<p>What is typical ratio of MD+Ph.D over MD in some good reasearch medical schools like Harvard/Hopkins/Stanford/WashU/… ?</p>
<p>It is long, long time to be in school. One has to ask if he/she is up to it. Mine did not consider this path at all. She could not even think about 1 gap year, she wants to be out and start working. I would say that this is a question #1. Then, selectivity, then other aspects. If one cannot sustain so many years in school, it is way too long to feel miserable, so do not put yourself in this position. On the other hand, there are others who love to be a perpetual student, this path might be a perfect match for this type.</p>
<p>As an engineering Ph. D. holder, I spent 10 years in school (;4 year for BS, 2 year for MS, 4 years for work experience, and 4 years for Ph.D.). 12 years at school for MD/PhD is not a bad thing at all, I think. :)</p>
<p>Dad2013,
…and why did you need an engineering PhD? It is apparent that you are not working as an engineer, but maybe is some research? My H. is and engineer, most of our friends are engineers, not a single one has PhD (except for my brother, who got his PhD while working full time and using his job project to white his thesis. I do not believe that my brother would decide just to get a PhD without working, he would not know why? But while working, he simply did it because of “why not”, the same reason why my H. and I got MBAs. Why not, if employers are paying.). More so, I know one acientist / true researcher who is just working on his PhD now, while working full time.
In comparison, if you want to know a very long / many years in school, I finally stopped taking classes at 40. By the time I did, I was short 2 credit hours of my BS in engineering, I had an Associate Degree in CS, BS in CS and an MBA. I have been working full time as a proffessional (in engineering, then in IT) since I was 19.<br>
If someone decides to go for MD/PhD, just like any other very long way, they need to have a clear vision of why they are going to be in school for such a long time. Otherwise, it may get too frustrating.
Specifically in my case, I swithced from engineering to IT, so this was the reason to be going to school for long. But I did not miss my life, working has been fun, had family, raised kids…
In addition for being long MD/PhD is a very demanding academic environment, not your average engineering / IT. I am more familiar with the MD portion becuase of my D. Sometime Med. students do not have time to eat, drink. Cleanning your apartment is a luxury break that they may not afford for many many days / several weeks, coming from 10/12 hours in a hospital and still study after that for exam…</p>