Who better to study disease than those who know it intimately?

PHYSICIAN-SCIENTIST [MD/PHD]

A phys ic ian sc ient ist i s a unique c l in ic ian who is par t o f a smal l cadre of

phys ic ians who usual ly work in academic heal th sc ience centers and have a h igh

impact on heal th care through d iscover y, t rans lat ional and c l in ical research,

and c l inica l pract ice . A phys ician sc ient is t in Pathology and Laboratory Medic ine

is a laborator y phys ic ian who is t ra ined in both sc ient i f ic b iomedical

invest igat ion and in pathology and/or laborator y medic ine, o f ten wi th c l in ica l

subspecia l ty t ra in ing.

On one hand, the phys ic ian sc ient ist br ings the r igors of sc ient i f ic invest igat ion

into the pat ient care arena and on the other, the phys ic ian sc ient is t ’s contact

with d isease br ings c l in ical ly re levant quest ions into the research arena to dr ive

invest igat ions into pathogenesis , prevent ion, d iagnosis , prognosis , and

t reatment of d isease.

WHAT IS A PHYSICIAN SCIENTIST?

asip.org/CareerPath/

P r i n c e t o n U n i v e r s i t y L e c t u re r w i t h r a n k o f P r o f e s s o r i n M o l e c u l a r B i o l o g y a n d P u b l i c P o l i c y , W o o d r o w W i l s o n S c h o o l

M D f r o m t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f C a i r o i n 1 9 6 3

P h D f r o m t h e U n i v e r s i t y o f L o n d o n , S c h o o l o f H y g i e n e a n d T r o p i c a l M e d i c i n e i n 1 9 7 1

E l e c t e d t o m e m b e r s h i p o f t h e A m e r i c a n S o c i e t y f o r C l i n i c a l I n v e s t i g a t i o n i n 1 9 7 8 , t h e A s s o c i a t i o n o f A m e r i c a n P h y s i c i a n s i n 1 9 8 0 a n d t h e I n s t i t u t e o f M e d i c i n e o f t h e N a t i o n a l A c a d e m y o f S c i e n c e s i n 1 9 8 7 .

R e c e i v e d t h e B a i l e y K . A s h f o r d A w a r d o f t h e A m e r i c a n S o c i e t y o f T r o p i c a l M e d i c i n e a n d H y g i e n e i n 1 9 8 3 , a n d t h e S q u i b b A w a r d o f t h e I n f e c t i o u s D i s e a s e s S o c i e t y o f A m e r i c a i n 1 9 8 4 .

F e l l o w o f t h e A m e r i c a n C o l l e g e o f P h y s i c i a n s a n d a m e m b e r o f t h e E x p e r t A d v i s o r y P a n e l o n P a r a s i t i c D i s e a s e s o f t h e W o r l d H e a l t h O r g a n i z a t i o n .

MEET ADEL MAHMOUD, MD, PHD P H Y S I C I A N . S C I E N T I S T . P R O F E S S O R . M E N T O R .

S e r v e d o n t h e N a t i o n a l A d v i s o r y A l l e r g y a n d I n f e c t i o u s D i s e a s e s C o u n c i l a n d i s a p a s t p r e s i d e n t

o f t h e C e n t r a l S o c i e t y f o r C l i n i c a l R e s e a r c h a n d t h e I n t e r n a t i o n a l S o c i e t y f o r I n f e c t i o u s D i s e a s e s .

C u r r e n t l y s e r v i n g a s a m e m b e r o f t h e N a t i o n a l S c i e n c e A d v i s o r y B o a r d f o r B i o s e c u r i t y a n d

C o m m i t t e e o n S c i e n t i f i c C o m m u n i c a t i o n s a n d N a t i o n a l S e c u r i t y ( C S C A N S) o f t h e N a t i o n a l

A c a d e m y o f S c i e n c e s

R e s e a r c h - g l o b a l h e a l t h : i n f e c t i o u s d i s e a s e ; b u r d e n o f i l l n e s s ; e x p a n d i n g t h r e a t ; v a c c i n e s a n d

c o n t r o l s t r a t e g i e s

R e s e a r c h f o c u s , s e l e c t e d p u b l i c a t i o n s , h o n o r s a n d a w a r d s … i t ’ s a l l i n t h e d e t a i l s !

What is i t…

MD/PhD programs provide t ra ining in both medic ine and research. They are spec i f ica l ly des igned for those who want to become research phys icians , a lso known as phys ic ian - invest igators or phys ic ian -sc ient ists . Graduates of MD/PhD programs of ten go on to become faculty members at medical schools , univers i t ies and research inst i tutes .

