Sally Gerrish, Director of Student, Alumni, and Industrial Relations, is available in the Academic Office for consultation. (Photo: Saranya Karthikeyan)
The choice between two degrees, a Master’s or a Ph.D., ultimately leads the respective students down divergent roads. A decision between the two degree programs is influenced by factors such as time commitment and personal goals. However, when approaching these programs, “I think the ultimate thing,” explains Neal Laxpat, a fourth year M.D.-Ph.D. student studying under Dr. Bob Gross at Emory University , “is to find what motivates you and then tailor your education to that purpose.”
According to Sally Gerrish, Director of Student, Alumni, and Industrial Relations, 30% of BME undergraduates pursue higher education at a graduate school with 14% choosing a PhD degree and 16% choosing a Master’s degree. Compared to the past, students now more often matriculate into a Master’s program. As Gerrish explains, “Interesting Master’s programs are popping up all over the country that are giving students the skills they need to go into industry.”
Master’s are generally two year programs that allow the student to delve a little deeper into a subject area. Such programs can be broken down into a thesis or a non-thesis program. Master’s degrees appeal to students who want specific training. When you earn a Master’s, some are called terminal Master’s because they are in fact the highest degree available in a particular field. The fields of study can range from entrepreneurial and business related practices to highly specific applications such as prosthetics and orthotics.
Furthermore, Master’s are becoming the next level in a career in industry. The field is “getting to the point where sometime in your professional career, you [will] need a Master’s to advance,” Gerrish comments.
Unlike the Master’s, Ph.D. programs are centered upon research. To earn a Ph.D., doctorate students must propose and defend a thesis – the end goal being a novel contribution to their field of study.
While it is rare for someone to pursue a Masters and then enter academia, exiting Ph.D. students are evenly divided between industry and academia.
BME graduate students Ashely Allen and Laxpat spoke of their own motivations for continuing onto graduate school.
Allen is a second year bioengineering Ph.D. in Dr. Bob Goldberg’s Lab. Her initial goal upon entering into graduate school was to eventually continue into academia. However, Ashley notes that certain fields lend themselves more to a Master’s Degree; for instance, a Master’s is oftentimes sufficient for forwarding a chemical engineers career. However in biomedical research, the knowledge and hands-on experience required is best attained through the devoted study of a doctoral degree.
To Laxpat, the joint M.D.-Ph.D. program exemplified an opportunity to practice translatable research, as well as to see the outcomes in patients, something that was primarily motivating him in his undergraduate research. To undergraduates, Neal offers his perspective on higher education. “It’s very easy to get caught up in how long it’s going to take and to focus on being out as your goal,” remarks Neal, “but the process itself should be the goal. You’re doing this higher education not to get the status at the end and the letters on your name, but to gain experience and training … [which] you can use to better advance your career. So you can do what you love..”
