Where can I see myself in ten years?

[steelersfan1243]

---

Members do not see this ad.

I am having a very frustrating time trying to answer this question since apparently my google skills suck. I want to pursue research as a MD. In ten years what can I expect if I pursue this pathway? After MD, do I go for a postdoc or residency in IM? How many years is a fellowship? Could I really expect to be starting my own lab at this time?

Also would any one mind taking a very quick glance on, "Why this school" paragraph I wrote and see if it actually adds onto the application? Any help wold be appreciated, please and thank you!

 

[Fedekz]

I wouldn't mind taking a look at your essay, you can PM me

 

[steelersfan1243]

Bump

 

[NickNaylor]

Unless you're getting a PhD, you won't be doing a post-doc. However, it wouldn't be uncommon to perhaps do a research fellowship for a year or two that functions more or less as a post-doc if you're an MD that wants to get some research experience and have some dedicated time focused to research. In fact, some residency programs have dedicated research years, and many have "research tracks" that allow you to substitute dedicated research time in lieu of electives. This might be something you look into when you get to that point. I have no idea how common this is in IM, but it was something that most psych programs had when I was interviewing for residency.

It's generally not advised to take time off between medical school and residency for whatever reason due to concerns that you'll lose your "clinical chops." Thus, I imagine if you do dedicated research time it would be during your residency or perhaps after you complete your residency. But I'm not too familiar on how exactly that career works.

 

[steelersfan1243]

Unless you're getting a PhD, you won't be doing a post-doc. However, it wouldn't be uncommon to perhaps do a research fellowship for a year or two that functions more or less as a post-doc if you're an MD that wants to get some research experience and have some dedicated time focused to research. In fact, some residency programs have dedicated research years, and many have "research tracks" that allow you to substitute dedicated research time in lieu of electives. This might be something you look into when you get to that point. I have no idea how common this is in IM, but it was something that most psych programs had when I was interviewing for residency.

It's generally not advised to take time off between medical school and residency for whatever reason due to concerns that you'll lose your "clinical chops." Thus, I imagine if you do dedicated research time it would be during your residency or perhaps after you complete your residency. But I'm not too familiar on how exactly that career works.

Thanks for the reply! So it would be reasonable to conclude that I would be starting my own lab in ten years? Assuming residency is 4-6 years?

 

[NickNaylor]

If you're including the 4 years of medical education, no, I don't think that's likely though I suppose possible. But really with these questions I don't think the accuracy of the plan matters so much as long as it's somewhat reasonable. The question is really asked to gauge what your long-term goals are (and to ensure that you've actually thought about those goals) as well as to get a sense of what your general interests are.

 

[Lucca]

The Physician Scientist forum has a stickied thread of physician scientist careers (md phd, md only, PhD to md) that may be useful to you.

 

[mimelim]

If you're including the 4 years of medical education, no, I don't think that's likely though I suppose possible. But really with these questions I don't think the accuracy of the plan matters so much as long as it's somewhat reasonable. The question is really asked to gauge what your long-term goals are (and to ensure that you've actually thought about those goals) as well as to get a sense of what your general interests are.

I think that the primary focus of this question is to check whether you have any idea about what you are getting into. It is to weed out people that are in love with an errant notion of what medical school is and focus on trying to collect people that have a higher chance of success because they are less likely to bail when they finally figure out that they should be doing something else.

I am having a very frustrating time trying to answer this question since apparently my google skills suck. I want to pursue research as a MD. In ten years what can I expect if I pursue this pathway? After MD, do I go for a postdoc or residency in IM? How many years is a fellowship? Could I really expect to be starting my own lab at this time?

Also would any one mind taking a very quick glance on, "Why this school" paragraph I wrote and see if it actually adds onto the application? Any help wold be appreciated, please and thank you!

It is a problem if this question is difficult to answer. How can you 'know' you want to pursue research as an MD if you don't know anything about the pathway and are depending on google to answer the question for you while writing a response to an application question? I am extremely wary of a student who is fixated on starting their own lab for a variety of reasons. First, people starting their own research labs are people that gain the confidence of the people ahead of them to invest in their future productivity. That means funding allocation from hospitals, schools and the government. This means allocation of institution resources by superiors.

Assuming that you are a graduating senior, 4 years of medical school and 3-7 years of residency/fellowship. 10 years from now you will either still be in residency or you will have just starting an attending position.

 

[Goro]

To clarify what my learned colleague is saying, Adcoms like people who look before they leap.

I think that the primary focus of this question is to check whether you have any idea about what you are getting into. It is to weed out people that are in love with an errant notion of what medical school is and focus on trying to collect people that have a higher chance of success because they are less likely to bail when they finally figure out that they should be doing something else.