Regardless of where they eventual ly work , MD/PhD candidates are being prepared for careers in which they wi l l spend most of thei r t ime doing research, in addi t ion to car ing for pat ients . The MD/PhD dual career i s busy, chal lenging, rewarding, and of fers oppor tunit ies to do good for many people by advancing knowledge, developing new t reatments for d iseases , and pushing back the boundar ies of the unknown.

The h is tory…

MD/PhD t ra ining was a natura l outcome of the ‘ integrated' medical school curr iculum establ ished by Western Reser ve Univers i ty School o f Medic ine in the mid 1950s under the leadership of Joseph T. Wearn , MD, Professor of Medic ine and Dean of the SOM. This novel cur r iculum encouraged combined MD/PhD t ra in ing and inc luded: 1 ) Bas ic sc ience and c l in ica l teaching that inter faced and coordinated throughout the 4 -year MD program; 2) ‘E lect ive ' and unscheduled t ime reser ved dur ing the f i r s t two years of medical school for s tudents to pursue thei r own interests ; 3 ) Complet ion of a research pro ject was a requi rement for the MD degree; 4) Basic sc ience and c l inical facul ty cooperated enthusiast ical ly to make the integrated cur r iculum a success .

THE MD/PHD

students-residents.aamc.org/choosing-medical-career/careers-medical-research/md-phd-dual-degree-training/

You can exper ience the pass ion of so lv ing a pat ient 's medical

s t ruggles whi le pursuing research that may def ine the

mechanism of that pat ient ’s d isease and may u l t imately

t rans late into a c l in ical cure for the d isease .

MD-PhD t ra inees are research sc ient is ts who so lve

mechanisms under lying d isease, combined wi th thei r pass ion

to t reat pat ients in a c l in ical set t ing.

MD-PhD t ra ining ef f ic ient ly integrates the sc ient if ic and

medical educat ion of the phys ic ian -sc ient is t .

During the PhD t ra ining years MD -PhD students take the

coursework and formal t ra in ing in research methodology that

are impor tant for the development of the research sc ient ist .

Most MD-PhD programs provide t ra inees a s t ipend and tu i t ion

scholarships . Th is f inancia l suppor t recognizes the t ime that

a s tudent must spend in t ra in ing for the MD -PhD career. The

extent of f inancia l suppor t var ies among programs and may

only suppor t U .S . c i t izens and permanent res idents .

WHY PURSUE AN MD/PHD?

students-residents.aamc.org/choosing-medical-career/article/why-pursue-md-phd/

Most MD/PhD candidates earn thei r PhD in b iomedical laborator y d isc ipl ines such

as cel l b io logy, b iochemistr y, genet ics , immunology, pharmacology, phys iology,

neuroscience, or b iomedical eng ineer ing. The names of depar tments and graduate

programs var y f rom school to school . At some schools , MD/PhD t ra inees can a lso

do thei r g raduate work outside of the laboratory d isc ipl ines in f ie lds such as

computat ional b io logy, economics , ep idemiology, heal th care po l icy, anthropology,

soc iology, or the h istor y of medic ine. D i f ferences as to which graduate degree

programs are of fered and the qual i ty o f these programs are impor tant e lements to

cons ider in apply ing for MD/PhD t ra ining.

AREAS OF RESEARCH INTEREST FOR MD/PHD

sciencemag.org/careers/2011/06/questions-and-answers-pursuing-md-phd

Prec l in ical (years 1 -2 )

Medical sciences and explore research opportunities (lab rotations)

Research (years 3 -6) Complete PhD Degree

Conduct thesis research with opportunity for clinical experiences

Cl in ical (5 -7 or 6 -8 ) Complete MD Degree

Clinical clerkships

Additional research experiences

Each MD/PhD program offers unique research opportunities

The PhD is awarded in a wide var iety of d isc ipl ines

MD/PHD CURRICULUM IS A CONTINUUM

aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/db/ca/dbca84bc-47d2-480d-8269-1e4e9da38476/mdphd_isitrightforme.pdf

Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons

Harvard Medical School

Icahn School of Medicine at Mt. Sinai

David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Stanford University School of Medicine

Yale School of Medicine

WHERE THE TIGER MD/PHDS ARE

8

5

4

4

4

3

3

BAYLOR

Neuroscience

CHICAGO-PRITZKER

History of Medicine

COLUMBIA

Neurobiology & Behavior

HARVARD/MIT/OXFORD

Chemical Biology

NORTHWESTERN

Biomedical Engineering

PENN

Anthropology

PITT

Clinical & Translational Science

UCLA/CALTECH

Bioengineering

UNIVERSITY OF UTAH

Bioengineering

YALE

Neuroscience

EXAMPLES OF PRINCETON ALUMNI IN MD/PHD PROGRAMS

Additional schools where Princeton alums are pursuing the MD/PhD include Case Western, Cornell, Duke, Emory, Hofstra, Illinois, Johns Hopkins, Keck

