American Physician Scientists Association

[Doctor&Geek]

Some folks had mentioned that a national MD/PhD association might be in formation. I gleaned this from the Pitt/CMU website (http://pitt.mdphd.org/)

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At the retreat, it was mentioned that people are trying to start up a new organization for MD/PhD students. That is the American Physician Scientists Association. So far, according to Freddy Nguyen, their founder:

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At the moment we are working on a website of our own website (www.physicianscientists.org) which doesn't have much on it yet but hopefully will get updated throughout the fall. This is the first task at hand. I'm currently working with SDN (studentdoctor.net) to co-host the online forums we had previously mentioned. I am hoping to have this launched during the fall as well, we are still ironing out the details and logistics of the situation.

The main event that I am currently working on is a regional meeting in the Midwest which we are working to hold in conjunction with the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI)/Association of American Physicians (AAP) in April of 2005. Details will follow as the program / agenda is being set.

The main efforts that have been ongoing has been the spread of word regarding the association and listening to what students have to say and what students want. We are always looking for students to pitch in and help or even simply suggest ideas. We are trying to coordinate our events so that the release of our website comes at the same time as the co-hosted forums with SDN along with our first newsletter (it's about 1/3 of the way there) officially announcing our organization and giving people a preview of what we hope to offer. I would like to mention the fact that we have strong ties / support from the American Society for Clinical Investigation (past and present presidents)(www.asci-jci.org) and the Swiss MD-PhD Association (SMPA) (www.smpa.org).I'd like to say that a core group of individuals has been assembled and is growing to spearhead these efforts ranging from MD-PhD students to HHMI research fellows to MD-PhD faculty members to MD-PhDs in industry and even a few MD-PhD directors.
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In other words, they're starting up and looking for people. If you ran for something this weekend and didn't get elected, here's some folks who need your help!
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So, is this forum about to be merged, supplanted, or are there some surprises in store from SDN and the APSA?

Freddy Nguyen's e-mail address is [email protected].

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[Neuronix]

So, is this forum about to be merged, supplanted, or are there some surprises in store from SDN and the APSA?

There's nothing going on that I know of. I'll see if the boss has had any contact and report back.

 

[Neuronix]

Lee is back from his annual commitment to the reserves, so I can now comment.

We have been contacted by the upcoming APSA, and we're not sure how the forums issue will resolve itself for now. The issue at hand is subdividing the MD/PhD forums into separate forums for hopefuls, students, residents, etc... i.e. more like the system we have here for MDs. The problem with that is of course that we just don't have enough MD/PhDs here. If the number increases, I think we would have much less problem doing this.

It's somewhat of a catch-22 also. I'm very interested in having us linked to the new organization and bringing in more members. Also, a subdivision of the forums might stimulate more interest among the MD/PhD community. However, we actively try to only create forums that will be active and remove forums that are inactive. My concern is that there will not be enough interest to sustain a subdivided forum system.

As always, comments or contacts are welcome. I can always be reached at [email protected] or AIM Neuronix2.

 

[xanthines]

So would this org only be for MD/PhD's (and those on their way, of course)?

I ask because I don't think I will be able to get into an MSTP with my grades which might be a good thing considering my age. However, I DO plan on becoming a physician-scientist but w/o the PhD.

Thanks!

-X