<p>Do some people come out of medical school as a researcher rather than a physician? So if I wanted to do medical research as a career should I still go to medical school for that or am I better off getting a masters degree and Ph.D?</p>
<p>You could. But if you know beforehand that that's what you want to do, you should go PhD-route.</p>
<p>Depends on what type of research you want to do. Clinical research-I would get a M.D. as you will want to have access to patients. Translational research which uses basic science and applies it to patient care or diagnosis-a M.D. is still the preferable degree as you will want to deal with both clinicians and scientists in your research. Basic research-either Ph.D. or M.D. I have had classmates who did M.D. and did not even finish their residency (their choice) and embarked on their research careers in basic science. Getting your clinical training enables you to do both basic research and also be a physician if you choose to do so. If you know a priori, you do not want to do any medically related work, then Ph.D. is the fastest path. Additionally, a number of medical schools offer Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTPs) which will cover both medical and graduate school. These are very competitive slots, though. Getting both degrees gives you the best of both worlds and the most flexibility. However, it does mean a later start in establishing your academic career.</p>
<p>This topic is endlessly debated. My D has discussed this with at least 2 dozen researchers, and the answer is invariably that PhDs say get a PhD, MDs say get an MD and MD/PhDs say they're not sure. Curiously, a lot of MD/PhDs are not so wild about their career path.</p>
<p>Some generalizations (i.e. many exceptions) though:</p>
<ul>
<li> MD is much more expensive, since most PhD programs are fully funded with stipends.</li>
<li> MDs have an easier time getting research $</li>
<li> MDs, if they did not move to research before finishing an internship, can always go back to medicine if research $ get scarce.</li>
<li>PhDs, at least initially, get more respect in the research community regarding quality of their work.</li>
</ul>
<p>Scorpio, the only advice I can give is to not rely on anonymous websites. Go talk to folks. You will find most of them pretty willing to give advice. Whether it is any good is up to you.</p>