Hello everyone.

I am studying medicine in the UK. Before i studied medicine i worked 3 years as a pharmacist. There is a lot of repetition between the courses and i have a lot of free time on my hands. i am interested in research.
Do you think it would be feasible to do a phd. while finishing my medicine degree, perhaps on a part-time basis?

Secondly, would it be worthwhile studying a phd. (in terms of career progression), for someone who wants to work in a clinical/hospital environment?

Many clinicians undertake research degrees, either PhDs or MDs. Depends on your motivation though. If you think you would enjoy research and would like to incorporate it into your career, then it's a good way to go. If you want to exclusively focus on clinical work in the long term, however, you might find it less useful. That said, I think in some clinical specialities, research degrees can aid promotion to Consultant level.

I would suggest:
- Talk to people in the speciality you're thinking of pursuing to see what the opinion is of research. Try to talk to both junior staff who have taken that path, and senior supervisors who can advise as to the career harms/benefits.
- Before plunging in to a PhD/MD, get some research experience first, even just a couple of small projects. It will help you see whether research is for you and might help you find an appropriate topic/supervisor.
- Consider the financial implications - clinical fellowships are better than non-clinical studentships, but not as good as the money you would earn as a full time doctor. There might also be eligibility criteria to fulfil, including nationality requirements.

As an aside I do know people who have done a PhD in the middle of their undergraduate clinical training, but that isn't necessarily best for everyone! So you need to work out when is the best time. It might be straight after graduating, or it might be once you're a registrar. Lots to think about! Good luck :)

I would think it unlikely that it would be feasible to do a part time PhD whilst also studying medicine. The are advantages to doing a PhD after you have qualified that aren't available to other PhD students. Generally speaking clinicians can continue to receive a their full salary whilst pursuing their research. Whilst they are expected to continue to carry out clinical duties during this time they often have the use of a research assistant/technician to carry out experimental work under their direction - something that most PhD students can only dream of.

http://www.findaphd.com/search/PhD.aspx?TID=18" target="_blank" title="Clinical PhD">Clinical PhD programmes including those from the Wellcome Trust and the MRC are advertised on FindAPhD.