surgeon scientist program

[Guest Mephistopheles03]

hi,

 

i was wondering if any of the moderators can comment on the surgeon-scientist program at u of t? is it different from the md/phd program which some of you posters have already been accepted to (congratulations, by the way)?

 

thanks

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[Guest UWOMED2005]

I'm pretty sure that refers to their residency (ie, post MD) programs and the fact they "encourage" students to complete a PhD, and require certain amounts of research during residency programs.

[Guest therealcrackers]

For the most part, it's run through my old graduate department, the Institute of Medical Science, for the simple reason that that department is where most of the surgeons hold their graduate academic appointment. The labs themselves are in the MSB, most of the hospitals in Bedpan Alley, up at Sunnybrook, and at St. Mike's.

 

It is a graduate program after the completion of MD training and I think at least two years of a surgical residency. Then the students enter into research (basic or clinical, depending on the area) that takes a maximum of 2 years for a Master's, and a maximum of 4 for a PhD. These students usually work in big well-funded labs with the kind of support every graduate student could wish for (and as you might infer, I didn't get all the time). At the same time, these students are paid at RESIDENT salaries, not graduate student salaries; there is a big pot and a considerable amount of matching funding available for these programs. The current director of the IMS is a distinguished surgeon himself.

 

Similar programs exist for MD graduates wishing to do research training in basic science, imaging, clinical research, public and community health research, etc. and for the most part these programs are funded at the RESIDENT salary level for MD graduates. This is the over-arching clinician-scientist program, run through several departments at the U of T depending on where the supervisor is appointed.

 

For additional information, try room 7213 in the Medical Sciences Building. There is also a great breadth of medical research for us "basic science hacks" (I was one too, did the PhD before the MD).