- Joined
- Mar 15, 2016
- Messages
- 7
- Reaction score
- 8
Deleted
Last edited:
Prospective MD/PhD. Apply in 2016 or 2017?
- Thread starter Chemist1985
- Start date
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2016
- Messages
- 2,360
- Reaction score
- 2,771
Hey there, I'll just give a few initial thoughts. I'm sure others will chime in with better tips.
Since you've been out of school for so long, I would highly advice you do not attempt the MCAT in June (since I doubt you'd have enough time to adequately prepare while working full time). Also your age will kind of be a factor when it comes to MD/PhD programs (since you'd be looking at at least 12-15 yrs of training and that's if you have all your pre-reqs done). You would be better off pursuing just an MD and getting involved in research all throughout your training. Also what is your driving motivation for wanting to do the dual degree pathway? You will have to do quite a bit of shadowing in order to convince an adcom that you understand the consequences of being a career changer and what it takes to become a physician. You will also need hospital volunteering (your non-clinical volunteering seems fine).
Those are some of my initial thoughts so far reading your post.
Since you've been out of school for so long, I would highly advice you do not attempt the MCAT in June (since I doubt you'd have enough time to adequately prepare while working full time). Also your age will kind of be a factor when it comes to MD/PhD programs (since you'd be looking at at least 12-15 yrs of training and that's if you have all your pre-reqs done). You would be better off pursuing just an MD and getting involved in research all throughout your training. Also what is your driving motivation for wanting to do the dual degree pathway? You will have to do quite a bit of shadowing in order to convince an adcom that you understand the consequences of being a career changer and what it takes to become a physician. You will also need hospital volunteering (your non-clinical volunteering seems fine).
- Should I try to apply to the one school I most want to get into now and if I don't get in this year, reapply next year?
- Does re-application hurt your chances if i don't get in after applying this fall and try again in 2017?
- Are there any glaring issues or reasons why I should not apply this fall?
- Even though I have worked extensively in corporate research, I anticipate this may not be viewed the same as academic research by an admission committee. Any thoughts?
Those are some of my initial thoughts so far reading your post.
- Joined
- Jul 7, 2008
- Messages
- 1,348
- Reaction score
- 876
Why do you want to go to medical school?
If you want to go to medical school, having been out of school for so long, you may benefit from a brief post-baccalaureate program where you can take a few of the pre-req courses and work in a research lab, which would allow you to obtain current recommendation letters from professors. Furthermore, if you retake any basic courses it would help your GPA if you apply to DO schools, which you should do if you are serious about medicine.
Why MD/PhD specifically? What do you want out of a PhD that you can't already do?
You are not competitive for MD/PhD programs even if you had the best MCAT score in the country. You could possibly get in somewhere if you work your tail off and pull all the right strings. I don't see how you would at this moment obtain Rec Letters that would be competitive for MD/PhD programs- the best students have outstanding letters from top scientists/nobel laureate-types and you have no university-based research experience from what I can tell.
You've said little to indicate that MD/PhD would be a good option for you. Do you want to make 25-55k for the next 14 years (during school / during residency) while working at least as hard as you are now? If you apply to start school in 2018 and pursue an average length MD-PhD (8 years) with an average length specialty residency (6 years), you will be 33+8+6 -> 47 years old. On the other hand, you could start practicing medicine at 40 years old through a primary care track or around 43 if you subspecialize or choose a surgical field (33+4+3 to 7). While you may not think this is important, the MD/PhD programs will consider your age and hold it against you.
I agree that applying to 1 school now is a waste of effort and could hurt your application the following year as you will have shown poor judgment the first time around. Either you are ready to apply or you are not ready. You need to apply to many (20-30+) programs and take whatever you get. I think you should co-apply to DO programs if your goal is to practice medicine. The most obvious reasons you should not apply this year are that 1) no MCAT score, should be >80%tile and >95%tile if MD/PhD), 2) no current university LORs, 3) no significant shadowing experience- you should have at least 100+ hours of direct patient contact experience to show your commitment (and know for yourself that this is what you want to do) , 4) no clearly stated reason why you want to pursue medicine and have made no dedication yet towards pursuing the profession, 5) no recent university research experience/volunteering from which to get research LORs. Not to be negative, but you should consider your work experience noncontributory when evaluating your medical school application and expect to be vetted extensively on your research background if you get MD/PhD interviews.
If you want to go to medical school, having been out of school for so long, you may benefit from a brief post-baccalaureate program where you can take a few of the pre-req courses and work in a research lab, which would allow you to obtain current recommendation letters from professors. Furthermore, if you retake any basic courses it would help your GPA if you apply to DO schools, which you should do if you are serious about medicine.
Why MD/PhD specifically? What do you want out of a PhD that you can't already do?
You are not competitive for MD/PhD programs even if you had the best MCAT score in the country. You could possibly get in somewhere if you work your tail off and pull all the right strings. I don't see how you would at this moment obtain Rec Letters that would be competitive for MD/PhD programs- the best students have outstanding letters from top scientists/nobel laureate-types and you have no university-based research experience from what I can tell.
You've said little to indicate that MD/PhD would be a good option for you. Do you want to make 25-55k for the next 14 years (during school / during residency) while working at least as hard as you are now? If you apply to start school in 2018 and pursue an average length MD-PhD (8 years) with an average length specialty residency (6 years), you will be 33+8+6 -> 47 years old. On the other hand, you could start practicing medicine at 40 years old through a primary care track or around 43 if you subspecialize or choose a surgical field (33+4+3 to 7). While you may not think this is important, the MD/PhD programs will consider your age and hold it against you.
I agree that applying to 1 school now is a waste of effort and could hurt your application the following year as you will have shown poor judgment the first time around. Either you are ready to apply or you are not ready. You need to apply to many (20-30+) programs and take whatever you get. I think you should co-apply to DO programs if your goal is to practice medicine. The most obvious reasons you should not apply this year are that 1) no MCAT score, should be >80%tile and >95%tile if MD/PhD), 2) no current university LORs, 3) no significant shadowing experience- you should have at least 100+ hours of direct patient contact experience to show your commitment (and know for yourself that this is what you want to do) , 4) no clearly stated reason why you want to pursue medicine and have made no dedication yet towards pursuing the profession, 5) no recent university research experience/volunteering from which to get research LORs. Not to be negative, but you should consider your work experience noncontributory when evaluating your medical school application and expect to be vetted extensively on your research background if you get MD/PhD interviews.
Last edited:
