A very small fraction of MDs are admitted to joint MD-PhDs. A medical degree is the only one that can come with optional extras—in many other degrees a similar fraction of students would be publishing papers with supervisors. And the PhD that a medic does will not necessarily be as relevant as those of a computer scientist. Basically, it seems like a way of avoiding an apples-with-apples comparison.
15%-elective is terribly little.
Note that the workload may skyrocket in the clinical years
Regarding (2) transferability: I believe you’re overthinking it. From a zoomed out view, medical classes are approximately useless, and this talk of a specialised class becoming useful by being “embedded in a translational framework” is basically waffle.
You understate the case for the usefulness of useful subjects. If I’d studied computer science for undergrad, I could’ve got where I am now 5+ years earlier. Even dropping out of medical school could have accelerated things. In such a scenario, I could’ve been a somewhat more credible applicant for things like top professor positions than is currently the case. (Of course, skill is the main thing, but getting promptly educated, and building a stellar CV at a young age does help, vs studying irrelevant subjects).
Regarding (3) funding
my own prior is generally quite low when it comes to placing trust in getting funds without problems, even when being ‘smart enough to be admitted to a medical degree’.
What kind of evidence would make you update your prior? Many funders say they are willing to fund any person doing excellent longtermist work, and many orgs are continually growing and hiring. To take one extreme example, $50k fellowships are being given out to interested teenagers. It’s a movement that’s >10 years old, with its funding-base growing double-digits per year. If you’re smart enough to get into a German medical degree, and dedicated, then it should be possible to do excellent work...
A very small fraction of MDs are admitted to joint MD-PhDs. [...] in many other degrees a similar fraction of students would be publishing papers with supervisors. And the PhD that a medic does will not necessarily be as relevant as those of a computer scientist. <
It being a small fraction doesn’t make it less viable for an EA approach to studying med school. Every EA approach to uni will incorporate some tight admission rate..
It might not be relevant for AI safety but it will be super relevant for e. g. neartermist EAs or EAs that don’t rank AI risk as high and want to focus on biorisk.
I believe you’re overthinking it. From a zoomed out view, medical classes are approximately useless, and this talk of a specialised class becoming useful by being “embedded in a translational framework” is basically waffle.<
We do not have ‘medical classes’. We have classes on systems of the body: foundational classes (biochemistry, molecular biology, physics, physiology)
and classes that incorporate practical info, where you would argue they’re approximately useless such as pharmacology. I disagree that they are entirely useless as it teaches you on a daily basis how the fancy science translates to practice, a skill that I will continue to argue is highly important (and at the core of any problem solving inside and beyond academia) and a skill that a pure fundamental science degree is ‘approximately useless’ for.
funding
Fair points, as I said, I reserve my judgements here for now..
Just to rebut a few points there.
On (1) credentials/electives/workload:
A very small fraction of MDs are admitted to joint MD-PhDs. A medical degree is the only one that can come with optional extras—in many other degrees a similar fraction of students would be publishing papers with supervisors. And the PhD that a medic does will not necessarily be as relevant as those of a computer scientist. Basically, it seems like a way of avoiding an apples-with-apples comparison.
15%-elective is terribly little.
Note that the workload may skyrocket in the clinical years
Regarding (2) transferability: I believe you’re overthinking it. From a zoomed out view, medical classes are approximately useless, and this talk of a specialised class becoming useful by being “embedded in a translational framework” is basically waffle.
You understate the case for the usefulness of useful subjects. If I’d studied computer science for undergrad, I could’ve got where I am now 5+ years earlier. Even dropping out of medical school could have accelerated things. In such a scenario, I could’ve been a somewhat more credible applicant for things like top professor positions than is currently the case. (Of course, skill is the main thing, but getting promptly educated, and building a stellar CV at a young age does help, vs studying irrelevant subjects).
Regarding (3) funding
What kind of evidence would make you update your prior? Many funders say they are willing to fund any person doing excellent longtermist work, and many orgs are continually growing and hiring. To take one extreme example, $50k fellowships are being given out to interested teenagers. It’s a movement that’s >10 years old, with its funding-base growing double-digits per year. If you’re smart enough to get into a German medical degree, and dedicated, then it should be possible to do excellent work...
It being a small fraction doesn’t make it less viable for an EA approach to studying med school. Every EA approach to uni will incorporate some tight admission rate.. It might not be relevant for AI safety but it will be super relevant for e. g. neartermist EAs or EAs that don’t rank AI risk as high and want to focus on biorisk.
We do not have ‘medical classes’. We have classes on systems of the body: foundational classes (biochemistry, molecular biology, physics, physiology) and classes that incorporate practical info, where you would argue they’re approximately useless such as pharmacology. I disagree that they are entirely useless as it teaches you on a daily basis how the fancy science translates to practice, a skill that I will continue to argue is highly important (and at the core of any problem solving inside and beyond academia) and a skill that a pure fundamental science degree is ‘approximately useless’ for.
Fair points, as I said, I reserve my judgements here for now..