<p>What are some of the differences between these two degrees? What are some fields that would require MD/Ph.D. as opposed to simply an MD? Does one generally have a better salary than the other (I assume it depends on the field, but generally speaking...)?</p>
<p>Any explanitions would be appreciated.</p>
<p>MD/PhD is for doctors interested in doing research while MD is all that’s required to practice medicine.</p>
<p>MD/PhD is for people who want a research career. MD/PhDs tend to earn less than specialized MDs (think 150k vs 300k) because doing research and being in academia makes less money than doing procedures full time. Only do an MD/PhD if you love, love research.</p>
<p>No field “requires” an MD/PhD, but having those two degrees is a great asset in doing research.</p>
<p>Thanks for the answers, but I think I need to ask the question differently. Which field of medicine has the highest proportion of MD/PhD degree holders to MD holders?</p>
<p>Follow the money- I’ll guess Oncology.</p>
<p>None, actually. As people have said, MD/ PhDs do not go into medicine. There is no need for a PhD is you are going to practice medicine. The PhD will help in research/teaching ONLY.</p>
<p>I would say pathology and internal medicine contain the most MD/PhDs.</p>
<p>MD/PhD is mainly for research. Most of them end up researching rather than working in hospital. They usually teach and research at a university. MD are more of primary care and hospital work. Good part about MD/PhD is that you will find a job where you can research easier than with an MD alone and you will have better job security when you have work a couple of years because you have a much more advance degree. I believe there are only 41 schools that award that degree and many of them are the top colleges in the nation.
MD/PhD is a very respected degree and there are a great benefit to getting that degree. Your tuition is actually paid at some schools and some schools help you find a researching job. But overall MD/PhD is for researching and teaching.</p>
<p>I apologize for my ignorance, but I still don’t quite understand.</p>
<p>If a MD/PhD degree is mainly for researchers, then why don’t they simply go for a PhD? Is a MD/PhD degree a type of postdoctorate program?</p>
<p>The medical knowledge background (the MD) helps with biomedical research.</p>
<p>Let me ask you this: Who would you trust more to try to create a HIV vaccine (pretend there is one being created): an MD/PhD who has background in medicine, anatomy, biomed and biochem or a PhD who has only knowledge in biochemistry/biology (given that they both have around the same number of years of experience)?<br>
Who would you trust more to help find a safe cure for cancer: a MD/PhD who has background in medicine, anatomy, biomed and biochem or a PhD who only knows biochemistry/biology?
Would you trust a MD/PhD who knows about medicine, anatomy, biomed and biochem to research about autism or a PhD who has only knowledge in biochemistry/biology research about autism? </p>
<p>I think I would trust the MD/PhD more.</p>
<p>MD/PhD helps the research understand all the other affects a medicine can have on the body. A PhD doesn’t exactly.</p>
<p>phd is sufficient for biomedical research. IMHO, however, in this specialized age, often it is difficult for phd scientists to come up with clinically relevant questions in basic science research. i’m not saying phd scientists don’t ask questions that are clinically relevant, but i’m saying that they don’t bringing enough NEW questions that are clinically relevant. one obvious reason being that they don’t see patients. so i think while most md/phds are trained to do basic science research, they are expected to gather new questions from their clinical practices into the basic science research settings.</p>
<p>also, as an early-career scientist, md/phds do have quite a bit of advantage securing fundings than phds (generally speaking).</p>
<p>I think that a strong researcher is strong no matter what degrees they have. All doctors I know have only MDs, and all medical researchers (which isn’t nearly as much) have only Ph.Ds. If you really want to go into research, the MD degree is of absolutely no practical use to you, except a piece of paper hanging on your wall and a huge hole in your pocket. In fact, a trend in these scientists ([List</a> of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Nobel_Laureates_in_Physiology_or_Medicine]List”>List of Nobel laureates in Physiology or Medicine - Wikipedia)) is their dropping out of medical school.</p>
<p>haha not to instigate anything but i think it’s absolutely ludicrous to call a trend out of such small sample size of nobel laureates don’t u think. population that is also not that representative either.</p>
