<p>I don't really understand how these two are structured. How are they different and what can I do after pursuing each of the degrees? Would appreciate if explanation is detailed.</p>
<p>The major advantage of doing MD/PhD is if you want to do full time research. This is because you will have the opportunity to conduct a PhD thesis and be in a better position to get your own lab, or to get into a top lab as a post-doc. However, MDs can also get into full time research (and some do) and have their own labs. It just can take a little more time until you have done work in a lab and have published. I personally wouldn’t recommend doing MD/PhD unless you are wanting to do full time research (Maybe if you want to do academic medicine, because supposedly mud-fudders tend to dominate the highest offices, but this I can not prove. I’m interested in academia, but I am not at the moment sold on MD/PhD. I still have another two years where I can convert from MD to MD/PhD if I wanted, or I could always get a PhD afterwards if some day in the future I changed my mind) This is because that is at least three years of your life gone to purely research before you get back into medicine and finish up medical school/start residency.</p>
<p>The plus side of that is that your tuition is free, plus a stipend, at most MD/PhD programs.</p>
<p>Most MD/PhD programs have you do the first 2-3 years of the MD degree, then 3+ years of PhD and thesis preparation, then back to MD and (if you want) then residency.</p>
<p>How long does it take for completion?</p>
<p>7 to 9 years, usually.</p>
<p>Does that time period include residency?</p>
<p>No .</p>
<p>But is it worth doing 7-9 years study only without residency? Do you earn more?</p>
<p>No. MD/PhD’s tend to choose lower paying jobs.</p>
<p>lol. We need a “head exploding” smilie 'cause I’m pretty sure that’s happening to the OP. 
</p>
<p>“More years? Harder admit? For less money? 
Say what?”</p>
<p>OP, there may well be great motivations to do an MD/PhD…IMO money isn’t one of them.</p>
<p>^^^ 
:D</p>
<p>Actually I was very curious about this topic…yea…money motivations aren’t the greatest…but anyways…MD/PhD option is very intriguing…</p>
<p>haha, I was thinking about applying to MD / PhD programs too…</p>
<p>I disagree with “lower pay” aspect of it… u can make more money if u get funded for research by a big company or NIH or CDC. by more money I mean hundreds of thousand more than MD’s… but there is a huge luck factor in it…</p>
<p>I thought it was only 2 extra years, as u do a lot of it with ur md classes… since i guess a lot of people here disagree, that would suck</p>
<p>It’s usually three or more. PhDs aren’t quite as structured as MDs in terms of this or that many years of work (at least, not here). It’s tied to your research in a lot of ways.</p>
<p>Getting your phD will take minimum of 3 years and that’s already cutting a lot of corners.</p>
<p>The trade-off with MD/PhD’s is that they tend to go into academic medicine, which means lower pay. If you had your schooling paid for AND earned a higher salary afterwards, then MSTP programs would be a lot more competitive than they are now.</p>
<p>if you actually get out in 3 extra years, its pretty impressive (and you chose a very particular lab). If you’re doing the traditional very medically relevant phd which usually uses mice as a model system, or cell lines, I would be stunned if it was less than 4 years to a phd, and possibly more than that. In most programs you save a year vs. doing the two degrees separately since you do rotations while still in medical school-- but the average time to a phd in the US is 6 years.</p>
<p>norcal guy, it’s not like they can’t get higher paying jobs, they just choose not to, at least I’d assume. </p>
<p>Also, is it really that lucrative strictly in terms of the pre job aspect? Assume Phd takes 4 years. That’s four years where you’re not earning money as a Doc while straight up MD’s are. Thats what, around 800,000 dollars of lost income. What’s the highest debt could be, 250,000? Even with interest, I’d assume that an MD/PHD is not wise from a strictly monetary point of view?</p>
<p>It is not, people don’t do PhD’s for money. It’s for knowledge and academic power.</p>
<p>That’s it - academic power. MWAHAHAHAHA.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>Sure, but the lifestyle is better, or can be, especially once you get tenure, for that means that you can never be fired.</p>