<p>Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted on this site...</p>
<p>Anyways, my question has to do with going to medical school and becoming a doctor or going to graduate school and doing research and/or becoming a professor. Specifically, I want to study cognitive neuroscience, which graduate school would probably be a better fit I'm guessing. However, becoming a neurologist isn't out of the question either.</p>
<p>I doubt I'm going to be able to get a complete, thorough answer to help me choose between the two based on this forum (no offense to you guys)...but do you guys have any advise? Especially on what I can do to determine this answer for myself?</p>
<p>What differences are there between medical school and graduate school besides graduating with an MD or a PHD? I'd have to do a residency or postdoctorate work...so either one takes quite a long time, right?</p>
<p>So yea, thanks for any help you guys can offer!</p>
<p>My d has considered almost the exact same question. I strongly suggest you try to get some sort of lab/research experience, possibly over the summer, to determine if that is something you would want to spend your life doing. I believe the deadline for applying for paid internships for this coming summer have pretty much already passed, but you could do an online search in your area and personally contact someone to see if they would like some "free" assistance during the summer...</p>
<p>I believe med school is a much longer road as you would need to do 4 years of med school and then general rotations BEFORE you would do a neurology rotation/residency. Also, I imagine med school admissions are much more competitive....</p>
<p>The original poster is correct on length.</p>
<p>Med school: 4 years (2 years of basic science classes, 2 years of clinical clerkships). </p>
<p>Residency in Neurology, requires 1 year in a transitional or preliminary medicine internship followed by three years of neurology for a total of 4.</p>
<p>So total of 8 years. A PhD plus post-bacc will be at least that long, if not longer. (google search for "average length to complete a PhD" yielded several sources that say 6-7 years).</p>
<p>Can you tell me what exactly you like about neuroscience? If I have a better picture of your interests, why you are interested, and more of your personality, I might be able to give you a better idea of whether medicine is what you should be looking at.</p>
<p>On the flip side of what musicmom posted about getting research, I'd recommend that you take the time to shadow some physicians to see if you actually enjoy seeing patients and the sorts of things that doctors do. I'd say avoid shadowing a neurologist right off the bat simply because you'll probably be so "into" the fact that you're close to your interests that you'll be making a judgment about liking neurons rather than examining if you enjoy being a physician (I hope that makes sense). In other words, if you shadow a neurologist, you'll think the neuroscience aspect is awesome and be really excited about your time spent there while ignoring how you feel about what the neurologist actually does, when you need to be looking at whether you enjoy the part about being a doctor or not.</p>
<p>There are some neuroscience phd programs that are 5 years in length (after undergrad, of course). And at well-thought of institutions...</p>
<p>Well, unfortunately I don't think I'll be able to do much this summer- I'm planning on taking a full summer course load.</p>
<p>Good point about shadowing a neurologist bigred, I hadn't thought about that.</p>
<p>As for my interest in neuroscience, I'm really interested in the cognitive aspect of it. Basically, the fact that we can think about thinking is astounding to me. I would really like to learn more about the mind-body problem (how the mind interacts with the body). Also, I originally planned a second major in biophysics (but my current school doesn't have that major). This all seems to point more at the pHD huh? </p>
<p>But there are some aspects of being doctor I think I would really enjoy. Having the power to significant affect someone's life, to save someone on the brink of death...that's not something you can come across every day. As a doctor, I could be saving dozens of people's lives every single day. It's kinda corny...but I watch shows like Grey's Anatomy and something in me is stirred...I think to myself, "some day that'll be me..." haha..yea. And even as a doctor, I'm still able to do research aren't I?</p>
<p>That is always an option to go for an MD/PhD.</p>
<p>I think your interest is certainly more consistent with being a researcher. Neurologists rarely 'save' people's lives. For the longest time, the joke was that a neurologist could tell you what was wrong but couldn't do anything about it. Still neurologists can have a pronounced effect on the quality of a person's life, even if they aren't 'saving' it per se.</p>
<p>And neuro(surgery) will certainly not permit you time to be contemplative at the level you seem to seek.</p>
<p>My Dad is a neurologist and although he will laugh about the old saying of neurology "Diagnose and adios", he says that is not really true. They(neurologists) manage neurological disease(headaches, epilepsy, Parkinson's, myasthenia etc..) the same way that internists manage hypertension, diabetes and other chronic illnesses. The only people who 'save' lives are trauma surgeons if you look at it that way. "There is no patient that I see that I can not do something for, and that includes ALS"</p>