Boston U for Biomed E Grad or Georgetown Med?

[Acesulfame]

Long story short, I've been accepted at both (with a scholarship at BU), like both subjects (cardiology and biomaterials respectively), and have parents pushing me towards med school while my girlfriend is going to be in the PhD program herself at Boston U Med Division. Any thoughts? Or advice on how to make this decision easier/have a third option? I'm considering trying for BU's MD/PhD program, but that's not exactly a sure shot...

I wish I knew more about the outcomes of BU biomedical engineering grads, because that's a big reason for my indecision. My ideal job would be a professorship, but I worry that I won't make it...

[ghanada]

Long story short, I've been accepted at both (with a scholarship at BU), like both subjects (cardiology and biomaterials respectively), and have parents pushing me towards med school while my girlfriend is going to be in the PhD program herself at Boston U Med Division. Any thoughts? Or advice on how to make this decision easier/have a third option? I'm considering trying for BU's MD/PhD program, but that's not exactly a sure shot...

I wish I knew more about the outcomes of BU biomedical engineering grads, because that's a big reason for my indecision. My ideal job would be a professorship, but I worry that I won't make it...

I'm currently finishing up my M.S. at BU in a BME lab (although my deg. is in EE). I started out BME but switched to EE. I was actually accepted to BU's BME PhD as well, but ended up choosing to goto University of Michigan instead.

Phd and MD are EXTREMELY different paths in life. You need to sort that out yourself regardless of the schools involved. I personally think doing med school without being passionate about healthcare is crazy. I personally wouldn't want to be treated by someone whose only reason for doing med school was because that is what their parents wanted.

Honestly, figure out what YOU want to do. If you want to be a professor and do research, the obvious path is PhD. If you want to do clinical work in the the healthcare industry than do med school. Neither is more guaranteed success than the other.

I know plenty of grads from BU BME PhD and they are fine. The success you achieve is completely up to you. If you happen to go into a popular field, work with good people, and do good research and publish, I am sure you will be incredibly successful. If you choose unpopular work and aren't a good researcher than you will probably struggle.

Graduating from BU with a BME PhD will definitely give you opportunities for professorships. But whether or not you get a tenured professorship at your desired university is completely a gamble and depends on a billion factors.

By the way how have you not decided yet? BU required decisions to be made by April 15th.

[jayeyesee]

Do you have any interest at all in practicing medicine or are you dead set on becoming a professor? (If you have no interest in practicing medicine, why would you apply to medical school?) Even if you have made up your mind that you want to be a professor, I would advise you to go the MD route. MDs can do research and they can be professors. They have all the privileges that PhDs do AND then some (direct involvement in clinical research is probably the biggest one). Also job prospects for PhDs in the academic sector look bleak since so many more PhDs are being pumped out than there are academic positions. As an MD, you can always practice if the professorship route doesn't follow through, although this also depends on if you have any passion for the healthcare industry.

Also, it's much easier to get into the MSTP (MD/PhD) program as a medical student than as a graduate student (some schools like my institution bar any graduate students from entering the MSTP to prevent prospective students from using it as a backdoor entry into medical school). Talk to the MSTP program director at Georgetown and ask if you would be able to enter the MSTP program in your first or second year of medical school. Also ask how likely it is that you'll be admitted. They should have some idea considering they have all of your academic information. If you try to enter BU's MSTP program as a graduate student, more likely than not you'll be turned away. If you have your heart set on BU, be sure you are well informed about your chances of entering MSTP as a graduate student. You don't want to go to BU and realize later on that you wanted a MD after all. Doing an MD after your PhD is extremely inefficient and costly. DO NOT go the sequential route if you can avoid it.

With that said, keep in mind that at BU, you'll probably be fully funded whereas in medical school, you'll rack up ~$200,000 in debt. If you get admitted to the MSTP program, this won't be an issue since your medical tuition would be covered.

Edited May 24, 2012 by jayeyesee

[Usmivka]

MDs can do research and they can be professors. They have all the privileges that PhDs do AND then some (direct involvement in clinical research is probably the biggest one).

I think this was bit unclear--MD/PhDs are as described above, but with an MD only you will not have the research experience in grad school or academic pedigree to do research later, and will not be considered for a post-doc (which is the pre-req to a professorship at most universities).

Professorship is out the door if you do an MD only. I know there are some counter examples of MDs that don't have PhDs and are currently profs, but these are by and large from a different generation, and mostly honorary/emeritus regardless. This really doesn't happen anymore. I also know this is an invitation for someone to go find a 30-something doing research that disproves my argument, but I suspect this is more the expection that proves the rule, if they can be found (I defer in advance to whoever takes the trouble to prove me wrong).

P.S. I agree with most of those who posted above. Unless you are so passionate about health that you really, really want ~1/4 million in debt, the MD only route is nuts. This should not be about prestige or family. That debt will hang over you for decades, and if you are wealthy enough that it doesn't matter, you sure as heck better be planning on community health for the disadvataged, or public health, or some other field that doesn't get enough practicioners because they can't afford to go into a no recompense field.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Usmivka

[Spore]

There are plenty of MDs who choose a fellowship that is part clinical and part research oriented. For example, I know of an infectious disease doc who was doing research 4 days of a week and clinic one day a week (HIV). This is quite common. Some continue becoming physician scientists akin to PhD/MD.

Obviously this is more common in Microbiology, Infectious Disease, Human Genetics etc.

What bothered me was this person did not have the research degree (PhD) yet was getting paid more than than the PhD postdocs who were better prepared for research.

[Usmivka]

I suppose my point was not so much that MDs don't do research, as that they are generally not considered for professorships because they do not have equivalent research experience and publications. But I was poor at wording this, so my bad.

Anyway, I don't think a partial week of research in someone else's lab is the same thing as being a professor, which is the post author's stated goal. And especially in grad school, I don't believe this approach (partial weeks for a short period of time between medical training obligations) leads to a lot of first author papers, at least when compared against a typical natural/physical science PhD student's 5-6 years of focused research day in and day out. I don't know any students, or even any profs at my institution, that only work 4 (or 5!) days a week and have the output required to get tenure. I spent much of my undergrad in the University of Washington medical school (my department was next door, my girlfriend's was part of the med school) and I can't think of a single example of a MD only tenured professor in any of the academic units there --not that my knowledge is exhaustive (there were however plenty of MD/PhDs).

If professorship on a research track is the goal, a MD only degree is not the way most people or hiring committees choose. But as I said above, I know somebody out there will find the counter-example.

Something I don't think anyone has addressed yet: your happiness (and thus most other aspects of your life and education) is going to impacted at least in part by distance to your girlfriend. If she is in Boston, this seems like no-brainer, unless you two already are in a distance relationship.

Edited May 25, 2012 by Usmivka