The MD/PhD pathway to a career in laboratory medicine.

Laboratory medicine offers attractive opportunities for individuals who have MD and PhD degrees and advanced training in medicine and the underlying basic biomedical sciences, and these individuals have much to contribute to the field. The modern era of basic biomedical sciences has produced a wealth of genomic, postgenomic, and proteomic knowledge. As a bridge discipline, a major challenge and opportunity for laboratory medicine is to bring these advances to the diagnostic, prognostic, and therapeutic care of patients. The authors believe that, for many reasons, the field of laboratory medicine represents an excellent, although underrecognized, career choice for graduates of MD/PhD programs.