======= Date Modified 25 Aug 2011 06:53:46 =======
Hi,

I am an international medical graduate (completed in 2008). I took my MLE exams and went to US where I rotated under different doctors for a year and did my observership and externship in private practice. I was not successful in gaining admissions into medical program in US. I was disheartened and further decided to do PhD. I have gained admissions into several universities in UK( University of edinburgh, Birmingham, Dundee, Manchester, Nottingham). However, I am confused and unable to take a right decision. Hence am writing to the forum with the hope of finding right advice.

First of all, I do not know which university to opt for. I looked at guardian ranking,QS world rankings. I am unable to understand as to which one to follow as each of them differ in their ranking.
Second, I am in serious doubt if I have taken a right decision of doing PhD as I am hardly aware of medicos opting this stream. Am I wasting time and leading a way to build up more frustrations? Are PhD holders paid well? I see a lot of forums complaining that PhD is time consuming and the pay is less.
Please let me know if anybody is aware of doctors who have opted to take up PhD after medical graduation. Is it a rediculous decision I have taken and end up becoming a laughing stock. I am truly worried.
Third, After all the mess up that I did, I did not want to sit idle and lose my confidence to a greater extent. Hence, I applied for PhD. I still desire to do PG medicine in the near future. Would doing a PhD close the doors for me from doing postgraduate in medicine in future? It has been my dream of carrying out research since the day I joined medical school. However, I am restless currently for not being able to gain my admissions into PG medicine and thus anxious to know if this is something which I can never have in my life.

I hope to receive a good advice at the earliest. Your help is truly appreciated.


Thanks

The MD-to-PhD route seems pretty popular in Germany and there are institutions which even encourgage it and run dedicated programmes for medical graduates. Many researchers opting for this route then combine basic research with clinical research. I'm afraid I can't add anything to that, this is just something I've observed when applying to PhD programmes in Germany, but perhaps you should look at your options there.

Thank you for your advice.