Post #121517 by KevInBoots on Mon, Oct 25, 2004 2:03 AM

I didn't think the MD was for me, either, until I saw what postdocs were making! Actually, it was more that I wanted to move from working with rhesus monkeys to human-type primates. In your case, it sounds like you'll be going into the industry side of things, so scraping after meager fellowships and indentured servitude slots (i.e., non-tenure track teaching jobs) isn't something you'll have to worry about, which is very good.

I didn't go for the MSTP program because I was well into the PhD program before I ever had a glimmer of a notion to do med school. I regretted that later -- it sure would have saved me a boat load of $$$. On the other hand, the MSTP folks were seen as being spoon fed, and weren't always too respected on either side of the tracks.

For me, in the end, the clinical side felt more vital, and the petty politics of research got a little tiring, so I left research behind. I also think I learned enough about the brain to realize we weren't going to figure it all out in the lab, at least not in my lifetime.

It's funny, now that I'm completely out of research, I have more ideas than ever for worthwhile lines of research. Clinical practice, and a little living, will do that.

And where do I sling my neuroscience knowledge nowadays? Mostly only in private, with a couple of friends who enjoy obtuse intellectual conversations. Or to win bar bets. You see, I even gave up clinical practice a couple of years ago, to (hold on to your hat now) become an animator. How's that for a transition? If you saw Shrek 2, you saw some of my work. Next, I'm trying out for NASA.

So where was your office in the CHS? Mine was 43-364. There's a directory at the end of that hall that someone lost the key to, and my name's still there, frozen in time.