you here! 🙂

 

[rollingstone27]

Do you guys know of an SDN equivalent forum for students pursuing a PhD degree?

 

[KinasePro]

Either type of advanced degree leads to a job that usually involves more than regular 40-hr weeks.

Though your employment prospects will be 100000x better with an MD. The job market for PhD's is in horrendous shape, and I don't know any credible PhD's who would recommend it over MD or an MD/PhD.

Spend some time researching the employment crisis for PhD's in this country, and be sure you're comfortable with those challenges before going down the graduate school path.

 

[Dr. Ducky]

I tried research in UG and just couldn't see myself doing it on a daily basis. I also agree about the PS. It's difficult to write a convincing essay if you yourself don't believe what you're writing.

Here's an humorous PhD explanation for everyone's viewing pleasure this AM:
http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/

 

[Big N Tasty]

I tried research in UG and just couldn't see myself doing it on a daily basis. I also agree about the PS. It's difficult to write a convincing essay if you yourself don't believe what you're writing.

Here's an humorous PhD explanation for everyone's viewing pleasure this AM:
http://matt.might.net/articles/phd-school-in-pictures/

I love that comic. In one of the buildings at my university, there's a screen that constantly displays new research findings, today in history type slides, and after a couple cycles, the phd comic shows up lol.

 

[Gut Shot]

Do you prefer patient contact or writing grants that don't get funded?

Fixed that for you.

 

[Gut Shot]

Though your employment prospects will be 100000x better with an MD. The job market for PhD's is in horrendous shape, and I don't know any credible PhD's who would recommend it over MD or an MD/PhD.

Spend some time researching the employment crisis for PhD's in this country, and be sure you're comfortable with those challenges before going down the graduate school path.

This.

 

[Lil Mick]

Though your employment prospects will be 100000x better with an MD. The job market for PhD's is in horrendous shape, and I don't know any credible PhD's who would recommend it over MD or an MD/PhD.

Spend some time researching the employment crisis for PhD's in this country, and be sure you're comfortable with those challenges before going down the graduate school path.

It really depends on your field. Applied math or computer science will open many doors (some with large salaries and good hours, if those are important to you) and give you good flexibility with working. However, biology PhDs are facing tough times getting funded, and industry hasn't provided enough opportunities to compensate.

 

[Danlee07]

I'll add another option related to applied math. If you get into a top program for a MFE... then you are golden.. Except to get into quant is ridiculously hard. This is the $ option

 

[sliceofbread136]

I dunno, from what I hear the research game just sounds like a terrible work environment.

 

[EnergyDrink]

I did my M.S. with the plans on going for a Ph.D., although I always considered medicine, I figured Ph.D. was an easier route, and I'd enjoy the lifestyle more.

When I got to the lab, it lacked people, other than the other scientists. Its a very tedious job, and fairly lackluster IMO. I'm glad I got so much research experience, and I'm sure it'll be useful, but its just not for me. Keep in mind that most of the time undergraduate research is not real research. Most of the time you're given experiments that are nearly guaranteed to work with defined protocols. Most of the time you're tying up loose ends that a graduate student didn't get around to.

Although I love my PI to death, we're on severely limited funding. I basically survived on scrap materials, and managed to put together a very interesting thesis. Had I more funding and time, I think I would have a fairly significant paper to publish.

And thats what it comes down to. In academic research you live and die with funding... not a way I want to live my life.

Another note is that people think a medical graduate can go in to research. This is wrong unless you already have strong research experience. Many of the medical students and MDs we collaborate with really don't know which end of a pipette to use, they're inexperienced. There are opportunities for MDs to do research, but don't think you won't have to pay your dues in the lab.

Right now the NIH has a hard-on for Physician Scientists, and they're having an easier time finding funding, but its still tough. This environment can change with the economy, or an anti-science president.

To summarize: Being a academic scientist is about uncertainty. You don't know if your experiments will pay off. You don't know if your findings will be significant. You don't know if you'll be able to secure funding. If you're okay with this, and comfortable with the idea of falling back on private industry, then go for it.

This is just my 2 years as a graduate student speaking, and my situation is likely entirely different from others.

 

[niblet]

Conventional wisdom says:

-Get an MD only if you can't see yourself doing something else.
Well, I plain old prefer science to clinical medicine so it looks like the MD is out.

-Don't get a PhD.
Scratch off graduate school, too.

This sucks.