>>12563969If you want to do clinical or medical science research then yes the MD/PhD is a huge booster.
If you solely want to be a researcher, don’t do clinical practice. You will have contacts and colleagues who practice and will be willing to give their data to you.
If you want to do clinical practice AND clinical (not medical science) research, just get the MD. Don’t put yourself through the hell of MD/PhD when an MD can do the same. Have some friends who did an MD/PhD and are now just producing some basic meta-analyses or case reports which I do all the time as an MD. Plus anyone with connections can perform an RCT but MD/PhD do have more chances in some instances.
If you have any chance of just doing clinical practice and no research at all, then please PLEASE be good to yourself and don’t do an MD/PhD. I’ve had friends go through the whole struggle, find out in residency they like working as a doctor more, and they completely quit research and regret doing their PhD. All that time and stress down the drain.
I would recommend shadowing some docs to see if you like clinical practice at all. If you do and you think your up to the task of a combined program, then by all means apply. It’s tough to get in especially if you want to go to a good one but it’s definitely worth it if you want to remain in academia or work in policy for medical associations or work in industry
