In article <a-schmi-1711962208480001 at vortex.life.uiuc.edu>,
a-schmi at uiuc.edu (aloisia schmid) wrote:
> I just wanted to add two things. So many women in science that I know are
> now saying that they plan to go to medical school because that is the easy
> way out. And in a way it is. It's more secure. And what's interesting
> is that these women--and men, for that matter-- who go to medical school
> after all of this time and sweat in academic research, will probably be
> better doctors than their non-PhD counterparts.
>> I had to have surgery a few years ago and was absolutely appalled at how
> my orthopedic surgeons and GPs knew absolutely NOTHING about basic
> neuroscience and cell biology. (snip)
(Oops-I noticed that I accidentially posted a message that I started
yesterday, but didn't complete-my apologies, and here is the correct
post). As far as going from PhD to medical school, I would caution that
with the changing climate of health care, an MD is no longer necessarily a
ticket to the good life. Personally I would have no desire to add four
years of med schood on top of my graduate training, but I have known
people who have done it. As far as most MD's knowing little about basic
science, I have to agree. The training paths for MD's and PhD's are very
different, and I should think that there is only so much knowledge you can
cram into one head, so it is unrealistic to expect someone trained as a
physician to know as much basic science as someone trained as a
researcher. I do know some MD's who have very excellent and productive
research programs. I have also met some that think they can just start up
a project, without ever bothering to learn basic research skills.
It's great to see all the new posts, and learn a bit about people's
backgrounds. I never realized what a varied group we have here. For my
part, I earned a BS in Microbiology from Oregon State University, then
jumped across the country to get a PhD at the University of Rhode Island,
also in micro. I had no plans to stay after I was done, but in grad school
I met my husband-to-be and had to find a post-doc locally until he was
done. I ended up at a local hospital, in the molecular biology lab,
working on mapping human chromosome 9 as part of the human genome
project. I spent four years there, and had two children during that time
(talk about a productive postdoc!). A position opened up in medical
oncology, and I jumped at the opportunity, and have been doing cancer
research (cloning tumor antigens, developing a targeted retroviral
vector) for the past 18 months. I suppose my career has really followed
opportunities that opened up to me, rather than sticking with one
particular resesarch track. I certainly enjoy what I am doing now, and
working at the hospital is a unique experience. I have a faculty
appointment (Asst. Prof-research) at Brown University, but actually work
at the hospital, and my teaching is primarily on the one-on-one level,
with students coming to my lab to do honors research projects. Like
anyone else, I suppose, sometimes I find being a working mom/scientist
fantastic, and sometimes difficult and discouraging.
Looking forward to hearing other people's stories-
Deb Britt
--
Deborah Britt, Ph.D.
Department of Medical Oncology
Rhode Island Hospital
