Md Phd Summer Rotation & Stipend Forms (8-10 Week) - Boston: Fill & Download for Free

First, as a fellow premed ML junkie, let me just express my admiration to Quora's machine learning team for bringing this to the top of my feed despite the fact that I don't follow any of these topics and until this question I've never indicated in any way outside the questions I read and a few tangentially related topics I follow that (1) I am premed (in fact I have deliberately avoided following the premed topic on Quora), (2) I intend to do an MD/PhD, or (3) I would be interested in pursuing postgraduate studies in machine learning. In fact this is exactly what I'll be applying to do this summer. I'm not an expert by any means but I've been thinking about this question for the better part of a year, and of course outside input is more than welcome.I'm a little surprised at your question though because at most schools (those that permit it; keep in mind not all schools permit will let you do the PhD in just anything), Machine Learning is offered through the CS department rather than the stats deparment, so an MD/PhD in ML would be an MD/PhD in CS. If you're asking about whether you should do it with the stats department or the CS department in case both are available (I can't think of a school where only stats would be available), CS would be the better bet if you're interested in AI as I am.If the question is instead, can I do an MD/PhD in an area of CS unrelated to ML if I want to do research in ML/AI afterwards, well I suppose you could but if you already know that's what you want to do, what's the point in doing the PhD in, say, algorithms rather than just going for ML straightaway? The field of CS is also a bit more modular than the field of human biology in the sense that there isn't really a "big picture" uniting all the subdisciplines (ML, security/cryptography, algorithms, robotics, networks, architecture etc.) in the same way that the question of "How do we keep humans alive?" unites, say, nephrology and podiatry and genetics.A few professors I respect in the CS department at Columbia have told me only half in jest that "CS" as a field doesn't exist - it's just a random collection of people doing mostly-unrelated research in topics variously resembling statistics, pure mathematics, electrical engineering, computer engineering, and software development. If you do your PhD in an unrelated area of CS and later want to switch, you may find yourself in what looks like a completely different field requiring a completely different set of tools - not an insurmountable gulf by any means, but more drastic than going from studying one organ system to studying another. This is especially true in ML which is very cross-disciplinary in the first place, borrowing ideas from CS, stats, and neuroscience.The more interesting question to me (and in fact the question that I'm trying to answer now) is, what are the advantages and disadvantages of getting an MD/PhD in Computational Neuroscience as opposed to Machine Learning/CS. In the former case, you have more leeway to go the traditional neuroscience route, maybe practice as a neurologist or neurosurgeon, and be a biologist if you wish. If you're interested in a biologically inspired approach to artificial neural networks, this would be the way to go. In the latter case, you'll probably get more programming and less working on squishy brains, but you'll be in a position to do pure ML research if you wish, which would be less accessible to someone in Comp Neuro. On the CS side you could also go into brain-machine interfaces, though comp neuro people are slowly encroaching on that domain as well.However, in all cases once you get to a school, you can almost always rotate between labs, even in different departments before you choose your specialization. What you put on the application doesn't restrict you from moving around a bit.PM me if you'd like to chat privately in more detail.

Oh, my sweet summer child.Photo: Your graduate advisor.Do not get yourself admitted into an MD/PhD program. Those are never-ending tales of pain and woe.Photo: You when you start the program (L), you when you’ve graduated and are ready to start your career (R).What happens is that many, many brilliant, ambitious young people decide that a double barreled doctorate sounds like the highest and most useful possible credential. Many start their MD/PhD programs with a song in their heart. Most ditch the PhD portion of it around the time their MD classmates graduate, and while that MD/PhD student still has several years of dissertation work to do before going back into their MD rotations.The incremental benefit of doing both degrees like this is very small, and the cost in time and energy is huge.Instead, do the following:Do your undergraduate degree as well as you can, enjoying your time in college. Major in Biology, Chemistry, Biochemistry, Psychology or Neuroscience. Be sure to take all of the required pre-med classes. Do a research project while there.Go to the best MD program you can get into. Do well there. Do a research rotation.Do your internship/residency in Neurology or Psychiatry. Do some case studies or work on a clinical trial while there.Get a position at a teaching hospital that is affiliated with a university. Do more research. Apply for a grant.After you have reached Clinical Associate Professor rank, tell the university that you want them to give you a PhD. Find out what that will take. Either do your PhD with them, or just keep researching as much as you like.

No.It is obviously optimal if you work on a PhD topic that is highly relevant to your ultimate clinical field but in most cases this is not possible. In any case, the main purpose of a PhD is to train you to become an independent scientist regardless of field of specialization. Knowing exactly which lab and topic you want to pursue is not really a practical consideration for the purposes of the application/interview stage. That is what lab rotations are for and I'd highly recommend matriculating early during the summer prior to med school to squeeze in one or two more rotations.You really don't need to solidify your interests until year 3 which is also a good thing because some of what you will learn during the first 2 years of med school may get you interested in new topics. Keeping an open mind throughout training is generally a good thing.For MD/PhD candidates, what is more important to convey is your grasp and mastery (and excitement) of the science you have already done. This doesn't relieve you of the responsibility to look into the further possibilities and to discuss these competently, but by no means do you need to lock it down for interviews. In fact, doing so may be more of a negative than a positive (e.g., may come off as cocky/close-minded or they may not have a PI sharing your specific interests, etc.).