Do bioinformatics PhD students need Statistics dual degree?

Question

[Xingyu Yang]

Hi all,

I'm currently a PhD student majoring in bioinformatics. I want to find a job after graduation.

Worth to have a statistics dual degree? To obtain the degree, I need to take additional 10 courses. Taking the additional courses might take time and decrease the time spend on research. Therefore, I post to ask how my career (find a good job) can benefit from such dual degree considering the additional time spend. If anyone have some related experience (have good job with dual MS, don't have good job without dual MS or have good job without dual MS), could you please give me any suggestions?

[Istvan Albert]

I would recommend getting the second degree if it is not too time consuming - on the other hand 10 courses sounds like a lot that could cut into your ability to build a track record

Answer 1

[Charles Warden]

In my opinion, I think the main thing that matters is that you get the PhD (or maybe an MD/PhD). I don't think the extra master degree really matters.

That said, there are a fair number of people at the University of Michigan who are Bioinformatics PhD students who do get a master in statistics because it only requires 2-3 extra classes (and it is free from them, since they are in a PhD program). So, you would not be alone if you went that route. However, I personally think you research matters a lot more than your classes.