MSTP Funding

[Maebea]

Over the past couple of weeks, the NIH gave MSTPs the good news that there would be no cuts in the funding cycle that begins in July. (Individual programs may have slots cut if their competing renewal received a low priority score, but there will be no across-the-board cuts.) However, the NIH also told us that NIGMS will expand individual NRSA funding in 2015, with the money coming from T32 institutional training grants. From the NIH's perspective, this will be a wash, as each T32 slot lost will theoretically be replaced by a F slot. But at the level of individual schools, the programs will have less NIH funding to support students in the MD phase of training. For example, a program that currently has 20 T32 slots may choose to support 5 students each in MD1, MD2, GR1, and MD3. If they are cut to 16 slots, they would have to either find money to make up the difference or cut back to 4 new students a year. The F30 will provide tuition & stipend for the MD years, but some NIH institutes are only allowing students in GR1 and GR2 years apply and are limiting awards to 3 years. A student that receives a F30 as a GR2 may use all 3 years of eligibility before they get back to med school, thus leaving the program with no NIH money to cover the final years of MD training. Furthermore, since the F30 is awarded to an individual and not a school, the MSTP has no idea whether its students will receive one.

It is difficult to say whether these changes will have a significant impact on the size of entering MSTP classes. In the past, programs have brushed aside cuts or threatened cuts and maintained and even increased class sizes. I have heard that one program is significantly increasing the size of its program in response to the currently funding climate, but this is probably an outlier. The financial landscape for academic medical centers is different now than it was a few years ago, and programs may approach the uncertainty with more caution.

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[Fencer]

The F30 award has up to 6 years of funding (less if funded with T32 MSTP (or other) slot during MS-1/2 and GS-1/2). A typical MD/PhD student getting the award during GS-2 will be able to cover 2-3 years of graduate school and 2 years of SOM. I suspect that MSTP directors will switch the use of MSTP funding to the latter years (MS 3/4).

 

[Fencer]

As we are 2 weeks after the deadline for traffic rule #4 (offer at least as many slots as you plan to enroll) and the number of true offers (Accepted + Matriculated) has been relatively stable for at least a week, we can estimate a 2014 class of about 612 students, which is comparable to the true number for the MD/PhD class enrolling in 2013 (617 - census plus BCM). From here on, as some of these students take other offers (MD/PhD or MD only) or defer (some), or are rescinded (very few), we probably will end up with about 720 offers to the 1830+ applicants but the class will be around 612 new MD/PhD students.

 

[Maebea]

The F30 award has up to 6 years of funding (less if funded with T32 MSTP (or other) slot during MS-1/2 and GS-1/2). A typical MD/PhD student getting the award during GS-2 will be able to cover 2-3 years of graduate school and 2 years of SOM. I suspect that MSTP directors will switch the use of MSTP funding to the latter years (MS 3/4).

Sorry; I should have been clearer. I was assuming a student would already have completed 3 years on NIH training funds for MD1, MD2 & GR1. It will be interesting to see how this plays out in practice.

 

[Patros]

As we are 2 weeks after the deadline for traffic rule #4 (offer at least as many slots as you plan to enroll) and the number of true offers (Accepted + Matriculated) has been relatively stable for at least a week, we can estimate a 2014 class of about 612 students, which is comparable to the true number for the MD/PhD class enrolling in 2013 (617 - census plus BCM). From here on, as some of these students take other offers (MD/PhD or MD only) or defer (some), or are rescinded (very few), we probably will end up with about 720 offers to the 1830+ applicants but the class will be around 612 new MD/PhD students.

Wait, are you saying that for the ~620 matriculants, only ~720 offers of acceptances were sent? That doesn't sound right, 720 sounds way too low. Or are you saying 720 students will be accepted, and 620 will matriculate?

 

[solitude]

some institutes only offer F grants that DO NOT cover MS3 and MS4 years. These are displacing the traditional F30 that do cover those years. Plus most students don't earn one of these grants until they are deep into grad school. For many, they provide 2 or at most 3 years of funding, then it is back to the MSTP dole. This was the case for me and for many of my classmates. Basically the only advantage - to me - of winning this grant was that I had discretionary money to buy computers and books while I was in grad school. My program saved 2 years of tuition and I did not see a dime of the money they saved.

 

[Fencer]

Wait, are you saying that for the ~620 matriculants, only ~720 offers of acceptances were sent? That doesn't sound right, 720 sounds way too low. Or are you saying 720 students will be accepted, and 620 will matriculate?