It is a problem if this question is difficult to answer. How can you 'know' you want to pursue research as an MD if you don't know anything about the pathway and are depending on google to answer the question for you while writing a response to an application question? I am extremely wary of a student who is fixated on starting their own lab for a variety of reasons. First, people starting their own research labs are people that gain the confidence of the people ahead of them to invest in their future productivity. That means funding allocation from hospitals, schools and the government. This means allocation of institution resources by superiors.

Assuming that you are a graduating senior, 4 years of medical school and 3-7 years of residency/fellowship. 10 years from now you will either still be in residency or you will have just starting an attending position.

 

[mimelim]

To clarify what my learned colleague is saying, Adcoms like people who look before they leap.

To clarify, we all like people people who look before they leap. It isn't like adcoms have crazy high standards 😉

 

[Affiche]

To clarify what my learned colleague is saying, Adcoms like people who look before they leap.

I hate this question.

I'm interested in primary care, but I'm excited to learn about other fields and I'm not set on any one in particular. Further, beyond working in an underserved area, I'm very open to living in a different geographical region. For questions that ask "where do you see yourself at the conclusion of your training?", I'm not sure what the point of answering this is when I think the statistic is something like ~65% of medical students change their mind about which field they'd like to practice in.

Beyond answering that I like X and Y about primary care, but I'm open to other fields as well, along with being open to living in any region of the country, what could I possibly elaborate on?

 

[mimelim]

I hate this question.

I'm interested in primary care, but I'm excited to learn about other fields and I'm not set on any one in particular. Further, beyond working in an underserved area, I'm very open to living in a different geographical region. For questions that ask "where do you see yourself at the conclusion of your training?", I'm not sure what the point of answering this is when I think the statistic is something like ~65% of medical students change their mind about which field they'd like to practice in.

Beyond answering that I like X and Y about primary care, but I'm open to other fields as well, along with being open to living in any region of the country, what could I possibly elaborate on?

The point of this question isn't to find out where you are going to be in 10 years. The point is to know that you have thought about it. If someone asks, "Where do you see yourself at the conclusion of your training?" and you answer, "starting a basic science lab." People will cock their heads to the side, smile, nod and reject you. If you say, "In 10 years, I will likely have finished my residency in one of the primary care fields and starting a job in *private practice or academics*. What I look forward to most about doing *whatever job you think is possible/most likely (even if only 10% chance of happening) is *blah blah blah*. However, I do recognize that my exposure to different branches of medicine is limited and that many students change their minds several times before finding the specialty that they go into. I look forward to continuing my exploration through medical school.

It isn't a complex question. You don't need a ton of elaboration. You need to demonstrate that you know what you are getting into, rather than applying because daddy will be mad at you if you don't.

 

[avgn]

The point of this question isn't to find out where you are going to be in 10 years. The point is to know that you have thought about it. If someone asks, "Where do you see yourself at the conclusion of your training?" and you answer, "starting a basic science lab." People will cock their heads to the side, smile, nod and reject you. If you say, "In 10 years, I will likely have finished my residency in one of the primary care fields and starting a job in *private practice or academics*. What I look forward to most about doing *whatever job you think is possible/most likely (even if only 10% chance of happening) is *blah blah blah*. However, I do recognize that my exposure to different branches of medicine is limited and that many students change their minds several times before finding the specialty that they go into. I look forward to continuing my exploration through medical school.

It isn't a complex question. You don't need a ton of elaboration. You need to demonstrate that you know what you are getting into, rather than applying because daddy will be mad at you if you don't.

I think this guy knows what he's talking about 😉 😏

 

[Affiche]

The point of this question isn't to find out where you are going to be in 10 years. The point is to know that you have thought about it. If someone asks, "Where do you see yourself at the conclusion of your training?" and you answer, "starting a basic science lab." People will cock their heads to the side, smile, nod and reject you. If you say, "In 10 years, I will likely have finished my residency in one of the primary care fields and starting a job in *private practice or academics*. What I look forward to most about doing *whatever job you think is possible/most likely (even if only 10% chance of happening) is *blah blah blah*. However, I do recognize that my exposure to different branches of medicine is limited and that many students change their minds several times before finding the specialty that they go into. I look forward to continuing my exploration through medical school.

It isn't a complex question. You don't need a ton of elaboration. You need to demonstrate that you know what you are getting into, rather than applying because daddy will be mad at you if you don't.

So as long as we discuss which things we like about certain fields but explain that we are in no way set on any one in particular, that's sufficient?

 

[Goro]

Rachiee, that's a perfectly good answer, and the point behind the whole question. You can visualize your trajectory out that far, even if the direction is unknown. It shows that you have learned something about Medicine!

there are plenty of clueless people out there who don't even bother to do the most basic research to find out that at a minimum, your path goes something like this: med school-> residency [=/- fellowship] -> practice

Send an app to my school, will ya?

