Turning down internal MSTP

[StayChillin]

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Hey all,

I am looking for advice on other factors I should be considering in what an MD/PhD can offer me down the line (thinking post-residency). I have been quite happy doing things my way as of yet. I currently attend a T10 school, have turned down T10 MSTP offers upon matriculating MD only(not accepted MSTP@current school) as I was content with my research track record and didn't see the added benefit of a PhD (@Neuronix opinions made me feel happy with my decision). I also have never desired to become a PI.

I came into medical school with XX high-impact pubs and have been fortunate to complete 2-3 more first author pubs in the "big 3" during the first two years of medical school. I would like to emphasize I was very lucky and productive during my gap years. I decided to take a stress-free research year with zero desire to publish but to pursue a fun high-risk project. After six months of no data, I pivoted back to continuing an extension of previous work and through sheer luck will be submitting to some high-impact journal by May.

I was encouraged to apply internally by my PI (which I did on a whim) and negotiated with admin that I would only accept the offer if ensured the PhD by June 2022 pending completion of the coursework and defense for this recent body of work. I would drop the MSTP in a heartbeat if this was not going to be the case. Three months into my research year, regret set in and the burnout of taking the year took a toll on me irrespective of how things have gone. I have had fun, yet I realized I have not made any steps towards identifying my future career and was really looking forward to the end of research altogether.

I have yet to figure out the added benefit a PhD will provide me down the line given my "track-record." Personally, I have always been proud of how much I have learned and have been satisfied without having three-letters next to my name. Finance-wise - I am a fully funded-first gen minority student and have been itching to figure out what specialty I want to do, and want to edge closer towards starting my professional career whatever that may be (not PI, maybe surgeon, maybe industry). I also have dirt-poor parents that will truly benefit from any future salary I make down the line.

My current mindset as of now is to turn down the internal MSTP offer as I don't want to waste a year checking boxes, aka completing coursework/defending a piece of work to academics when I know it's good enough. I am quite frankly over academic paper politics, to the point where I happily increase my author list by putting summer high school students/techs/med students on my papers for any contribution, be it a PCR or a math calculation, because I know it will be far more helpful for them than for me at this point.

Down the line, I don't see an opportunity where turning this down can hurt me (in industry or in academia) but I may be completely wrong. If anything, I reasoned if I do pursue academics, I think that 1-2 year spent pumping something out in my specialty of choice as a post-doc will be more beneficial in getting a faculty job than spending another year spinning my wheels taking coursework that will not help me.

Basically, the question here is if there is a difference in XX pub MD me vs XX pub MD/PhD me? What are the tangible barriers I may face down the line if any?

 

[Fencer]

For residency, the PhD will give you very little, particularly for surgical specialties. The PhD is a personal achievement, but it also gives you a little more legitimacy among some groups that you understand research and contributed/led a research project. That might be helpful as you move up in Industry or present to investors. In reality, our pedigree is about manuscripts and more manuscripts... over a period of time, these manuscripts build contribution(s) to your field. Given your success being a co-author AND your intent on not being a PI, the only gap is first-author(s) publications. You might be competitive for K awards, if you are intending to build an academic career (even if not planning to be PI). If you are looking for salary support, private practice has limited use for a PhD.

 

[tortuga87]

I would recommend not doing the PhD in your case. You basically already have PhD level knowledge based on your productivity. A PhD would be a waste of your time and intellect. Also, damn bro you on fire

 

[SurfingDoctor]

If you don’t want to pursue research, don’t waste your time with a PhD. Having high impact publications AND being a minority will give you all the help you need in getting the residency spot you want. Complete the application with good step 2 scores and letters of rec and you’re golden.

 

[pazzer2]

I've been in pharma industry for 20+ years. About half of my colleagues are MD, and the rest are MD/PhD. The PhD will help get some oohs and ahhs during the CV review. But your research will have to stand on its own. I'm an MD and have a Google H-Index over 50. That puts most MD/PhDs and academic PIs to shame. This is because I am interested in research and have made a conscious effort to publish. In the end its your CV that people will look at, the MD/PhD isn't really that important (except for residency matching).