Pursuing Msc During Med School?

[brady23]

Hey guys,

I know some schools allow you to pursue a research masters during med school. Are there opportunities at Toronto to do this?

[robclem21]

The exact specifics of what you are hoping to do would best be discussed with the school. Typically this will not be allowed, nor does the curriculum accommodate the amount of time you will need for research. There are some programs such as LEAD within the school that you can specifically apply to that are similar, but that is something you will need to do through the school, and will not be able to organize on your own. There are also other research opportunities, but none for a graduate degree. Most people complete this during their residency (depding on specialty) or within the first couple years into practice.

[ArchEnemy]

Hey guys,

I know some schools allow you to pursue a research masters during med school. Are there opportunities at Toronto to do this?

 

 

The faculty seems to prefer that its students focus on completing the MD, as oppose to pursuing a graduate degree during medical school. The exception to this rule is the MD/PhD program and the LEAD program.

 

As robclem21 has mentioned, it is possible to pursue an MSc during medical school at UofT, but it will highly depend on your specific circumstances.

[justwannabeadoc]

Is it better to do the LEAD program or have your summers free for research if you're aiming for a competitive specialty?

[robclem21]

Is it better to do the LEAD program or have your summers free for research if you're aiming for a competitive specialty?

 

I don't think anyone here can answer that question for you. First of all, it has to be something your interested in doing, not something you do for the sake of doing it.

 

As for your question, it is entirely dependent on the specialty, the year, the applicant pool, the type of reserch, and every other factor including ur performance in clerkship and reference letters...

[mononoke]

I think for the LEAD program you are assigned summer projects related to quality, health policy..etc..not really research so I guess if you're aiming for something competitive to get pubs out of, I would look into CREMS

[rmorelan]

just so all the options can be explored - what exactly where you planning on doing, and what is the motivation?  

[justwannabeadoc]

Not sure what I'm planning on doing, but LEAD seems pretty interesting. I imagine I would find research in my future speciality of interest interesting too.. but given that if I did LEAD my summers would be spent doing courses/practicums, I was wondering which would be better to pursue  

 

just so all the options can be explored - what exactly where you planning on doing, and what is the motivation?

[rmorelan]

Not sure what I'm planning on doing, but LEAD seems pretty interesting. I imagine I would find research in my future speciality of interest interesting too.. but given that if I did LEAD my summers would be spent doing courses/practicums, I was wondering which would be better to pursue

 

sure it is definitely a good idea to explore the options. 

 

one thing to consider it is often possible to do a master or even phd as a resident - and that would be in the specialty you matched in and thus definitely related. Pay is better as well and you have better access to clinical resources/patients etc.