Neuroscience Careers: MD vs PhD?

[Pronghorn]

Hello, people!

I'm fond of studying the nervous system and I'd like to pursue a career related to it, but I don't know which path to take:pratice(MD) or research(PhD).

Here's a rough comparison of how these jobs are to me:
MD(neurologist or neurosurgeon)=safe, tedious, well-paid job
Researcher=flexible job and salary, plus lots of fun

Oh, and I'm particularly interested in transhumanist themes which deal with life extension technologies(e.g., mind uploading, virtual realities).

Help me figure out which career to choose.

Thanks.

 

[fasterthanjoao]

Here's a rough comparison of how these jobs are to me:
MD(neurologist or neurosurgeon)=safe, tedious, well-paid job
Researcher=flexible job and salary, plus lots of fun

I'm not sure you need help deciding if you're describing MD as 'tedious' and researcher as 'lots of fun'.

Besides, they are completely different career paths - as an MD you'll deal with patients and I guess possibly be able to conduct some clinical research some way along the line. PhD will be extremely specialized in a particular area of neuroscience. Having said that, a PhD is not something that should be attempted lightly - it is not so much a career path as a way of life.

 

[DeuteriumDude]

I can tell you are much more enthusiastic about a PhD. I think that neuroscience gets more funding that other fields, such as physics, and so your career opportunities with a neuroscience PhD are somewhat better than in other fields, where PhDs are out of work. You should also consider a PhD in biomedical engineering; this is probably more relevant to transhumanism, if you're into mind-uploading and brain-computer interfaces (as am I! ). And if you've got enough math under your belt, I hear there is a relative abundance of jobs for computational neuroscience PhDs, since not many people have dual backgrounds in math and biology!

Do research. Unless you're very concerned about making money, research sounds like more of your thing.

 

[aprillove20]

Well, PhD will be extremely specialized in a particular area of neuroscience.