There is such a group of people, who complete their MD studies in China and then continue to go to Europe to start a PhD research journey.
What was the reason when they made such a decision in the first place?
What is the difference between PhD life and MD life?
What are the takeaways from their process of reading PhD?
What are their plans for the future after PhD graduation?
Let XiaoBa take you to see their sharing today!
About COI-CSC
Most of the students shared in this article were selected and funded by the COI-CSC (CAMS Oxford Institute-China Scholarship Council) program, which was jointly established by the National Scholarship Council, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences/Peking Union Medical College and the University of Oxford to jointly fund outstanding candidates to pursue doctoral studies at Oxford University. The project aims to actively promote the research and application of medical science, fully mobilize and integrate resources, strengthen the research of biomedical frontier interdisciplinary disciplines, deepen the understanding of the pathogenesis of diseases and create new methods of disease diagnosis and treatment, in order to make important progress in the prevention and treatment of major diseases such as malignant tumors, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, infectious diseases, autoimmune diseases, diabetes, etc., in immunotherapy, stem cells and regenerative medicine, microbiome, bioinformatics, structural biology, epiomics, gene editing, Breakthroughs have been made in biomedicine frontiers such as drug screening and key core technologies. Please refer to the Oxford University website for scholarship information:
https://www.camsoxford.ox.ac.uk
Li Ni
Career is a lifelong one, so why not go and see the world first. It was with this idea that when I graduated in eight years, I chose to be a student for another four years. Four years is indeed not short, and then I think about it, maybe my parents are young, and my desire to start a family has never been urgent. Not seeking stability, more eager to explore. Now that half the time has passed, I look back and think this choice is quite good. Basic scientific research and clinical work are very different modes of operation, but they can complement each other. The results of the outputs guide each other, as do the requirements and cultivation of personal qualities. Whether it is to devote yourself to the clinic after graduation, or to continue to study to lay a good foundation for scientific research, I think as long as you invest, you will gain.
Xu Haopeng
I feel very fortunate and cherished to be able to study at a top research institute after studying at a top medical school. Although the environments, cultures, and atmospheres of the two places are very different, they are common to the goal of helping students develop the ability to identify, think about, and solve problems. As a student, being able to improve my ability on the one hand, and at the same time having the opportunity to see great diversity, I am very satisfied with this experience and full of expectations. I hope that everyone can cherish every day of learning and living in Concord, and no matter what industry and what they are doing in the future, they will find that what Concord has learned can be applied.
Zhang Yidong
Personally, I feel that the harvest of doing scientific research in Oxford is that on the one hand, I have systematically learned a lot of basic scientific research skills, such as understanding the principles of many algorithms, mastering how to write code to quickly process data, etc.; on the other hand, I have also systematically experienced the whole process from initially finding valuable scientific problems to constantly exploring and forming conclusions. At the same time, the process of doing research also honed my mental nature. In the process of constantly encountering and solving problems, I feel that my mentality is more calm than before, and I will no longer be too impatient due to a momentary jam and dazedness.
Little Cui
It has been two years since graduating from Concordia to studying for a PhD in Oxford, and due to the spread of the epidemic during the PhD, it is difficult to say that your PHD experience is a regular experience. From ignorance of the disease, to the ostrich policies of foreign governments, and the sudden national lockdown. Doctors spend most of their time hiding and preventing outbreaks. Fortunately, in Oxford's doctoral training norms, the supervisor's focus on scientific research and the attention to student growth. Despite the pandemic, they still receive remote guidance from their mentors and colleagues in the lab help each other, and the project is still going well. In Oxford, I often have the illusion of doing a post-doctoral degree, and in addition to reporting to my supervisor regularly, most of the experimental design and experimental time are mastered by myself. The mastery and refinement of technology also varies from person to person. Tutors also attach great importance to the cultivation of students' critical thinking ability, so often the tutor does not give direct answers to questions, but encourages students to explore on their own.
Yin Zi Nan
When I chose to read PHD again, the direct reason was that in the final scientific research training, I found that I had a lot of questions about the proposal, formation, exploration and solution of scientific problems, and I also had a weak awareness of the two-way transformation of basic medicine and clinical medicine. I feel worried and sorry that I have directly entered the role of clinician, and I also want to explore my own infinite possibilities. I am very fortunate to have the support of my family and the opportunity to study at Oxford. The shift from cultural atmosphere to mindset and adaptation is a bittersweet process, and I am growing little by little in the real experience of the pressure of the legendary phd day by day. As the seniors said when you first arrived, PHD is not only a degree, but also a recognition of your ability to face stress and solve problems at this stage. I still have a lot of questions, but I also see that I am slowly having the ability to seek answers, no matter what the future direction, I believe that this experience will be a valuable asset in my life.
Yuzu learns to learn
During the period of concord clinical internships, graduation projects, and later graduation work, I gradually realized that for diseases such as tumors, it is not enough to give standardized treatment to patients by referring to guidelines. If you want to better understand it and understand it, you must conduct more in-depth scientific research and exploration. So why continue reading PhD instead of doing a PhD? First of all, because Europe is different from the United States, in Europe, only students who have obtained a PhD degree can do a phD. Therefore, if MD graduates want to do scientific research in Europe, they must start with PhD.
There are many differences between PhD's life and MD's. Usually when PhD students start their studies, the tutor will arrange a topic with a general direction for you (there may be differences between different laboratories), and what you have to do is to read the literature related to your topic as widely as possible, communicate with the tutor, and gradually clarify the direction of the topic and the next step. PhD's time schedule is usually relatively free, requiring you to have strong time management skills, properly arrange the experiments, but also communicate and feedback with the collaborators in a timely manner, and timely summarize the experimental results and communicate with the supervisor. PhD is like a manager of a small project, doing PhD work well requires good communication and collaboration skills, execution and self-management skills. It can be said that the Experience of PhD allowed me to jump out of my "comfort zone" and enter a completely unfamiliar field, starting from scratch and constantly growing and experiencing. Whether I choose to continue to devote myself to the clinic in the future or continue to explore the road of scientific research, I think the choice of this road has made me see a different landscape. Clinical and scientific research should not be completely separated, and it is very meaningful to obtain valuable scientific research questions from the clinic and get possible answers from scientific research exploration to return to the clinic.
Wang Wenbo
Time flies, the years fly by, and in the blink of an eye, three years have passed. When I decided to continue studying PhD abroad after graduating from MD, I wanted to have a better understanding of scientific research and feel a different life. After studying in the UK for three years, I saw the style of famous universities. There are various lectures where you can learn and learn the latest knowledge in different fields. Here there are teachers who have the grace to me and colleagues who are eager for scientific research. Here, attention is paid to the cultivation of students' scientific research ability and innovative thinking, so that students' potential can be fully stimulated. The research group is like a very warm and harmonious family, and everyone is happy to help each other. The teacher is very affinity, the learning does not instill knowledge points, does not give the so-called standard answers, but encourages us to think, innovate, interactive discussion, analysis, argument for different topics, any theory is challengable, as long as there is enough evidence to support. At the same time, I also saw the colorful world and a variety of different life patterns and paths, learned to manage life, and also thought about the future, trying to find a career and life plan that suits me. Life has an end, but there is no end to knowing. Scientific research and medical technology have been catching up with the development of life, in terms of how to organically combine scientific research and clinical, "the road is long and long, I will seek up and down." Thank you for the COI-CSC program for creating opportunities for Chinese students to learn and improve themselves! This time is very happy and unforgettable, I am very grateful for this study abroad experience, I have benefited a lot, and I hope that I can apply what I have learned after returning home.
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