Accepted to MSTP but considering MD only

[slu]

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Hi,

I was hoping someone out there may have some experience with this. I was accepted to an MSTP program, but mainly due to my age (29) I'm thinking I just want to do the MD. Does anyone know if I can accept just the MD and not the MSTP?

thanks

 

[MD2B in 2010]

I think that you should not pass up an opportunity such as the one you have been blessed with. There are people in the research facility where I work who are only MDs and are begging to go back and get their PhD. I think it is something that you will possibly regret in the long run. If time is the issue, accept the position, then when you get in the institution do the graduate work that will probably be the easiest for you to complete in a limited time frame after researching PIs in the various labs of your interest and express your desire to finish as early as possible and make sure they can accomodate your needs. Otherwise, just do a PhD in Public Health (max. 3 years from what I have been told). Its fruitful, rewarding, and will help contribute significantly to your career and outreach to the community as an MD. Tough decision, though, I hope the right one presents itself to you in the near future.

 

[witness23]

you need to ask the school. one school took me into mstp and was kinda eghhh about me going into MD saying their admissions were different. I dropped that sht easy. I worked a year in the lab full time and it was way different from working in undergrad or over the summer. Wasn't for me.

Ask them. It's not for everyone, and its okay, its not really a competition.

 

[witness23]

oh i meant they weren't really happy so I just went with a school that i applied MD only for.

 

[Enkidu]

OP,
The answer to your question is yes. When you are accepted to an MSTP you are also accepted to the medical school. If you decide against doing the combined program, you can still go to the medical school. The MSTP won't be happy with you, especially this late, but the medical school itself won't care... It's better you tell them now though so that they still have a chance to get someone off of their waitlist. I understand your concern, by the way, I started my program when I was 27. No regrets so far, though.

 

[JulyMorning]

OP,
The answer to your question is yes. When you are accepted to an MSTP you are also accepted to the medical school. If you decide against doing the combined program, you can still go to the medical school. The MSTP won't be happy with you, especially this late, but the medical school itself won't care... It's better you tell them now though so that they still have a chance to get someone off of their waitlist. I understand your concern, by the way, I started my program when I was 27. No regrets so far, though.

The MSTP will be quite alright with this, and will definitely appreciate you telling them now (rather than two years from now, as some people do). If you tell them now, they can go back to the waitlist and pull another person into their MSTP class, no problems.
Good luck, and you can always do research with an MD only.

On a different note, I understand your reasoning (age 29, being done with med school around 37, residency afterward, etc), but I know several MSTP students who started at around 35, and haven't regretted it yet 🙂.