USC, Miami, Michigan, Mt. Sinai, NYU, Ohio State, Penn State, Rochester, Stanford, Tufts, UCSD, UNC, UVA, Vanderbilt, Wash U

MD/PhD programs are spec i f ica l ly des igned for those who want to become research

phys ic ians , a lso known as phys ic ian -sc ient ists . Graduates of MD/PhD programs

of ten go on to become faculty members at medical schools , univers i t ies , and

research inst i tutes such as the Nat ional Inst i tutes of Heal th . MD/PhD candidates

are being prepared for careers in which they wi l l spend most of thei r t ime doing

research in addi t ion to car ing for pat ients . I t i s c r i t ica l that appl icants have a

passion for do ing both — most MD/PhD graduates feel s t rongly that they would not

be fu l f i l led by only pursuing medic ine or only pursuing sc ience.

FINDING THE RIGHT FIT

aamc-orange.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/b4/d0/b4d07f37-cab2-4691-ba75-bf5738a60d5c/applymd-phd.pdf

I learned about the Amer ican Phys ic ian Sc ient ists Associat ion in my junior year of co l lege when I at tended the fa l l reg ional meet ing at the Icahn School o f Medic ine. I enjoyed hear ing about the many d iverse research quest ions tackled by the at tending phys ic ian sc ient ists —such exposure was scarce at Pr inceton Univers i ty due to i ts lack of a medical school . The workshop on MD/PhD programs led by Dr. Skip Brass , d i rector of the Universi ty of Pennsy lvania ’s MSTP, was par t icular ly useful to me as I thought about my future as a phys ician sc ient is t . The reg ional meet ing mot ivated me to s tar t an APSA local chapter at Pr inceton.

The APSA local chapter gave Pr inceton students access to a vast set of educat ional and networking resources . The local chapter inv i ted phys ic ian sc ient is ts f rom several neighbor ing medical

schools for d inner d iscussions on phys ic ian sc ient is t careers and MD/PhD program admissions . Wi th a t ravel g rant f rom APSA , our chapter was a lso able to send four s tudents to the 2015 Annual Meet ing. The Annual Meet ing, w i th i ts many keynote speakers and workshops, showed me how valuable APSA can be, and together wi th the other APSA events that I par t ic ipated in , so l id if ied my dec is ion to apply to MD/PhD programs. I am now a f i r s t year in the Univers i ty o f Pennsy lvania 's MSTP and am proud to be one of Penn’s inst i tut ional representat ives, through which I hope to cont inue expanding APSA’s reach to budding phys ician sc ient is ts .

KEVIN ZHANG’S SUCCESS THROUGH APSA

Kevin Zhang ‘16

physicianscientists.org/page/NewsEvent3

AAM C M D - P h D Du a l Deg r ee Tr a in in g :

s t u d en t s - r es id ent s . a am c .o r g/ c ho os in g - m ed ica l - ca ree r/ ca r ee r s - m ed ic a l - r esear c h/ m d - p hd -d u a l -

d eg r ee - t r a in in g /

Wo r k sh o p s fo r P ro sp ec t i ve P h D a n d M D- P h D A p p l i c a nt s :

s t u d en t s - r es id ent s . a am c .o r g/ c ho os in g - m ed ica l - ca ree r/ a r t i c le/wo rk sh op s - p ro sp ec t i ve -m d ph d -

a p p l i c a n ts /

M D - P h D: I s i t R ig h t fo r M e?

a a m c - o r a n g e . g lob a l . ss l . fa s t l y.n et /p ro du c t ion /m ed ia / f i le r _p u b l ic / d b/ ca /d bc a8 4bc -47d 2 -480d -

8 2 69 - 1e4e9d a 38476/m d p hd _ is i t r i gh t fo r m e .p df

A A M C L i s t o f M D/ P h D P ro g r a m s B y S t a te :

s t u d en t s - r es id ent s . a am c .o r g/ ap p ly ing - m ed ic a l - sc h o o l/a r t i c le/ m dp h d - d eg r ee -p ro gr a m s - s t a te/

S u m m er Un d er g r a d Resea r c h S p o n so r ed by M D/ P h D S c h o o ls :

a a m c . o r g / m em b er s/ g r ea t /169782/ m dp h dsu m m erp ro gr a m s . ht m l

N a t io n a l I n s t i t u tes o f H ea l t h M S TP Over v iew :

n ig m s . n ih . gov/Tr a in in g/ In s t P r ed o c /P r edo cOver v iew - M ST P.h t m

A m er ic a n P hy s i c ia n S c ien t i s t A sso c ia t io n :

p hy s i c ian sc ien t i s t s . o r g /

FOR ADDITIONAL INFORMATION