Ups and Downs of Research

[JustAdocInBox]

Hello Everyone,

With 08 applications opening soon, I still have some last minute sentiments to work through before deciding to apply MSTP. Most of the time, I love my research. I love being in the lab and working with my mentor to develop the project and implement it. However, there are times when everything seems to be going wrong. Experiments fail, certain necessary equipment are out of order, grants rejected, etc. In the midst of a "bad" week in research, I often find myself asking: Why put myself through this? Why condem myself to 8 more year only to end up making less money. Going streight MD and running my own practice where I don't have to rely on a review committe or a government agency for my success seems to make so much sense.

My question to the people in this forum is, especially current MSTP students, were there times in your undergrad reserach where MD/PhD was the last thing you wanted to do? Are there times in your current PhD reserach where you wish you could just finish and start working? And finally, is this occasional but very strong doubt a good enough reason not to apply MSTP?

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[SupergreenMnM]

You CAN do research with an MD. Whether you do an MD, or an MD/PhD a lot of your learning will be on the job while you do a postdoc. Obviously not many MDs do that, and there are also research based residencies. I did a PhD before applying to medical schools and sometimes I wish I had only done a masters; however its a pretty individual thing as I like research but don't LOVE it. It depends on what you want to do, do you want to do research, or be a clincian? Very few do both, and even less do both well.

 

[ThatOne]

Hehe, I can't count the number of times when I thought, **** all this science **** I'm going into ****** business! And then a few hours later I'd be crawling back to lab, an addict needing to test just one more idea, just one more... I still applied and most of time I'm glad I did. My philosophy is that bad times just make you appreciate the good ones that much more.

 

[JustAdocInBox]

My philosophy is that bad times just make you appreciate the good ones that much more.

well said.

 

[marctam86]

theres a good book on the topic of frustration in science called "sex drugs and dna"

the first chapter is available on its site

http://www.sexdrugsanddna.com/about.htm


even if you love research, its still a tough and trying field, from what ive gathered.