Masters during Residency

[ihsh]

I am interested in becoming an academic physician in an internal subspecialty, and am planning on getting a Master's of Education or Statistics at some point.

For internal medicine, can this be done? And if so, is it usually during the core medicine stage (i.e. first three years) or the fellowship stage? Would it be possible at all to take a year off during residency to complete the degree?

I'll be going through carms next year and am wondering if I should even think about applying for a Master's at the same time.

Thanks in advance!

[moonwalker2099]

Not a bad idea - I recently completed my masters at U of T for similar purposes with a bunch of folks who were either in residency/fellowships or straight up practicing.  I'm actually thinking about doing another one during residency myself. What most (from my perspective) did was enrol as a PT student in their respective masters program.  Eventually, some simply took a year off to complete their masters and get a break from their residency program.  I think the most important question is:  Why do you want to do the masters and how will it help you in achieving your goals? 

What masters program/where are you thinking of embarking on?

[ihsh]

 

On 5/21/2020 at 8:11 PM, moonwalker2099 said:

Not a bad idea - I recently completed my masters at U of T for similar purposes with a bunch of folks who were either in residency/fellowships or straight up practicing.  I'm actually thinking about doing another one during residency myself. What most (from my perspective) did was enrol as a PT student in their respective masters program.  Eventually, some simply took a year off to complete their masters and get a break from their residency program.  I think the most important question is:  Why do you want to do the masters and how will it help you in achieving your goals? 

What masters program/where are you thinking of embarking on?

Thanks for your response!

I was specifically thinking of doing a Masters of Biostatistics at U of T, which I had previously applied to along with medical school and I believe it will help me with research down the road. I'm also open to a Master's of Education which I know many academic physicians have done but frankly I don't know how it will fit into my career path specifically. 

[Bambi]

Once I was in residency, I looked into taking an online Masters in health education, however, after careful consideration, and looking into it, I dropped the idea as residency takes my full time energies and skills and there is just not enough time in a 24 hour day to do both well.

[011235813]

CIP.

[moonwalker2099]

I think what's important is that no matter WHEN you choose to do it...make sure you do what's best for you.  Everyone handles things, responsibilities, jobs, and so forth differently than the person next to them.  You might be better at handling things better than anyone else here.  However,  at the end of the day, make sure you have a clear vision of WHY any graduate program, albeit a masters/doctorate, can help you in achieving your goals in the long-run.  Additionally, if doing it concurrently with residency/fellowship will help you or hurt you in the long run (i.e., poor performance on the wards and in the classroom) or if it is something that you can afford to wait on for a handful of years.

You'll know what's best for you and I wish you luck my friend . I always respect people who want to do more than the MD!  

[rogerroger]

If your program will give you time to do it, supports you doing it, and you don’t pay full price, it’s a good idea IMO. 

The reason being is that it will certainly cost you more in lost income once you are done residency. This also assumes you have a reason for doing the masters in the first place. A masters for the sake of the paper is a waste of money and time. 
 

I did one masters during residency. It was value added. The second masters I did after residency. It’s end value has yet to be determined. It may or may not pay off. We shall see...

Edited May 30, 2020 by rogerroger

[MD2015:)]

I am in IM fellowship and doing a med ed masters during PGY5 this year. My PGY4 year was much busier clinically and I have a lot of spare time this year. Half of my co-fellows are doing grad school (with a goal of academic jobs with either teaching or research afterwards) since we only have do do 2-3 days a week of clinical time if we do a masters concurrently. I pay for my own tuition but I am only working a few days per week and getting the full PGY5 salary so it is worth it for me. The people I know who did the same masters in the years above me all got academic jobs as clinician teachers/educators.