<p>anyhow all doctors u know may only have mds and all researchers u know may only have phds, but i have met plenty of md/phds. also i have to further disagree that if u want to go into research md is of absolutely no practical use. md gives u the holistic view that phd lacks. i worked with md’s who does EXCELLENT basic science research. now i’m not saying one is better or worse, but i do definitely disagree that md is complete waste. of course the training route is different but you make very extreme statement which is bound to be false. i am actually a bit disturbed that you blurt out these statements that are very misleading. are u in high school or something? one thing i do agree is that if u do md and switch ur career into research you will have debt that is more difficult to pay back. however, here are a few things to note. while u r in ur residency and in fellowship (during fellowship md’s who are interested in basic science research can start their research, if u didn’t know), you will get paid much more than post-docs. also NIH has student loan payback program for early scientists in academia track.</p>
<p>According to the AAMC (American Association of Medical Colleges), the MD/PhD degree is awarded by medical schools following 7 to 8 years of study as a medical and a graduate student. So the MD/PhD graduate is both a physician and a scientist trained and skilled in diagnosing diseases, curing the sick and engaging in biomedical research for the advancement of medical knowledge. The MD/PhD is funded by the Federal Government through a grant from the NIH (National Institutes of Health) to participating medical schools throughout the country and at no cost MD/PhD students. In addition, they get a stipend of about $30,000 to $35,000 a year during their training.</p>
<p>Only about 3% of all graduates of medical schools are physician/scientists. About 75% of them become academicians and R&D (Research & Development) heads in the biotech or pharmaceutical industries. The rest join other medical specialties.</p>
<p>It is not unusual to find MD/PhD graduates working as chief executives of pharmaceutical companies or investment banking healthcare analysts and so on. Some of them end up as owners of these companies. Compensation of MD/PhD graduates depends on where they go after medical school. Company investors and owners have the upper hand when total compensation of physician/scientists is considered.</p>
<p>Keep in mind that it is extremely hard to get into MD/PhD, harder than Med. School. Most (all?) are free, some are paying grants enough for living expenses. Also, D. was told that applicants to residencies from MD/PhD are ahead of those with just MD (although on average MD/PhD have lower scores, we do not know any statistics, D. was told that by one person who is in charge of one residency program in the most selective specialty). Since MD/PhD is much longer and involve much more research, it is not for everybody, not for people who see themselves as clinicians wokirng closely with patients. Some people are simply not so much into research, although they have no problems doing it, they might be simply not that interested.
So, ask yourself what you want to do instead of asking others which one is better. It is different from person to person, nobody will know where you belong.</p>
<p>Do the most of medical school professors hold MD/PhD degree ? I’d like to see some statistical data on this if can. :)</p>
<p>MD/PhD physicians are concentrated at research heavy institutions Harvard Medical School, Johns Hopkins, Duke, NIH, etc. They can conduct direct human research and produce clinically relevant trials in a way a regular PhD couldn’t. One of my basic science teachers in med school had a PhD but went to med school to get his MD. It helped him get more grants, more respect, and a greater clinical understanding. Some PhD physicians do pursue private practice. But that is rare. You generally get an MD/PhD to conduct research.</p>
<p>MD/PhD is generally for people who want to go into research (especially translational research that involves a clinical component).</p>
<p>The “free” MD/PhD programs are under the Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP) sponsored by the NIH. You can search which schools are under the MSTP program by searching. These are typically at the more research-heavy schools. Other schools may offer MD/PhD programs but the funding for those has to be acquired elsewhere.</p>
<p>There are reasons to get the MD/Ph.D. versus a Ph.D or an MD in terms of research training. Some MDs do research, but they don’t get the systematic training of doing certain kinds of research that Ph.D. students do. Conversely, Ph.D. students don’t have the clinical experience of MDs. Most MD/Ph.D students do both a fellowship for the Ph.D. portion and a residency for the MD portion. Some do treat patients. I know one oncologist who does research/teaching a few days a week and sees patients one or two days a week. Occasionally, people who get MD/Ph.Ds end up having more regular medical careers. Maybe this is partly financially driven or maybe they discover they love patient care more. A friend of mine, who has an MD/Ph.D. and both teaches and does research, told me that he knew that with an MD/Ph.D. he’d have more job options than with a Ph.D. Of course, you have to love school and you have to love research. My son is in an MSTP program and he hopes to do research and work in an academic setting, but he also does hope to have some patient care in his professional life. Even some MDs do that. DS spent a summer working for an MD who primarily did research, but also did some patient care. It is possible.</p>