Doris Duke or NIH CRTP?

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chicamedica

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So I didn't think I would get into either one, but I just found out I got into BOTH. . .Now the problem is. . .which one should I pick? Anyone have any advice for me one way or the other?

Which program will give me the better educational experience? I know they're both well regarded by competitive residency programs, but is one more so than the other? Which of these 2 is more widely known?

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go for CRTP. The NIH name will take u a long way.
 
Originally posted by MedStudent2004
go for CRTP. The NIH name will take u a long way.

More so than Doris Duke, though? People seem impressed when I tell them about considering Doris duke. . .
 
Question: Is the NIH CRTP the same thing as the "Cloisters" program? I forget...

Regardless, having known a bunch of people who have done both, I'd say to go for the NIH. Doris Dukes are great opportunities and well known and all but the NIH program is the Big Dog.
 
Originally posted by aliraja
Question: Is the NIH CRTP the same thing as the "Cloisters" program? I forget...

Regardless, having known a bunch of people who have done both, I'd say to go for the NIH. Doris Dukes are great opportunities and well known and all but the NIH program is the Big Dog.

NIH CRTP is the analogous program to Cloisters, except CRTP is clinical research, and Cloisters is basic science.

I do like the NIH program a lot, and I've always wanted to do research there.I believe I'll get a great educational experience in that program. But I don't know whether I'll be passing up a great experience at Doris Duke (at Columbia P&S, btw)
 
NIH!

In addition to the awesome resources of NIH and living in DC for a year, about half of the NIH scholars get a scholarship covering the cost of your remaining years of medical school. If you're at a private school, this can be a hefty sum of money. Several of my friends spent a year at NIH, and they loved it.

Go for it!
--doepug
 
Not to sound excessively philosophical or anything (I'm post-Match so I'm still not quite ready to come down to Earth yet), but of course you'll be passing up a great opportunity if you don't do the Doris Duke in NY! But, in our opinions, you'll be passing up an even GREATER opportunity if you don't do the NIH.

:)

That being said, it really sounds like you're having to force yourself to even consider the NIH. Maybe your heart is really in NYC? If so, forget all this pondering and just follow it...
 
Originally posted by aliraja
Not to sound excessively philosophical or anything (I'm post-Match so I'm still not quite ready to come down to Earth yet), but of course you'll be passing up a great opportunity if you don't do the Doris Duke in NY! But, in our opinions, you'll be passing up an even GREATER opportunity if you don't do the NIH.

:)

That being said, it really sounds like you're having to force yourself to even consider the NIH. Maybe your heart is really in NYC? If so, forget all this pondering and just follow it...

No, no. . .actually the NIH was my top choice the whole time. I've wanted to spend research time at NIH for quite a while now. My gut feeling is to go for the CRTP. I really really loved it there when I visited.

I just wanted to make sure I'm not blinded by my "wants" and make a rash decision, not having given my other options a fair chance, especially that I didn't visit the doris duke programs. Also, when i was applying, a lot of the administration at my med school didn't even know much about the NIH CRTP program, but did know a lot about Doris Duke, so that made me think that maybe CRTP wasn't as well known. But maybe it's b/c there have been several students from my school that did DD, and I'll be the first ever to participate at CRTP. . .

nevertheless, so far, it seems like a consensus among everyone here that NIH is the way to go. . .my intuition was telling me that as well, and I think I'll go ahead and follow it.

thanks a lot to everyone!!
 
In addition to the awesome resources of NIH and living in DC for a year, about half of the NIH scholars get a scholarship covering the cost of your remaining years of medical school. If you're at a private school, this can be a hefty sum of money.

I thought it was just the Howard Hughes Cloisters program at NIH that pays for your remaining years of school. Does CRTP really offer that as well?

I have known friends that have done both Doris Duke and CRTP. I don't think you can make a bad decision either way. I do think that for certain individuals that one program is better than the other and this depends on the field into which you are planning to match and also your goals and motivations for doing a year of research.

For example, my field is radiaton oncology and doing a Doris Duke year at either UCSF, Wash U, or Harvard would help boost one's chances for matching more so than the CRTP. For most fields, I imagine that this is not the case, and that the CRTP would be the better choice.

As for prestige, I think that is hard to say. The CRTP benefits from its NIH ties and from the incorrect assumption that CRTP is the same thing as the Howard Hughes NIH cloisters program (basic science researh year, not clinincal research). That is not meant as a slam against the CRTP, as it is a great program in its own right.

If you care to share more info about your field and what you are hoping to get out your reseach year, then all of us could give more helpful and accurate advice. BTW, there are no right or wrong reasons as to what you are hoping to get out of the year. Many people want to maximize their chances for residency, some just want a break, others want to be near a significant other, some want a high powered research experiences, and some just want to have fun.

-XRT
 
Can I ask what yr you are OP, and what exactly do they nail you on at the interview for NIH--I am planning to apply for NIH cloister for the next yr. Any input would be of great help, thanks.
 
I'm an MS-3. You can only do CRTP between MS3 and MS4. Cloisters can be for MS2-3 or MS3-4.

I'm thinking about either anesthesia (+CCM) or neurology (or maybe peds)--in that order.

Each interview was really laid back for me, but everyone gets different interviewers. My 3 interviewers were pretty easy-going and we just basically had a conversation each time. The day was pretty hectic though in and of itself.

My goals in doing this are to get some quality experience doing clinical research, try and get some publications done, and to get more exposure to my field of interest (CCM right now) to see if I really like it. Although not my major motivation for doing the research year, it would also be nice for this to help me match at a strong university-based anesthesia program, where specifically anesthesia runs the ICUs (like Hopkins or Penn).
 
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