Toxicological Sciences 53, 156 (2000)
Copyright © 2000 by the Society of Toxicology
LETTER TO THE EDITOR
Mayo Clinic 200 First Street SW Rochester, Minnesota 55905 wilke.russell{at}mayo.edu
To the Editor:
I recently read with enthusiasm your commentary on the role of MD/PhD's in science (Philip G. Watanabe, 49, 165). I originally trained in an MSTP program, and I have just finished a medicine residency in the University of Wisconsin's Clinical Investigator Track. I am now a senior research fellow at the Mayo Clinic, where I hope to establish myself as an independent investigator. As a young MD/PhD, I cannot thank you enough for vocalizing our plight so eloquently.
Although I began my combined degree training with great enthusiasm, I have spent much of the past 10 years wondering how I would eventually blend patient care and basic science research. It seems that many academic physicians (MD's) have viewed me (an MD/PhD) as less than a complete clinician. Likewise, most basic scientists have viewed my commitment to research as "dilute" due to my dual allegiance. (In fact, I have often wondered if the MSTP didn't sell me a bridge back when I began training in 1988.) If the academic community is not going to embrace MD/PhD's as true investigators, then why is NIH creating them?
As an MD with a PhD in Pharmacology and Toxicology, I now find myself attempting to carve out a niche in the area of clinical toxicology. Although I am board eligible in Internal Medicine, I am not inclined to pursue further clinical training in a traditional medical subspecialty. Rather, I hope to continue my work as a basic scientist, while obtaining experience as a consulting toxicologist in Mayo's Section of Preventive Medicine.
I am particularly interested in derangements of neuroendocrine function (see J. Physiol. 517, 391, J. Biol. Chem. 274, 18387). I have been wrestling for some time with the decision whether or not to pursue a career in clinical toxicology. Your commentary in Toxicological Sciences has injected me with a renewed sense of optimism. It is encouraging that scientists such as yourself have established successful careers by pursuing similar interests.
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