Mount Sinai PhD-to-MSTP track

[alphagal]

?

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[1Path]

I looked into this program 2 when it first started and it sounded pretty good to me. The pathology department there is/was doing some great reseaech!! I think it really depends on how you feel about essentially using a "back-door" to get into MSTP which unfortunately some of your collegues will see you as doing. But if you're like me and focus on the GOAL instead of that people think about how you got there, then you'll be OK.

 

[tofurious]

So when they reject you the second time, you're stuck as a PhD student at Sinai and you missed out on your chance to be at another MSTP?

Am I missing something here?

 

[AliatUofT]

wow

i interviewed at MSSN last year for the MSTP, but i was waitlisted and later turned down. and i wasnt offered this option? whatz up with that
i have since reapplied but havent heard anything back? but i know there was a problem with my application, which was cleared up a 2 weeks ago, so i should hear something soon

cheers
Ali

 

[ImmunoANT]

I mentioned this before. I have a friend who was accepted just like that, was paid for the first year of med school + stipend. His subsequent admission to the regular MSTP depends on his grades in first year (he studied his butt out, of course). last month, the director decided to accept him. so, I guess it's possible.

 

[BDavis]

Hi everyone,
I basically feel that if my chances of getting into the MSTP are slim, I would rather beef up my application and apply again next year. Or, perhaps this is a good way to go? Any advice??


Thanks for any and all thoughts...

When I was applying for MD/PhD programs I was offered MD admission with an invitation to reapply for MSTP vs. full funded positions for MSTP at other schools (schools that were less competitive). I don't know the historical success rate for acceptance at Sinai through this route (maybe you can ask the director). I accepted at a school (Baylor) with full MSTP funding rather than gambling that I could get in after 1 year in medical school.

Personally for me I built a lot of my friendships with my MSTP classmates early in medical school which continued through graduate school. I don't know how you would be integrated into the MSTP class (do you participate in MSTP events while in graduate school or only when you enter the med school?); this is something you may want to ask about. Also, some MD/PhD programs relax some of the graduate school requirements (i.e. less classes, less lab rotations, etc) which are options that may not be offered to you. You have to accept the risk that you may not be offered a position at the end of graduate school.

On the other hand, your training will not be interrupted like the traditional MD/PhD program where you go to med school, then grad school, then back to med school. I am assuming the Mt. Sinai would reduce your medical school training by 1 year (like the other MD/PhD programs; 3 years in medical school). You could take the USMLE board exams in sequential order and not worry about the "time limit" for taking Steps 1-3 (in some states there is a MD/PhD waiver). Furthermore, while you are in graduate school, you will not have clinical responsibilities so you can focus only on graduate school. You won't have to see your medical school classmates match while you are in graduate school and return to medical school to see that your classmates are now your upper levels/attendings (this is not necessarily a negative because my classmates have treated me very nicely, but Match day was tough for me).

Many MD/PhD students, when they quit, tend to quit in the transition from medical school to graduate school to return to medical school. I know at our program I have not heard of the other away around (leaving the MD/PhD program to only do PhD); some don't enter residency, but they at least finish the MD. Some MD/PhD programs are making changes in the curriculum and the way they select students to reduce the number of students that quit. One could argue that maybe by asking you to enter the PhD program first, they are protecting themselves from students that would quit during the transition (to prevent enrolling students that were planning to get a free ride in medical school for 2 years); I don't really know.

I hope this information helps you make a decision; good luck.