Apply for MD/PhD program. What are my chances?

[davince]

---

Members do not see this ad.

Hello, everyone.
I'm a clinical laboratory science student in my junior year in taiwan.
I'm considering to apply for md/phd program either after undergrad or after another 2-year master training.
There are some questions i could really use some advice.I hope you can help me out, thanks a lot!!
🙂

First i'm not sure when should i apply, should it be straight after undergrad or after another 2 years master training.(either way, i still need to do a 1 year military enrollment required by the law before i could go abroad)
There are a couple reasons why i'm considering master training.
1.Though i've been in a bacterial lab for a year now, i still think i'm lack of experimental skills, because i haven't done much molecular scale experiments(no PCR, cloning, sequencing, genetic analysis experience) this year but some phenotype testing(my undergrad project).
Although i have done a little project supported by a undergrad student grant, the project was part-time, the courses in my department at junior and senior years are rather intense, so working on something full time may further help me develop the research sense.
2. My current GPA is roughly about 3, so i guess it's not enough for any MD related application, though i've worked hard these few semesters, i think the highest score of my GPA could only be around 3.4 when i graduate.
If i spend another 2 years in master training i could get higher GPA in graduate school, and also i could try to have a paper published.

My research interest is regarding to infectious diseases, but i don't reject any subject of biomedical science or engineering, i think there are emerging importance of cell biology and biophysics in pathogenesis and eukaryote-prokaryote interactions, and there are needs for integration of biomedical science with engineering.
I want to know medicine and research to understand the science, and this is why i want to enroll into md/phd program. I want to learn as much as i can.

I want to increase my chances by getting a paper published on SCI journals, and to my knowledge many SDN members pointed out that having a research experience of >2years and published paper do help with the application.
Q1: Does the impact factor of the SCI journal matters?

Because i'm in the clinical laboratory science, so i could get certificated after graduation, the Medical technologist from American Society of Clinical Pathology international, MT(ASCPi).
Q2: Does getting a medicine related certification help increasing the chance of getting accepted, medical technologist or molecular pathologists specifically?

I know my application could very much fail because i'm a international student with no US school education and no citizenship, and my financial situation requires me to get both tuition waiver and stipend support.
Q3: But would i have a chance to be accepted?

Q4: if i had red flags on my file(a few major courses failed once in college), would it affect?
(lone story short i wasn't happy about the design of the courses)
I'm really appreciated for your thoughts on these, thanks🙂

 

[imbored]

Hello, everyone.
I'm a clinical laboratory science student in my junior year in taiwan.
I'm considering to apply for md/phd program either after undergrad or after another 2-year master training.
There are some questions i could really use some advice.I hope you can help me out, thanks a lot!!

First of all...you should look at this post before asking about chances http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=539268. Also, I really don't know how international students work in regard to MD-Phd programs, but I am under the impression that there may be issues if you haven't attended a US undergraduate school. Maybe someone more knowledgeable could elaborate more on this.

First i'm not sure when should i apply, should it be straight after undergrad or after another 2 years master training.(either way, i still need to do a 1 year military enrollment required by the law before i could go abroad)
There are a couple reasons why i'm considering master training.
1.Though i've been in a bacterial lab for a year now, i still think i'm lack of experimental skills, because i haven't done much molecular scale experiments(no PCR, cloning, sequencing, genetic analysis experience) this year but some phenotype testing(my undergrad project).
Although i have done a little project supported by a undergrad student grant, the project was part-time, the courses in my department at junior and senior years are rather intense, so working on something full time may further help me develop the research sense.

From what you said, it seems that you are going to need more research experience to be a successful MD-PhD applicant. In particular, you should try to at the very least have a full time summer research experience (most successful MD-PhD applicants have 2+ years of experience), and ideally you should have intellectually contributed to a research project.

2. My current GPA is roughly about 3, so i guess it's not enough for any MD related application, though i've worked hard these few semesters, i think the highest score of my GPA could only be around 3.4 when i graduate.
If i spend another 2 years in master training i could get higher GPA in graduate school, and also i could try to have a paper published.

If your current GPA is indeed a 3.0, that will be very detrimental to your chances. A 3.0 is almost too low of a MD-only application as it is, and MD-PhD applicants generally have a high average than MD-only students. I still think a 3.4 is pretty low for a graduation GPA, unless you have had exceptional research experience and a very good MCAT.

My research interest is regarding to infectious diseases, but i don't reject any subject of biomedical science or engineering, i think there are emerging importance of cell biology and biophysics in pathogenesis and eukaryote-prokaryote interactions, and there are needs for integration of biomedical science with engineering.
I want to know medicine and research to understand the science, and this is why i want to enroll into md/phd program. I want to learn as much as i can.

This sounds like a PhD-only program would fulfill these ambitions, so make sure you have a good reason for pursuing the combined degree (as opposed to PhD-only) before investing yourself in the application process.

I want to increase my chances by getting a paper published on SCI journals, and to my knowledge many SDN members pointed out that having a research experience of >2years and published paper do help with the application.
Q1: Does the impact factor of the SCI journal matters?

I really do think published papers (especially if they are first-authored) help out applications, so try to do that. However, published papers are not a requirement if you have demonstrated good research experience. The impact factor doesn't really matter, since most people publish in specialized journals within their own field of research (though I suppose it would be quite good if you are able to get a first-authored article in Science or Nature).

Because i'm in the clinical laboratory science, so i could get certificated after graduation, the Medical technologist from American Society of Clinical Pathology international, MT(ASCPi).
Q2: Does getting a medicine related certification help increasing the chance of getting accepted, medical technologist or molecular pathologists specifically?

I don't think getting a certification would help at all, other than the fact that you would have more research experience. I would recommend you focus on getting a masters degree before getting a certification, since a masters would be more intellectual rigorous and it would improve your GPA.

I know my application could very much fail because i'm a international student with no US school education and no citizenship, and my financial situation requires me to get both tuition waiver and stipend support.
Q3: But would i have a chance to be accepted?

I really think that being an international student that is not at a US undergraduate school is going to be a big issue for you. But, as mentioned previously, I really don't know how the international factor works.

Q4: if i had red flags on my file(a few major courses failed once in college), would it affect?
(lone story short i wasn't happy about the design of the courses)
I'm really appreciated for your thoughts on these, thanks🙂

Well it depends what the classes were. Usually, if they are science classes, they are going to cause problems on your application. You mentioned that you failed a "few." How many? If you failed multiple science classes, then you should definetly try to go to graduate school first to prove that you can handle the courseload. Also, did you retake them and do well the second time? The fact that you did not like the design of the course will not be an acceptable excuse for admissions committees.

 

[davince]

Thank you very much for your input, imbored.

Well it depends what the classes were. Usually, if they are science classes, they are going to cause problems on your application. You mentioned that you failed a "few." How many? If you failed multiple science classes, then you should definetly try to go to graduate school first to prove that you can handle the courseload. Also, did you retake them and do well the second time? The fact that you did not like the design of the course will not be an acceptable excuse for admissions committees.

i failed a semester of calculus once and i retook it in the summer
and i failed microbiology and immuniology last semester and i'm going to retake it.

so i guess graduate school looks good now🙂

thanks a lot.