Graduate school --> MD advice

wildcatfan1404 · Mar 20, 2008

I am a graduating college senior and have the opportunity to go on scholarship to Cambridge to do a PhD in chemical engineering (biomedical research). This is typically a 3.5 year program with little standard deviation. I also have been fortunate enough to get into the MSE in Biomedical Engineering at John's Hopkins (2 years), which will also be funded. I am interested in pursuing a career as a physician-engineer, operating between pure clinical practice and pure engineering/technology development. I am drawn by both these opportunities, but find the Cambridge scholarship particularly hard to turn down. However, I am concerned that having a PhD might actually hurt me when I apply to medical school. Can anyone provide perspective on this? Any advice, direct or peripheral, is appreciated. In particular, are there steps I can take to not make myself look like a disillusioned graduate student when applying to medical school?

Other details:
High GPA
Will finish premed requirements before metriculation into graduate school
Have not taken the MCAT, but will take it this summer or in graduate school
No hospital/shadowing experience as of yet

Blade28 · Mar 20, 2008

Why do you think having a PhD hurt you during the med school admissions process?

Law2Doc · Mar 20, 2008

wildcatfan1404 said:
However, I am concerned that having a PhD might actually hurt me when I apply to medical school. Can anyone provide perspective on this? Any advice, direct or peripheral, is appreciated. In particular, are there steps I can take to not make myself look like a disillusioned graduate student when applying to medical school?

I doubt a PhD in a health related field will hinder you that much, but perhaps you should look into combined PhD/MD programs, which MD schools offer and thus obviously don't hold against you.

QofQuimica · Mar 20, 2008

wildcatfan1404 said:
I am a graduating college senior and have the opportunity to go on scholarship to Cambridge to do a PhD in chemical engineering (biomedical research). This is typically a 3.5 year program with little standard deviation. I also have been fortunate enough to get into the MSE in Biomedical Engineering at John's Hopkins (2 years), which will also be funded. I am interested in pursuing a career as a physician-engineer, operating between pure clinical practice and pure engineering/technology development. I am drawn by both these opportunities, but find the Cambridge scholarship particularly hard to turn down. However, I am concerned that having a PhD might actually hurt me when I apply to medical school. Can anyone provide perspective on this? Any advice, direct or peripheral, is appreciated. In particular, are there steps I can take to not make myself look like a disillusioned graduate student when applying to medical school?

Other details:
High GPA
Will finish premed requirements before metriculation into graduate school
Have not taken the MCAT, but will take it this summer or in graduate school
No hospital/shadowing experience as of yet

I'm a PhD now in medical school, and there are plenty of others. Getting a PhD won't make up for a poor UG record, but it doesn't sound like that's an issue for you. As long as you graduate with your PhD, publish your work, and get a good LOR from your PI, I can't think of any reason why having a PhD would hurt you in the app process. You should also make sure to get clinical experience while you're in grad school, because not having that *will* hurt you. Ditto for not doing well on the MCAT. :luck:

to you.

Scottish Chap · Mar 20, 2008

It sounds like you'd be a competitive candidate for the MD/PhD programs out there. If you are really interested in both medicine and research, paying for medical school or for a masters degree at Hopkins seems like an unnecessary step when the combined programs are free and usually with a nice stipend.

A word to the wise: A Ph.D. program is not for the lukewarm. In my opinion, the stress and motivation needed to complete a Ph.D. with publishable data far exceeds what medical school will do to you, so go into it with your eyes wide open and ask many people who have experienced both.

I echo was QofQuimica says. A good MCAT score will get you where you need to be and a Ph.D. should help in medical school admissions, but it's neither a huge advantage nor an obstacle to admission.

Good luck!

Graduate school --> MD advice

wildcatfan1404

New Member

Blade28

Law2Doc

5K+ Member

QofQuimica

Seriously, dude, I think you're overreacting....

Scottish Chap

Full Member

Similar threads