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Medigal

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I am a freshman student and I recently created a plan for the remaining years of undergrad. FYI, I did some hospital volunteering here and there during my spring semester but mostly focused on academics to maintain a 4.0 GPA. So this is what I plan to do in order to prepare for the MD/PhD application:

Summer after freshman year: Take Microbio with my current gen bio professor (he only offers it in summer and I like his conceptual approach to the courses)
Probably work with a professor at my college for a paid position conducting research on making universal cancer vaccine
Volunteer at a hospital
Volunteer for the American Cancer Society advocating as a Legislative Ambassador
Volunteer for Feed My Starving Children
Maybe participate in outreach activities for local high school students
Study for the MCAT (CARS, Biology, and Chemistry section)
Volunteer at the Welcome week/move-in day for my university at the start of next semester

Sophomore: Work with the professor on research for course credit (Already registered)
Work as a lab instructor (IA) for my General Biology professor
Probably tutor a group of students for gen chem course as an SI Leader
Continue volunteering at the hospital (2 shifts a month)
Continue volunteering for the American Cancer Society
Continue volunteering for Feed My Starving Children
Run a non-clinical volunteer club (I will be an officer of the new club)

Summer after Sophomore: Participate in a summer research program or continue the research at my institution
Shadow a physician
Continue volunteering at the hospital (2 shifts a month)
Continue volunteering for the American Cancer Society
Continue volunteering for Feed My Starving Children
Study for the MCAT (Physics, Chemistry, and the behavioral sections)

Junior: Start working on the Honors thesis (with either my bio professor or the research professor)
Continue doing the same activities from the sophomore year (research, IA, tutor, volunteer, and club)
Take the MCAT in the spring and/or summer

Summer after Junior: Continue doing research and volunteering/shadowing
If possible, participate in global volunteering experience with a club that I am a member of

Senior: Apply to MD/PhD programs (in-state and out-of-state)
Finish and defend my honors thesis
Continue the same activities

Does this plan sound good or there are some areas that I should modify and focus more/less on? I plan on going directly to medical school so I wanted to know if this is good enough to be a competitive applicant. Any guidance is highly appreciated as I navigate my path to becoming a physician-scientist!

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You are doing a lot of activities but not enough research... preferably, biomedical wet-lab research. If your institution doesn't have that level of training, consider applying for summer research programs for undergraduates at medical school/centers or apply for the NIH summer program. During the spring & fall semesters, you should aim 15 hrs/week of research and full-time during the summers. For MD/PhD, you only need 100-150 clinical hours, but >1500 hrs of research... this gives you an idea of the balance.
 
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Oh my gosh, please don't study for the MCAT the summer after freshman year. Do something fun and meaningful!! You will forget most everything anyway by the time you take it.
 
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You are doing a lot of activities but not enough research... preferably, biomedical wet-lab research. If your institution doesn't have that level of training, consider applying for summer research programs for undergraduates at medical school/centers or apply for the NIH summer program. During the spring & fall semesters, you should aim 15 hrs/week of research and full-time during the summers. For MD/PhD, you only need 100-150 clinical hours, but >1500 hrs of research... this gives you an idea of the balance.
Thank you for your insights! I did not understand what you mean about the "biomedical wet-lab research." Is my project different from these criteria? My professor has yet to describe me about the roles that I will undertake but I will see if it's wet-lab research or something else. If it does not meet the criteria, I always have an option to contact other professors who do more of the basic science research as we have an entire department named for conducting research of various levels and types. As for the type of research experience, is it better to participate in a summer program or stick to the home institution by continuing the same research throughout undergrad? Also, is it okay if I tone down the clinical/ non-clinical volunteering involvement if I can prove that I was heavily involved with research and academic activities such as TAing?
 
Oh my gosh, please don't study for the MCAT the summer after freshman year. Do something fun and meaningful!! You will forget most everything anyway by the time you take it.
Thanks for the advice! I will not study for the MCAT that much. It's just that I want to familiarize myself with the format of the exam and review the courses I took this year to keep in touch with the material.
 
You only need 3 months of dedicated time to study for the MCAT. You'll forget a lot of stuff if you start studying Freshman year. Just taking premed classes is plenty of studying for now.

Everything else sounds good. Remember that research experience is the most important part of an MD/PhD application.
 
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You sound too directed to me for such an early stage of career. I'd make sure MD/PhD is really the path I want to go down...there are so many interesting careers and college is the time to explore your interests. We screen for creativity as well.

But yes...hard core wet lab with preferably 1-2 years post-bac lab work for top 20 programs.
 
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Regarding research hours, here is a graph of the AMCAS reported research hours for applicants to our program for the 2018 cycle.

260896


This represents about 26% pf all MD-PhD applicants, and 40% of all MD-PhD enrolling students for the 2018 cycle. Interpret this as you see fit.
 
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As I indicated previously, our median for interviewees is about 4100 hours, but with a range between 1000-10,000, and our median matriculant class had ~5000 hours. We did accept several people with 1000-2000 hours. Applicants need to realize that to be credible, you need to have sustained and substantial research experience. During college semesters, you could work 10-15 hrs/week, while doing 60 hrs/wk (hard work) during the summer for about 1100 hrs/yr. In a post-bac, it is not unusual to do 60 hrs/wk x 48 weeks = 2,880 hrs in a post-bac year.
 