I hate this question.

I'm interested in primary care, but I'm excited to learn about other fields and I'm not set on any one in particular. Further, beyond working in an underserved area, I'm very open to living in a different geographical region. For questions that ask "where do you see yourself at the conclusion of your training?", I'm not sure what the point of answering this is when I think the statistic is something like ~65% of medical students change their mind about which field they'd like to practice in.

Beyond answering that I like X and Y about primary care, but I'm open to other fields as well, along with being open to living in any region of the country, what could I possibly elaborate on?

 

[Affiche]

Send an app to my school, will ya?

You say this and then you throw out misinformation so that I have no idea which school is actually yours!

 

[avgn]

You say this and then you throw out misinformation so that I have no idea which school is actually yours!

Plot twist: He is actually east of St. Louis

 

[caffeinemia]

I love that there is so much neuroticism in this page.

You should try this:

"In 10 years, I'll be in residency, or have completed residency. It will suck far less than medical school, but still be a lot of stress because I will be working my tail off to make a place for myself in the medical community. I will still be waiting for that big money and big respect that I thought I would get. It never came. My spouse barely gets to see me, and when we do, my pager goes off sometimes while we're trying to make our first baby. It's a major buzzkill. UGH. But I know that another 10 years will bring a big house, a yacht, and a plane. Okay, fine -- at least a house and a little boat."

 

[mw18]

What they don't want you to say: In ten years I will be beginning one of my three surgical superfellowships so that I can focus purely on the brain stem and the heart of neonates, fetuses, and conjoined twins.

What they probably want you to say: In ten years I will likely be a practicing physician in (academics/private practice). I will have kept an open mind in my third year rotations and really come into my own in the specialty I now find myself in. I'll be out of residency and still trying to find the balance between learning, practicing, and having a personal life. Blah blah blah.

 

[caffeinemia]

What they don't want you to say: In ten years I will be beginning one of my three surgical superfellowships so that I can focus purely on the brain stem and the heart of neonates, fetuses, and conjoined twins.

What they probably want you to say: In ten years I will likely be a practicing physician in (academics/private practice). I will have kept an open mind in my third year rotations and really come into my own in the specialty I know find myself in. I'll be out of residency and still trying to find the balance between learning, practicing, and having a personal life. Blah blah blah.

So what I essentially said, but with 1000% more bs?

 

[mw18]

So what I essentially said, but with 1000% more bs?

Lol Yours seems like it is pretty much real life. Mine not so much.

 

[ChrisMack390]

They just want to weed out people who don't even realize they will have just finished up residency/fellowship, and probably people who have something extraordinarily specific/unrealistic.

 

[deleted393595]

Send an app to my school, will ya?

@rachiie01 Dr. Goro badly wants your $$$

Plot twist: He is actually east of St. Louis

Plot twist: He is St. Louis

 

[Affiche]

@rachiie01 Dr. Goro badly wants your $$$

@Goro knows I don't have money 🤣

 

[Goro]

I don't need her money, I need students like her!

@rachiie01 Dr. Goro badly wants your $$$



Plot twist: He is St. Louis

 

[GrapesofRath]

They just want to weed out people who don't even realize they will have just finished up residency/fellowship, and probably people who have something extraordinarily specific/unrealistic.

And I'm guessing the number of people weeded out by this question for exactly what you stated, even those who end up with 3.9/36's without that much effort, is a lot higher than we all might think.

 

[Affiche]

I don't need her money, I need students like her!

 

[ChrisMack390]

And I'm guessing the number of people weeded out by this question for exactly what you stated, even those who end up with 3.9/36's without that much effort, is a lot higher than we all might think.

"10 years from now I will have just finished my residency at Stanford and be practicing pediatric radiation oncology at Massachusetts General Hospital."

 

[Petrichor1]

I am having a very frustrating time trying to answer this question since apparently my google skills suck. I want to pursue research as a MD. In ten years what can I expect if I pursue this pathway? After MD, do I go for a postdoc or residency in IM? How many years is a fellowship? Could I really expect to be starting my own lab at this time?

Also would any one mind taking a very quick glance on, "Why this school" paragraph I wrote and see if it actually adds onto the application? Any help wold be appreciated, please and thank you!

you can definitely expect to be 10 years older...😛

 

[CaliforniaDreamer]

What they don't want you to say: In ten years I will be beginning one of my three surgical superfellowships so that I can focus purely on the brain stem and the heart of neonates, fetuses, and conjoined twins.

What they probably want you to say: In ten years I will likely be a practicing physician in (academics/private practice). I will have kept an open mind in my third year rotations and really come into my own in the specialty I now find myself in. I'll be out of residency and still trying to find the balance between learning, practicing, and having a personal life. Blah blah blah.

My life for the neonates.