Hi all,
While this may not be the most appropriate forum to post this on, I wanted to reach out for some completely objective third-party opinions on my current situation. I am a third year Ph.D student in molecular virology and I have not been happy with my situation for a while. After a lot of thought (and tears) I decided that I wanted to pursue medical school instead. I discussed my feelings with my PI who blamed my sadness on the "Ph.D blues" and quickly dropped the subject. I've taken my MCAT and have done nearly 100 hours of volunteering and shadowing at a local children's hospital and have come to conclusion that medicine is my true passion. I'm planning on applying next year (2015 cycle), but there is a problem. At this point I'm fairly certain I won't be able to finished my Ph.D before matriculating in 2016 (as of right now I do have enough credits to get a Master's). I'm wondering admissions committees are going to look down upon quitting with Master's now and pursuing other passions while I'm applying (I feel like I would by happier but this may be more difficult). I'm also wondering whether I can continue in my Ph.D program and just quit with a Master's if I get accepted to school (basically can I matriculate without a Ph.D if that's the degree that I'm pursuing at the time of application?). Hopefully this post isn't too confusing. I would appreciate any feedback!
Many thanks!
I saw your post in the Physician Scientist forums and just wanted to offer you my experience. I went through sort of a similar situation last year. I'm currently a 5th year student in graduate school and will be getting my PhD next year in May, but I encountered such a struggle in my 4th year. I've always wanted to go to medicine. I honestly did the PhD because I had a strong interest in research, bombed my first MCAT verbal section in 2008 and was really young when I first applied to medical school.
To briefly tell you my story, I had a great project and was wildly successful until a research lull approached (everyone knows them) and didn't go away. Then I found out I was studying a complete artifact for the past 3 years and I started a new related project after MONTHS of stagnancy because my advisor refused to give me a new project and held on to the old one that I knew was going to get me nowhere. This new project failed as well. Months of no project still. I was also studying for the MCAT in this period and this created a lot of strain between my advisor and me. This was a very difficult time because I just delayed my plans by ~3 years and would now not be able to graduate with my PhD for at LEAST another 2 years. However, I got a 36 on the MCAT and so I seriously contemplated quitting my PhD, getting a Masters, and applying to medical school right then and there. Half of my support network told me to get my Masters and apply that same year, and the other half told me to wait. It was late in the cycle and I wouldn't get a good letter from my advisor... and one year could change a lot, so I decided to wait. I didn't want to burn bridges (like others are warning you of above) and I still wanted to do research in the future, so I suppose now it looks like a no brainer that I should have waited for a year before applying to medical school (which I did). But as you may be experiencing right now, it gets really difficult and such decisions can be clouded by frustration and anxiety.
When I started my third and current project (totally different area) just before starting my fourth year, things improved significantly between my advisor and me, and I've been very productive and this project is awesome. I got a great letter from my advisor (word of mouth) and I applied for the 2015 cycle to great success so far. My committee and my advisor know that I will be graduating in May of next year, and we have an understanding of the amount of work I must complete to graduate in time to matriculate next year in the fall to be able to go to medical school. It's been a long road, but that's research for you, and I've learnt a lot and matured significantly in this process... I've become a stronger, more scientifically cautious and more nuanced person.
Now, every PhD situation is different and the solution to your issue depends on a couple things. As QofQuimica (a legend here, btw) explained, you will NOT be able to deceive medical schools by forgoing your PhD at the last minute when they think you're going to matriculate with it! Even getting a deferral may not be easy. I know your situation and I've been there and considered it at the urging of my parents, but trust me, it won't work and it's not worth the awkwardness and anguish of having your admission revoked.
Now onto viable options. First off, as many people are asking, how many years away from earning your PhD are you? Second, what are your expectations as to joining an MD program (rank, etc.?) Depending on your MCAT score, you may be able to "make up" for the blemish that is quitting your PhD program.
Note that I don't think this is a huge problem as long as you are clear with yourself that those hurdles won't repeat in medical school. That is, were your reasons for being unhappy with your PhD specific to this track of study (bad project, uncooperative advisor, a combination of both, etc.) or did you rush into a PhD and not think things through well enough? If the latter is the case, you need to do some soul searching and make sure you will be able to stand difficult times in medical school and residency and beyond.
Importantly, you need to try your best to not burn bridges and to get positive LORs form your advisor and maybe relevant faculty that will vouch for your interest in medical school. I do agree with posters above suggesting that you pretend that you aimed for the masters all along but I advise you to be frank with your LOR writers about your omission so that they don't confuse adcoms by telling them you were aiming for a PhD. This can be tricky to navigate but I think a clear dialogue will be important to prevent miscommunications or misunderstandings.
Also, make sure you don't blame anyone but yourself (if at all blame is necessary) in your application! I left out all the messy drama from my difficult time for obvious reasons and talked about my first failures in research in a very professional manner. I didn't bring up any issues I had with my advisor at the time. This isn't relevant and makes you look immature no matter how real those problems are to you. This is very important in my opinion.
Now, onto another dilemma. Assuming you decide to get your Masters, you can spin it to medical schools as a positive, reinforcing experience or as an experience that taught you that research wasn't for you and that medicine is. I am personally spinning my story as a teaching experience and emphasizing my experience in research as complementary to my interest in medicine, and this is advantageous since I am applying to mostly top 20 research-heavy schools. But you have to remember that your enthusiasm or lack thereof will show through in your research record and interviews, so my advice is to be honest and only slightly sugarcoat things (if necessary). Yes, it is more attractive generally to have an applicant that enjoyed her relatively nontraditional venture into “insert-EC-here” (like a PhD or Masters), but let’s face it, there’s also power in saying you tried something, didn’t like it and found your true calling in medicine. So you can spin it either way to your advantage. I would just do something really “you” in the year after your Masters to empower you and your application so you can have something passionate to write and talk about. I personally feel that many successful applications have that focal point, for me its research and cancer, as I have elaborated above, but for you it could probably be something else. You just have to find this elusive feature and exploit it to your full advantage if you can’t do that with research.
I’ve been very lucky to have bounced back in a situation where I can get my PhD, and have all of these puzzle pieces ultimately fall together. If you ever need to talk, I’m open to PM’ing and to giving more advice if you need it. Sorry for this long post, but I wish I had someone tell me what you are hearing here on this forum, and so I wanted to help. I applaud you for seeking advice from us, and I hope this serves you well. Good luck and take care. Keep us posted, we’re rooting for you!
