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GEM after PhD

I'm currently completing a PhD in Computer Science and coming towards the end, and I'm thinking about applying for Graduate Entry Medicine and I'm just wondering if anyone else has done the same? What was the experience like? Are there opportunities for people with a Computer Science background to move into medicine, particularly interested in Neurology, Mental Health and Gerontology.

Any advice appreciated!

Reply 1

Sinatrafan

Yes certainly possible, on my GEM courses we had a few PhD graduates who all did very well at medical school. It gets you a few additional points on foundation and specialty applications but otherwise I don't believe it conveys any specific benefit. Medicine is very broad and the scope of a PhD is very narrow.

Quite a few specialties (e.g.neurology) these days "encourage" you to do a PhD at some point in order to get a decent consultant post (especially if you want a prestigious post at a London Hospital) but I would imagine that would need to be in an area of medicine/neurology rather than computer science to convey any real benefit.

Specialties like psychiatry and geriatrics don't require a PhD and are very easy to progress through without any research background or interest.

(edited 5 years ago)

Reply 2

artful_lounger

Universities Forum Helper

might be able to advise on neurology things :smile:

I think it might depend a bit on what your PhD project is on; I imagine there are at least some neurologists working on aspects of computational neuroscience which could be delivered through a PhD in CS. The extent to which your background in this area is relevant to that (or other relevant neuroscience research broadly) is probably the key bit.

That said I imagine there are at least a few GEM students who did a PhD beforehand who just saw GEM as a complete career change independent of their prior studies. Perhaps though many will have done a PhD project relating to their (latent) interests in medicine though...

However you don't need to know what specialty you want to go into when you start your medical course, or even necessarily by the end of it. You'll do work in other specialties throughout the clinical phases of the course and during the foundation training so you don't need to try and try and shoe-horn your PhD background to being relevant to a particular specialty right out of the gate, I think.

Reply 3

m_question

Thanks for the info.

I probably should have said that my PhD research is tangentially related to health, think Fitbit, etc. and is largely qualitative in nature rather than highly quantitative but I have experience/knowledge of EEG and the brain from UG and MSc although both of them are in Comp. Sci. too but would like more practical knowledge.

Reply 4

moonkatt

Would you start calling yourself “doctor doctor?”

Reply 5

m_question

Original post by moonkatt

Would you start calling yourself “doctor doctor?”

Depending on who I'm speaking to... Nah, one doctor is enough. I just want a really long name and initials on my email signatures.

Reply 6

Waterfall7

Can’t speak for a computer science PhD but I’ve just finished mine in molecular biology and am starting medical school in September. Your PhD in computer science is still applicable since the use of technology, computers, diagnostic algorithms etc are important in medicine. But that’s in a general sense - don’t feel you need to force an interest in certain medical specialities because of your PhD. Best to wait until medicine school to explore that. Most (but not all) of my work experience placements were with clinical academics working on similar research areas to mine. So having a PhD can be advantageous for finding work experience ie. contacting clinicians with a special interests in technology, innovation, computer programming etc. But otherwise, my best advice is to approach the application process like everyone else.

I hope you give it a go! For me, going into medicine is adding to my career as a medical scientist. But in your case, there are several transferable skills that every PhD student gains, that are useful in medicine - attention to detail, presentation skill/s, and all the rest. So first and foremost, best of luck with finishing your PhD! Learn about a career in medicine and caring for people through work experience and hands on volunteer work, study hard for the admission tests and give it a good go! All the best

(edited 4 years ago)

Reply 7

Waterfall7

There are definitely loads of clinical academics where I’m based who work on these areas so I likely have a skewed opinion on this but there are absolutely equal numbers of folks who still type with one finger :^_^:

tis’ true! Maybe the poster will be one of few technologically savvy medics!

I always say to PhDs going into medicine to just have an open mind anyway. That’s the advice I was always given when I started considering a career in medicine! And in all my interviews, not once did anything about my PhD come up so the advantages come later with application points as you’ve said and if you do plan to pick a speciality relevant to the PhD you did. Otherwise, enjoy the PhD, and take the transferable skills forward :bl: