MD/PhD?

[shift6]

I've wanted to go into the field of research since the longest time, and out of all the sciences, biology has always been the one that has interested me the most. As such, I enrolled in CEGEP (Québecois here) planning to pursue a Bachelor of Science in university.

 

I am now in my second year, and as the deadline for university applications approaches, more and more people have been telling me that, if bio research was really what I wanted to do in the future, I should apply for the MD/PhD program.

 

This has me worried, as I don't have many ECs or volunteering experiences, since I'd been focused on applying for a BSc. Would failing to enter premed screw me over when the time comes to apply for the MD/PhD? Or is there another way? And is the MD/PhD really the be-all end-all for biology research?

[future_doc]

If you are in Cegep,isn't the best you can for now is apply for eh McGill edpre program and to apply for med at Laval, Sherby and Laval? And what is so wrong about that. I do not know if McGill will accept you into the MD/PhD prgram but you can find out easily. If you don't make it from Cegep, then get your Bachelor's and you can apply for the MD/PhD program say at McGill and MD at others, no?

 

Geting into med is a privilege and a gift and if you can do it from Cegep, it seems to me thhat is the way to go.

[shift6]

I have no intention in becoming a physician, so wouldn't applying to premed in all those French universities be pointless? Also, I value an English education much more than a French one and have no interest in pursuing higher education in French.

 

What I really want to be doing is research and would like to know what paths are available to me should I not get into premed.

[Ubiquitine]

Well, the path is :

 

- Bachelors (3-4 years)

- Master (2 years )

- PhD (3 or 4 or 5 or . . . years )

- Post-doc (3 or 4 or 5 years ) --> Time to go at another university if you're in the same since beginning !

 

Well, after you should be able to be a researcher in whatever field you want...

You don't have to do the MD unless you want to work with patients. ( and do experiences on them )

[shift6]

However, I've been told that the MD allows access to higher phase clinical research and that there is more funding for that kind of research. Also, wouldn't the MD be necessary for biomedical research? That's what I want to study :/

[future_doc]

I would have thought that an MD would be far more valuable as an undergraduate degree leading to a PhD than obtaining a B.Sc. And you would be able to skip the Master's. If you are functionally bilingual, obtaining a MD from a French speaking med school only enhances your value, aside form the fact that applying not just to McGill allows you to cast a wider net and maximize your chances. Should you actually obtain your MD, you would be foolish not to become licenced to practice b/c you never know what the future holds and to deliberstely cut off a potential path, for example that kmight involve clinical trials that you could then undertake, would be foolish in my view.

 

Anf if you need to go the Bachelor's route, I would think that a MD/PhD would have greater value than a M. Sc. and PhD and would give you greater scope for the decades ahead.

[Ubiquitine]

However, I've been told that the MD allows access to higher phase clinical research and that there is more funding for that kind of research. Also, wouldn't the MD be necessary for biomedical research? That's what I want to study :/

 

As i've said, you need MD to work with patients and you do need it to do clinical research ( probably for phase II,III and IV). There is always more funding for applied science, and clinical trials are applied sciences. But no, MD is not necessary for others fields in biomedical research

 

I would have thought that an MD would be far more valuable as an undergraduate degree leading to a PhD than obtaining a B.Sc. And you would be able to skip the Master's. If you are functionally bilingual, obtaining a MD from a French speaking med school only enhances your value, aside form the fact that applying not just to McGill allows you to cast a wider net and maximize your chances. Should you actually obtain your MD, you would be foolish not to become licenced to practice b/c you never know what the future holds and to deliberstely cut off a potential path, for example that kmight involve clinical trials that you could then undertake, would be foolish in my view.

 

Anf if you need to go the Bachelor's route, I would think that a MD/PhD would have greater value than a M. Sc. and PhD and would give you greater scope for the decades ahead.

 

Well, I really don't know what the OP want to do exactly, but taking the shorter path , especially in sciences, is not necessarily the best. If you want to understand the molecular basis of biology, you should probably do a bachelors , a master and then do a PhD. Skipping the bachelor and the master by doing a MD/PhD isn't a good idea if you really want to understand fundamental basis of what you do in laboratory.

 

Of course, if you really want to do clinical research, the best way is probably to do MD/PhD. It's probably more lucrative that way too, if you think $.

[Lactic Folly]

Certainly, one does not need an MD to do biomedical research, but as f_d has pointed out, it can be valuable in terms of career options and if you wish to pursue translational bench-to-bedside work. However, if you have no interest in becoming a physician, there may be little point in going through med school + residency. I will add that if you do decide to pursue an MD, perhaps after undergraduate or even graduate studies, that ECs and volunteering can be started during your university studies.

 

I would ask what type of research experience you currently have, and what has led you to your decision to pursue research exclusively as a career. Do you have a vision of what work you will be doing - basic science, clinical, other? These considerations have bearing on the most suitable training path for you, and if you can identify role models, lessons learned from their careers would be most helpful.

[future_doc]

In the Quebec system, high school graduation occurs upon completion of Grade 11, and then one moves on to College (Cegep) for two years, followed by 3 years of Bachelor's studies to obtain a degree. I believe Ontario looks at 2 years of Cegep equivalent to one year of undergrad (taking into account, high school graduation occurs there at Grade 12 and not Grade 11).

 

So, the OP has only one year of college under the belt, and accordingly, there would be very limited opportunity to have done research, if any.

 

Again, in Quebec, topstuents who graduate from Cegep are able to go directly into medical school in Quebec, the exception being McGill where a student is accepted into medpre, with a direct walk into med school (no further application to med school is required) conditional upon the student maintaining a certain grade in the one year of undergrad. Rarely is a student in this program deprived on continuing. Laval and Sherbrooke Medical Schools accept Cegepiens driectly into their 4 year medical school program. University of Montreal Medical School will accept such students into medical school unconditionally although these students are reuqired to do 5 years and not 4; in other words, they do one year of undergrad, with no conditions attasched. These latter students do receive their LOC of 200k but only receive their famous "backpack" the following year.

 

So, I believe the OP is considering options ased upon limited experience at this point in time. Should the OP not be accepted directly inot one of these programs, the OP will then be required to do what all other students in Canada must do, i.e., enter a Bachelor's program and apply later for med school if so inclined, or go the Mast'er, PhD route.