I want to focus on translational research in my career. What’s the best degree to pursue?
Questions to consider include how much time you want to spend in research versus clinical care; how much time you want to spend developing your candidacy before your graduate/professional training; how much time you’re willing to spend in training before practice; and the kind of training you think will be necessary to reach your professional goals. U Penn is a favorite repository for good articles that explore questions like these.
The first branching point will be to decide if you need to incorporate patient care into your career to be satisfied. We emphasize the importance of spending some time with patients and physicians so that you can see the reality of what patient-facing work entails and decide if it’s really for you. There are plenty of PhDs who run translational labs, often collaborating with physicians. We also have some alums who are more sure about research than clinical care and do a PhD before medical school! Learn more about PhD programs in biomedical science.
If you decide that patient care is a must, then it depends on how much of your career you want to be research-focused. If you are confident that you want to lead a research team and spend the majority of your time in research with limited clinical time, then an MD/PhD is a straightforward route to gain structured training in both medicine and science. But, some physician-scientists pursued an MD but built a lot of research into their training in medical school and beyond by attending a research-intensive medical school, completing a thesis, taking a research year during med school, completing a graduate degree or fellowship, or otherwise layering training into their career. Some physician-scientists start an MD or DO program, realize after the first year that they want to pursue the dual degree, and apply into the MD/PhD or DO/PhD program. There’s no right or wrong way—if you’re already doing research, chat with mentors about why they chose their path, and ask if they can refer you to their colleagues (or their past trainees). You’ll soon see there are numerous paths to the same goal, and hearing professionals describe their career journeys can help you decide what may be right for you.
Beyond your research mentors, here are a few more places to find folks for “career conversations:”
- HPA Alum Matriculant Profiles: These recent alums share a little bit about their backgrounds and advice for aspiring health professionals
- HPA Doctor Is In Speaker profiles: These alums were guests in our HPA speaker series
- Career Development Career Compass: More alums who are open to chat with students about their professional paths
- American Physician Scientists Association Premed Mentorship Program: A national organization that matches interested undergrads with one-on-one mentoring by current professional trainees (there are typically some Princeton alums in the APSA leadership)
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