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1) What type of pathway are you taking to become a physician scientist, and how far along are you?
My school is an MSTP that does 2 yrs of med school with some grad school courses on top (mainly journal club, etc, type stuff). Pretty traditional, except we start clinics 1/2 yr earlier at out med school, so MD-PhD candidates end up getting clinical experience before starting the PhD.
I am a 7th year (took 4 yrs for PhD), applying to residency this year.
2) What general advice do you have for people who want to become physician scientists by the same route you took?
Definitely have about 2 yrs or so of research experience you can talk about, and get into it enough to understand the stressors/disappointments involved. But don't neglect the clinical side - volunteering at hospitals, etc, will help you to decide if you really want to be a physician-scientist, or purely a scientist.
If you can choose one and be happy, do so. The money saved on med school is a farce when you consider how far being you will be in terms of earnings, and especially when you consider academic medicine in general pays less. Biomed PhDs are completely funded + stipend, for the most part, and there are always jobs in pharma to "fall back on".
Find a way to meld your clinical and research interests - even if it involves a non-traditional career - if you are happy, you can pull it off.
3) What application advice would you give to people who want to follow your track?
Apply broadly, programs are competitive and 30+ MCATs and high-end GPAs are the norm, though the range can be wide. They are also pretty small communities that tend to look for like-minded individuals, so you'll never know where you fit in until you get to the interview, etc.
While you are interviewing and meeting with professors, pay attention to the research milieu and the variety of research opporunities - there should be way more people you could potentially work with than you end up meeting, because inevitably the one dude/dudette you were depending on will leave, die, or manifest themselves as a jerk by the time you reach that stage.
Also, evaluate the level of program support and organization. Ask current students if they had any difficulties during med school, grad school, or the transitions between them. For example, did they have a lull between grad school and clinics, or did they want to change PhD programs, etc? If so, what were the problems and how did the program help them out? The quality of the program support can determine whether you end up droppign out or at least determine the length of your stay....
Finally, don't be shy about changing grad programs if something else floats your boat during med school classes - this is probably the best time to find a field that combines your clinical and research interests.
4) What do you wish you had done differently if you could do it all again?[/QUOTE]
Actually, I ended up choosing the right program, the right grad group, the right advisor, and most likely the right residency, but it was all by pure serenditipity, and I have seen enough people fall by the wayside to realize I have overall been very fortunate.
If I could do it all over, I would have participated in a few clinical activities during my PhD. Not because it didn't come flooding back, because it did, but because I would have realized what I wanted to specialize in and started planning my future accordingly.
Of course, I would design some experiments a bit differently and pursue some different hypotheses in the lab. I also would have studied more in the first years of med school to make AOA. These two regrets are pretty common, though
My school is an MSTP that does 2 yrs of med school with some grad school courses on top (mainly journal club, etc, type stuff). Pretty traditional, except we start clinics 1/2 yr earlier at out med school, so MD-PhD candidates end up getting clinical experience before starting the PhD.
I am a 7th year (took 4 yrs for PhD), applying to residency this year.
2) What general advice do you have for people who want to become physician scientists by the same route you took?
Definitely have about 2 yrs or so of research experience you can talk about, and get into it enough to understand the stressors/disappointments involved. But don't neglect the clinical side - volunteering at hospitals, etc, will help you to decide if you really want to be a physician-scientist, or purely a scientist.
If you can choose one and be happy, do so. The money saved on med school is a farce when you consider how far being you will be in terms of earnings, and especially when you consider academic medicine in general pays less. Biomed PhDs are completely funded + stipend, for the most part, and there are always jobs in pharma to "fall back on".
Find a way to meld your clinical and research interests - even if it involves a non-traditional career - if you are happy, you can pull it off.
3) What application advice would you give to people who want to follow your track?
Apply broadly, programs are competitive and 30+ MCATs and high-end GPAs are the norm, though the range can be wide. They are also pretty small communities that tend to look for like-minded individuals, so you'll never know where you fit in until you get to the interview, etc.
While you are interviewing and meeting with professors, pay attention to the research milieu and the variety of research opporunities - there should be way more people you could potentially work with than you end up meeting, because inevitably the one dude/dudette you were depending on will leave, die, or manifest themselves as a jerk by the time you reach that stage.
Also, evaluate the level of program support and organization. Ask current students if they had any difficulties during med school, grad school, or the transitions between them. For example, did they have a lull between grad school and clinics, or did they want to change PhD programs, etc? If so, what were the problems and how did the program help them out? The quality of the program support can determine whether you end up droppign out or at least determine the length of your stay....
Finally, don't be shy about changing grad programs if something else floats your boat during med school classes - this is probably the best time to find a field that combines your clinical and research interests.
4) What do you wish you had done differently if you could do it all again?[/QUOTE]
Actually, I ended up choosing the right program, the right grad group, the right advisor, and most likely the right residency, but it was all by pure serenditipity, and I have seen enough people fall by the wayside to realize I have overall been very fortunate.
If I could do it all over, I would have participated in a few clinical activities during my PhD. Not because it didn't come flooding back, because it did, but because I would have realized what I wanted to specialize in and started planning my future accordingly.
Of course, I would design some experiments a bit differently and pursue some different hypotheses in the lab. I also would have studied more in the first years of med school to make AOA. These two regrets are pretty common, though