Your questions answered

[Top3]

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[marctam86]

hmm, what are some unique things in an applicant that mdphd adcoms look for?

 

[mrcdsbenz2000]

on average, how many publications do your classmates have, and how big is this?
thanks

 

[mrcdsbenz2000]

so do you recommend sending copies of published papers + those in prep/submission? what about posters? send copies of those too? thanks

Publications when we applied or since admission?

At the time of interviewing I had 1 publication, but 2 manuscripts submitted. My letters of rec clearly stated that there were 2 manuscripts submitted and I also sent paper copies of the drafts to all the places I'd interviewed.

When the galleys came I FEDEXed those, too.

Since then I've published two other papers from my MD/PhD lab stuff.

There are two papers waiting to be written and a third "Top3" journal paper that we're doing experiments on right now... if only I could get that p to < 0.05.

There is another two papers that have a pretty good chance of clearing once I get the injector on our luminometer fixed (sorry, the company quoted us $3.5 K and I'm not in the mood to haggle the price down with them right now).

Plus I can probably get another 3-5 papers co-authored. (All above are first author).

Now about my MSTP classmates. Most of them when applying had 0 first author publications, I think one had a third author, and another had a first author.

Right now our MSTP class has 1 Nature, 1 Science, 1 Nature Neuroscience and a handful of PNAS's, smaller journal cover, etc...

So compared to them I'm behind. But I took a somewhat longer and more difficult route, but I think it will pay off in the end.

 

[marctam86]

what kind of grades does one need for the top 3?

 

[OTheHorror]

When I was interviewing I carried around poster panels from a conference where I presented my research and pulled them out whenever the inevitable "So tell me about your research" question came up. Went over panel by panel all the data, ending in the X-ray structure I solved. Completely freaked out the other applicants when they saw me with my satchel.

How many times can I expect to get beaten up by carrying around my poster panels with me?

 

[staticfritz]

How many times can I expect to get beaten up by carrying around my poster panels with me?

i might hit you

 

[GlycoNE1]

How many times can I expect to get beaten up by carrying around my poster panels with me?

hmm.. I've read somewhere that it's bad form to bring stuff like that to your interviews.

 

[oasis786]

hmm.. I've read somewhere that it's bad form to bring stuff like that to your interviews.

Guess there are some schools where it's not such bad form...

 

[Neuronix]

hmm.. I've read somewhere that it's bad form to bring stuff like that to your interviews.

If you're planning on doing that, I would definately ask the MSTP before bringing them. I don't think I've ever seen anyone do it here.

 

[GlycoNE1]

Good idea Neuronix! I'll definitely ask the administrators. I have also received advice that the MSTP interviews are more friendly conversations about research and one shouldn't depend on props to explain their research in a clear and interesting manner.

For those who have already interviewed, what proportion of the MSTP interviews focus on research vs. medical school q's? I've heard 60% research and 40% standard medical school q's.

If you're planning on doing that, I would definately ask the MSTP before bringing them. I don't think I've ever seen anyone do it here.

 

[tedrik]

Good idea Neuronix! I'll definitely ask the administrators. I have also received advice that the MSTP interviews are more friendly conversations about research and one shouldn't depend on props to explain their research in a clear and interesting manner.

For those who have already interviewed, what proportion of the MSTP interviews focus on research vs. medical school q's? I've heard 60% research and 40% standard medical school q's.

So far I have been on 5 interviews and I have yet to see anyone bring any additional materials. In my personal opinion, if I saw someone with their presentation slides I would think they looked like an ass monkey. I would suggest to not bring any outside materials unless it is something like a paper that you just got published and you want to add to your application. That being said, if I were you I would actually take Neuronix's advice, simply because he is always right

As for the interview questions, they have been about 80% focused on research. Even when I get the typical "Why the MD?" question, our conversation still ends up focused around research, because I want the MD training to benefit my future (hopefully) research career. The typical non-research questions I have been getting are: "What do you do for fun," "How did you become interested in medicine," "what type of specialty are you thinking of," "where do you seen yourself in 15-20 years," and my personal favorite: "Why Ann Arbor?"

Good luck with the interviews!

 

[b&ierstiefel]

I am curious as to why Top3 has replaced his previous posts with a simple "---".

I saw what his posts were originally and I didn't find anything questionable or offensive .

Anyways, if someone has reprints or printouts of figures to help illustrate research data I think one can bring them in a folder. That's what I did but I rarely had to use them during my interviews. I also felt that I shouldn't "force" the pictures/graphs into the discussion unless specifically prompted.

 

[agp4]

Good idea Neuronix! I'll definitely ask the administrators. I have also received advice that the MSTP interviews are more friendly conversations about research and one shouldn't depend on props to explain their research in a clear and interesting manner.

For those who have already interviewed, what proportion of the MSTP interviews focus on research vs. medical school q's? I've heard 60% research and 40% standard medical school q's.

I think you've got the right idea. I've don't ever remember anyone bringing along props my year. I don't see anything wrong with bringing props, but it seems unnecessary to me (my posters always looked like crap anyway). I did try to remember to bring a copy of my publications, in case I got into a pinch or needed to show a figure (it never happened). The closest I got to props was asking to draw things on a nearby markerboard a couple of times. Think of the interviews as a conversation between a friendly professor/colleague rather than a grill-session and you'll do fine. Depending on the school, they'll be a different mix of medical vs research questions. Some schools set it up so you interview with a number of researchers (for the MD/PhD program) and one or two MD interviews (for the medical school's benefit). Overall, I enjoyed the interview process and ended up meeting some very interesting scientists and applicants. Some interviews will go better than others, but you can't worry too much about that. Good luck!

 

[b&ierstiefel]

I totally agree with you Top3. Although I didn't have poster panels, I did have 3 reprints in my possession when I interviewed. Again, I rarely had to use them but just in case, it doesn't hurt to have them during your interviews. Especially if you have image-intensive data.

Top3, I'm sure you were a stellar candidate and it's good that you're chiming in with advice. Applicants need people like you.

Given your record, you may get crap for this (and I've seen this in the other thread where you posted...quite a shame). I believe that some of this is out of jealousy.

 

[Dj neema]

It sounds like you did some biophysics research since you solved a structure, crystal structure I'm assuming.

It really depends on your interviewer, and the institution you're at.

I've never met anyone who carried poster panels or figures at any of my interviews. Most of those people had already submitted their papers or manuscripts ahead of time.

Besides, I had a couple of first author publications, and a few other authorships, but unfortunately, a great deal of my work involved synthetic chemistry, and with the exception of Harvard, Cornell, and UCSF, I had a hard time communicating the structure-activity studies. So what did I do? I asked them politely if I could draw out my figures out for them.

If you politely ask, and do it spontaneously, you gain credibility, and don't seem as if you need to rely on props as much.

Though scientists use diagrams to convey data at meetings, it isn't a necessity. If you're articulate and know your work very well as well as the literature in your field, then you shouldn't have a hard time explaining it to a colleague.

 

[airadface]

is it true that you get kick out of your PhD program is you get 2 C's?

 

[BDavis]

is it true that you get kick out of your PhD program is you get 2 C's?

Some MSTP students here have received a C in graduate school, but were not asked to leave. I know of 1 MSTP student who was asked to leave "effectively ending their MD/PhD career" because they could not pass their graduate school qualifier. For our qualifier we have pass, conditional pass (which for all intensive purposes you have to retake the qualifier or you have to write additional things in your proposal), and fail.

 

[tigress]

is it true that you get kick out of your PhD program is you get 2 C's?

heck I'd get kicked out of plain grad school (phd) if I got two Cs...maybe even for one, at least they'd consider it