Biomedical career decisions have never been easy. It's typical for a bright young student assessing the options to go through a period of self-examination, according to doctors and scientists interviewed for this article. Such introspection generally focuses on questions like: "Do I need to care for sick people in order to be professionally fulfilled, or would I be happier doing basic research, which ultimately could benefit millions of people?" "Will I be able to repay my medical school debts if I focus on patient- oriented research rather than a private practice?" "Do I really have the commitment to stick with an M.D./Ph.D. program?
pp.7 A young person with a high commitment to research on human disease is likely to find great rewards in undergoing the grueling amount of training involved in a combined M.D./Ph.D. program, research administrators say. M.D./Ph.D.'s are "by far the most successful group at getting grants funded," ...
