<p>Yes, I think you should simply stay put an extra year. An MS, even funded, is a waste of time if you will be going for an MD. Spend the extra year doing substantive research (either through labs, independent studies, etc.) at Duke. It will bolster your app the same as an MS would, and it will provide better letters of recommendation - letters that will be equivalent to what you would get in an MS program. And undergraduate research, quite frankly, is only limited by the student - I’ve heard of undergrads having pretty great research opportunities if they seek them out.</p>
<p>As far as admissions are concerned, med schools will not be any more impressed with your MS than with good experience in undergrad. Research is research, as long as it is good research. My husband is a doc (and went to a very good med school), and many of our friends are docs, and this is the mantra. Well, that and nail the MCAT.</p>
<p>Think of it this way - funded or not, an MS will take 2 years, as opposed to 1 extra year of undergrad. That means you will be graduating from med school a year later. That’s a year of lost doctor income. All this changes a bit, though, depending on your undergrad financial status. If you are paying a good chunk of tuition at Duke each year (as you have mentioned), I can see why graduating early and getting a funded position may make a difference. However, check closely into those programs. Do ALL students get funded, or only some? It seems from looking at these programs that they fund most or some, but not necessarily all, of their MS students. What happens if you don’t get funding?</p>
<p>Me personally? I’d apply to med schools and grad schools, and I’d see from there what I get. If you get into a good med school, I’d take it and do research there. Perhaps you don’t know this, but it is common for med students to take a year off during their 4-year program to do a year of research. My husband did this - he found a doc who was doing research he was interested in, took a year off to research and write, and has several pubs under his belt. I would not consider applying for an MD/PhD unless I knew for sure I wanted only a research career as opposed to a clinical career - there’s no point to it, as plain MDs do tons of research and have opportunities for research careers as well. My husband interviewed for an MD/PhD, but ultimately went for just an MD.</p>
<p>I hope all this helps!</p>