Let me clarify again. These numbers reflect applicants who receive at least one MD/PhD acceptance. If you look at a prior post in another thread from the 2013 numbers: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2013-2014-md-phd-acceptances.1037479/page-3#post-15005039

These are stats for all of the MD/PhD programs utilizing AMCAS (i.e.: all MD/PhD programs in the USA).

Let's take a look at the final 2013 cycle MD/PhD stats (muddled because of the 9 students missing from Baylor MSTP; they were codified as MD students):

Total MD/PhD Applicants - 1891

Withdrew before acceptance - 17
Total rejections from MD/PhD programs - 1111
Total Applicants offered a MD/PhD acceptance - 763 (~40% of applicants)​

Total Applicants offered at least one MD/PhD Acceptance - 763

Total Matriculants - 617 (including BCM MSTP)
Withdrew after MD/PhD acceptance - 118
Total Defer to later years - 25
Rescinded acceptance - 3
​

AMCAS participating schools:
https://www.aamc.org/students/applying/amcas/participating_schools/

For the 2014 MD/PhD cycle
Total MD/PhD applicants - 1832
Predicted total applicants with at least one MD/PhD Acceptance - 720-730
Predicted total matriculants - 612 (might end up been ~600)

Clearly, some of you have received acceptances to multiple MD/PhD programs, but for these stats, once you are given at least ONE MD/PhD acceptance, you have the choice of becoming a member of our profession.

 

[Patros]

Let me clarify again. These numbers reflect applicants who receive at least one MD/PhD acceptance. If you look at a prior post in another thread from the 2013 numbers: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/2013-2014-md-phd-acceptances.1037479/page-3#post-15005039

Ah ok, I get it now, thanks. There was some ambiguity in the phrasing earlier.

some institutes only offer F grants that DO NOT cover MS3 and MS4 years. These are displacing the traditional F30 that do cover those years. Plus most students don't earn one of these grants until they are deep into grad school. For many, they provide 2 or at most 3 years of funding, then it is back to the MSTP dole. This was the case for me and for many of my classmates. Basically the only advantage - to me - of winning this grant was that I had discretionary money to buy computers and books while I was in grad school. My program saved 2 years of tuition and I did not see a dime of the money they saved.

Naive question, but are there differences in how programs view pre-doctoral fellowships? Do non-MSTP MD/PhD place a bigger emphasis on securing these grants than MSTPs? And if you knew that there was no financial benefits to getting the grant (besides for the discretionary funds), would you still have applied for the F30? I'll be an MS1 next fall, and I'm somewhat worried that I know so little about these grants.

 

[solitude]

To answer your first question, I don't know. To answer your second, no, it was not worth it for me. The sheer amount of effort was not worth a few thousand in discretionary funds. Yes I "learned how the NIH grant process" works, but that is really just a mass of paperwork that may change before I am a fellow/attending anyway. The study section feedback was not helpful. I wouldn't worry about the grants until you are in your third year of MSTP. They are competitive and it is unheard of for someone to be awarded one until they've at least completed about a year of grad school.

 

[strangeglove]

To answer your first question, I don't know. To answer your second, no, it was not worth it for me. The sheer amount of effort was not worth a few thousand in discretionary funds. Yes I "learned how the NIH grant process" works, but that is really just a mass of paperwork that may change before I am a fellow/attending anyway. The study section feedback was not helpful. I wouldn't worry about the grants until you are in your third year of MSTP. They are competitive and it is unheard of for someone to be awarded one until they've at least completed about a year of grad school.

As someone who has completed a successful F32 application, as well as a successful K23 application, I strongly disagree. Without he previous experience of the F32, my K23 application would not have been as solid. A grant is not just paperwork, but a way if thinking about your science that requires a high level of detail and rigor, along with a sense of what is feasible and within the scope of your award. I would rather face this "learning experience" as a graduate student, when there is the potential for backup funding from the MSTP, than as a fellow or junior faculty, when a failure to get a K award can cost you your job (a harsh reality in the current funding climate).


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[Fencer]

As someone who has completed a successful F32 application, as well as a successful K23 application, I strongly disagree. Without he previous experience of the F32, my K23 application would not have been as solid. A grant is not just paperwork, but a way if thinking about your science that requires a high level of detail and rigor, along with a sense of what is feasible and within the scope of your award. I would rather face this "learning experience" as a graduate student, when there is the potential for backup funding from the MSTP, than as a fellow or junior faculty, when a failure to get a K award can cost you your job (a harsh reality in the current funding climate).

I strongly agree, particularly with this: "A grant is not just paperwork, but a way if thinking about your science that requires a high level of detail and rigor, along with a sense of what is feasible and within the scope of your award."