MD/PhD Programs

[Guest Angelussum]

For those of you out there in MD/PhD Programs or considering them, what is the benefit of doing a program like that?

[Guest UTMed07]

I'm not a MD/PhDer... but I have a master's and know a couple of people in the MD/PhD program. Also, I know someone that did a PhD as part of a residency program.

 

I hear that MD's can do research and while doing a PhD can give you a new way of thinking, is with worth the many years that it adds to your education?

If you love research and you see that as part of your future a MD/PhD is worth consideration. A PhD opens doors in research you wouldn't see without one and lets you make connections that can help you succeed.

 

...it seems like that with the extra years, and the low chance that one would be able to do both well (I hear that it's hard to balance the two, most people end up doing one way more than the other), that it's not worth it. Any thoughts on this?

If you're not so sure about research--you can do a PhD later (as a part of a residency program). As for doing both research & patient care--I've worked on research with a couple of physicians. I think many balance the two very well and do both quite well. Much of clinical medicine is very repetitive--research is in many ways the opposite... a balance between the two is something that appeals to many.