PhD or MDiv?....or both.....at the same time?!

Well, that debate has definitely been one that has gone on in my head for quite a while. Seeing as my career as an undergraduate student is bound to come to an end in the foreseeable future, my mind has been constantly at work trying to decide what to do with my life after I get my BSc.....provided I haven't killed myself in the process

While entering the work force is definitely an option, a better option would be to pursue some sort of graduate degree........which one?

Looking at the scientific spectrum of things, I can do a PhD in medical genetics. It sounds interesting enough, but the most alluring reason is because my Honours BSc allows me to skip MSc should I be able to maintain an 80%+ average for my last two years as well as the first 12 credits of graduate courses........Dr. Stephen Choi does have a certain ring to it.....

On the less scientific side of things, I can do an MDiv and pursue a career in ministry......that is also a four-year program (arguably it can be three)......that of course, leads me to become Pastor, or Rev. Stephen Choi

Now, for the longest time I've been debating between the two.....coz I really couldn't see myself spending 12 consecutive years in school to get both.....and so I've been asking myself if I'd be willing to give up one for the other. On the one hand, a PhD would theoretically give me the financial security to be able to become a volunteer/part-time pastor/churhcworker, freeing me from having to depend on a congregation to feed me (and it would also put me on the same level as my wife/doctor-to-be......provided all goes as plans). Yet on the other hand, would I be willing to spend so much of my life doing something that, deep down inside, I really don't care very much about? I mean, if ministry is the ultimate goal, then what am I doing wasting my time with a PhD? Yet, would straying from the realm of academia and scientific research be putting God's gift of brains to waste?

But some reason I stumbled on a third options today........studying part-time at Regent while doing a PhD! Apparently Regent offers online courses, at around 10 of them matches up with the requirements for an MDiv, which I would assume is the same as the first year of studies.....so if i take enough courses online to cover that and maybe all my electives, then I might be able to get an MDiv after my PhD in two years rather than four.......Rev. Dr. Stephen Choi at the age of 28.....doesn't sound too shabby!

But so are the dreams, we'll see what reality has to say........