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You only need 3 months of dedicated time to study for the MCAT. You'll forget a lot of stuff if you start studying Freshman year. Just taking premed classes is plenty of studying for now.

Everything else sounds good. Remember that research experience is the most important part of an MD/PhD application.
Thanks for the info! I bet research is way more important for any program that includes a PhD, and I understand and respect the significance of this requirement.
 
You sound too directed to me for such an early stage of career. I'd make sure MD/PhD is really the path I want to go down...there are so many interesting careers and college is the time to explore your interests. We screen for creativity as well.

But yes...hard core wet lab with preferably 1-2 years post-bac lab work for top 20 programs.
Does that mean we have to have a post-bac in order to get accepted to an MD-PhD program? What if I participate in some dedicated research throughout undergrad and try to go directly to the program after graduating? Is it still possible to be admitted to a top choice?
 
Does that mean we have to have a post-bac in order to get accepted to an MD-PhD program? What if I participate in some dedicated research throughout undergrad and try to go directly to the program after graduating? Is it still possible to be admitted to a top choice, or for that matter, any good MD-PhD program?
 
Regarding research hours, here is a graph of the AMCAS reported research hours for applicants to our program for the 2018 cycle.

View attachment 260896

This represents about 26% pf all MD-PhD applicants, and 40% of all MD-PhD enrolling students for the 2018 cycle. Interpret this as you see fit.
I plan to have between 2000 and 3000 hours of good quality research under my belt if everything goes as planned. I see that the highest number of applicants received had about 1500 and 2000 hours, while the highest accepted had more than 6000 hours. Though, I would not discount the fact that the percentage of applicants enrolled with 1500 - 2000 hours is a safe spot to assume that an average applicant can have about 2000 to have a chance of being considered for the program
 
About half of the national matriculating class comes out directly from college. As a group they tend to have higher GPA & MCAT, but have shown sufficient sustained research experiences, which they often pursue at their R1 institutions. Another group found research later in their lives, perhaps due to a lack of opportunities at their college/university, and often pursue a 1-2 yr post-bac at NIH, medical university, or R1 institution.

If you read carefully to what we have said, you are doing too many things to check the boxes of both MD and MD/PhD, and not concentrating into laboratory research, high grades, and pursue 1 wellness activity to keep you human and sane.
 
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As I indicated previously, our median for interviewees is about 4100 hours, but with a range between 1000-10,000, and our median matriculant class had ~5000 hours. We did accept several people with 1000-2000 hours. Applicants need to realize that to be credible, you need to have sustained and substantial research experience. During college semesters, you could work 10-15 hrs/week, while doing 60 hrs/wk (hard work) during the summer for about 1100 hrs/yr. In a post-bac, it is not unusual to do 60 hrs/wk x 48 weeks = 2,880 hrs in a post-bac year.
I see why people take time off after undergrad to gain research experience. It is because they did not engage in as much research as required to prove their interest and credibility. But I liked the idea you mentioned that by working about 1100 hrs/yr on an average, we can still build a good profile and I think it can help us go directly to the MD-PhD program.
 
About half of the national matriculating class comes out directly from college. As a group they tend to have higher GPA & MCAT, but have shown sufficient sustained research experiences, which they often pursue at their R1 institutions. Another group found research later in their lives, perhaps due to a lack of opportunities at their college/university, and often pursue a 1-2 yr post-bac at NIH, medical university, or R1 institution.

If you read carefully to what we have said, you are doing too many things to check the boxes of both MD and MD/PhD, and not concentrating into laboratory research, high grades, and pursue 1 wellness activity to keep you human and sane.
Thanks for the clarification! I agree I am doing multiple things but this is because I have discovered the MD-PhD path recently so I need to modify what I plan to do in order to solely focus on MD-PhD programs. Earlier, I was set on doing MD but then I realized that this may not offer me what I envision about doing professionally.
 
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People who did postbaccs or take time off aren’t only doing it because they wouldn’t get in otherwise (although that’s a possibility). There’s a lot to be gained by having a full time research experience and learning to function as an adult outside of college.
 
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Another rationale for a 1 yr post-bac is to convince yourself that you want to pursue this path. In the big scheme of things, one additional year is not a big deal, when your professional life expectancy is 30-40 years (keep in mind you will be working until early 70s). Do you want be doing what you truly love? Then, get the training that will make your career as most successful as it can be to stay doing what you love....
 
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People who did postbaccs or take time off aren’t only doing it because they wouldn’t get in otherwise (although that’s a possibility). There’s a lot to be gained by having a full time research experience and learning to function as an adult outside of college.
I understand that there are multiple factors for doing post-bacc. It's true that functioning as an adult after graduation is a good reason to take time off. Thanks for your insights!
 
Another rationale for a 1 yr post-bac is to convince yourself that you want to pursue this path. In the big scheme of things, one additional year is not a big deal, when your professional life expectancy is 30-40 years (keep in mind you will be working until early 70s). Do you want be doing what you truly love? Then, get the training that will make your career as most successful as it can be to stay doing what you love....
I agree with this reasoning for pursuing a post-bacc. It is so important to assess your interest in a particular field before committing at an early stage. I think that for now, I am highly interested and passionate about pursuing a profession as a medical scientist. I will keep working on gaining good research experience throughout my time as an undergraduate student. Then if I think I need more time, I will definitely pursue full-time research after undergrad to prepare myself for an MD/PhD program. Thank you for your perspective. I appreciate it!
 
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