MD/PhDs in Ortho

An MD/PhD is definitely an addition to your application. i think it opens a lot of doors for you. People will look at it very favorably at both academic and community programs. Community programs may ask you more how you think you fit in their programs given your obvious interest in research, so be prepared to answer!!

You will get interviews at pretty great places with a PhD, but of course the whole "where you get interviews" is not entirely predictable!!

If you have questions, feel free to ask. I myself am an MD/PhD and I know the benefits of it.

torn,

Congrats on your recent match. I would be interested in any information you have about the interview experience as an MD/PhD. Were most programs receptive? Do you plan to pursue basic science as part of your career (i.e., lab PI), and if so, how did you convey this while interviewing? Have you found any (potential) mentors who actually are able to conduct both research and operate well? My limited perspective is that this is especially hard to do in the surgical specialties.

I am about to begin the PhD phase of the MSTP, and my project will be very ortho heavy, so obviously I am thinking about orthopaedics some time down the road. Our ortho dept here is very academic, but there are no MD/PhD residents to ask these kinds of questions to. Not surprising, since there have only been a dozen or so MD/PhDs going into ortho in the past 3-4 years. If any of you are out there, please chime in.

Also . . .

What was your area/topic for the PhD? (Ortho vs basic science; engineering vs molbio)?
Any resistance from your MD/PhD admin about going into surgery vs path, peds, IM?
What are "the benefits of it" that you refer to?

Any thing else you would be willing to share would be great. Thanks

To be honest with you when I was doing research I did not think i was going to do ortho . i only decided after i finished and defended my PhD and I was already in my third year. So my research was not ortho related in any way. I was was pure basic science but in a very high powered lab and i got tons of publications out of my research many of which I am first author. So in that sense i am very content because if i did ortho research i would have not learned basic science the way i wanted and i would have not been as productive because ortho research is not very strong in my school.
Now having said that, i doing research other than ortho is still very useful because in your PhD years, you learn the rigors of the scientific method. toy will learn how to come up with hypotheses, test them, design experiments, read and write papers and grants. ALl those things are valued by research institutions in any department including ortho.
Regarding resistence from Md/PhD administration, i did not get any of that. I think may of my advisors and our program director were a little surprised because of my interest in research to go into ortho. But, let me tell you, you like what you like and you should do what you like. Ortho has tons of research you can do, be it basic or clinical and your PhD will fit right in. People at big academic places will understand that very well. At community places, less so especially residents who have much less interest in research.
In you interview, show interest in your research. don't forget that you spend as much (if not more) time getting a PhD than you do and MD, so be proud of your reseaarch and stress it. At the same time, show your commitment to orthopaedics (learning it as a science and an art) and also your interest in teaching and academics.
In my institution, ortho research is not that big and there are no role models for a combined research clinical career, but there are in other surgical specialties. It can be done. Once you are in your practice, you will find that many of the procedures you do can potentially become routine and you would want something to break that routine. this may be a good time to start devoting time to research. I, myself, am not exactly sure how I'm gonna do it, but I know when I do I have the training I need from my PhD.
I wish you all the best and If you have any questions, feel free to email, pm or if you want call.