The PhD Years

From ScribbleWiki: MD PhD Advice

The PhD years can be some of the best years of your life, as you do amazing work at the bench. They can also be very difficult, as you are no longer with the 'herd' and are forging a path through the mysteries of science by yourself.

• the first six months to one year, your project will most likely not get off the ground. Don't worry. Everyone is in the same boat. Some also miss the intensity of the wards, and the more immediate gratification of patient care.

• You may feel rather down because of the above. Your fellow MD/PhD students are especially crucial at this time, so you can empathize with, and support, one another.

• Complete all department requirements as soon as possible, especially the qualifying exam. Ask former MD/PhD's in your department for advice about the qualifying exam as each has its own idiosyncracies. Check in advance about TA requirements for your department and program, and fulfill them.

• Negotiate how many, and which, classes you have to take with your DGS. Most MD/PhD students have considerable undergraduate experience, so you do not have to take every class just because it's a printed requirement. There may be great classes at Yale which better fit into your research interests and career goals, so tailor your education to suit your needs.

• Prepare your PI, and yourself, for the fact that you may not do much benchwork during the time of your qualifying exam. That's ok. That is the only protected time you are given as a graduate student for reading, so use it. Even in departments where you write an anti-thesis to qualify, the process is very useful in teaching you how to think and write as a scientist.

• Determine your thesis project as soon as possible.

• When deciding on your committee, ask other graduate students about faculty who have worked well with students before. Also, make sure your committee members have a good working relationship with your PI, and are not out of the city for most of the year. Absentee committee members are of no use to you.

• When writing the specific aims of your dissertation project, make them exciting and challenging, so that you are motivated to work on your project. However, also structure your objectives so that they are achievable within the four year time frame.

• If your relationship with your PI starts to go awry, or you feel unsupported for whatever reason, do not hesitate to contact the MD/PhD program. The faculty (director, associate directors and MD/PhD committee) are highly experienced in both guiding graduate students and in negotiating the political landmines of Yale biomedical sciences. Get them involved sooner rather than later.

• Don't burn out. You don't have to work 18 hours a day, everyday. Remember, this is still Yale Med and your PhD years can be some of the best of your life! It is more important to work smart than hard; and if you're not capable of achieving the frame of mind to make clear insights, you could waste YEARS in selfless scientific flagellation.