<p>Hi all,</p>
<p>i am currently in a phd program in biomedical sciences at a ivy leage grad school and i am very interested in a career in medical research and practicing medicine. Should i leave my current program for a md/phd program at a lower ranked university or stay and finish my phd and then apply to med school??</p>
<p>How far are you into your PhD? If you change schools then you will have to restart the PhD, costing you time. The MD/PhD doesn’t actually save you all that much time, so if you’ve already started, and you want both degrees, you are probably better off finishing up your PhD and then applying to med schools. You might want to look at your current school and see if you can get into the MD/PhD program there, sometimes they have more than one entry point.</p>
<p>You should also examine why you wish the MD/PhD. If your goal is primarily research, then the MD may not be useful. Rarely do MD/PhD’s successfully combine research and clinic duties.</p>
<p>I don’t think you will save anytime if you left now, and on top of everything you will have left your PhD program in a less than desirable manner. Depending on what year you are, you are probably leaving your laboratory hanging dry as they cannot recruit another student for the project right away. Regardless, you will have to wait a year if you left right now anyway to get all of the extra requirements in and MCAT taken care of. If you have done only two years and can leave with a masters, then perhaps it might save time but otherwise it probably will not. Also, MD/PhD programs are fairly competitive to get into and you have a better chance at a straight MD anyway. Since I do not know your stats or what year you are in, I can’t say which path would be better for you. </p>
<ol>
<li>Are you sure this isn’t just a way to escape a rough patch in your graduate career? Everyone has a period during their graduate studies where they question why they even got into this. </li>
<li>Are you sure you even want a PhD? </li>
<li>Why do you want to practice medicine? </li>
<li>Are job prospects for PhDs scaring you? </li>
<li>Are you just tired of graduate school?</li>
</ol>
<p>I worked as a tech in a clinical division of a medical school. About half of the faculty of the division were MD/Phds that successfully balanced clinical practice and basic research. They focused on biomarker discovery, outcome research (clinical research) as well as basic pathophysiology research. They spent on average one day a week in clinic but the rest of their time was spent in lab. As I am sure you realize, MD/Phds are more competitive for grants and positions than garden variety MDs or Phds. Another advantage to the dual program, even if it requires you to start over, is that you won’t pay tuition. I say go for it.</p>