I'm currently considering applying for MD/PhD programs but I think my interests for the PhD research track are a little, but not hugely different than my undergrad research experience. I mainly worked on a research project where, if I were to continue in the path of that research, would lend itself to a Psychology PhD. I think I'm more interested in a neuroscience PhD however. If I know a lot about the field and have demonstrated that I'm capable of handling research, does it matter if my undergrad research was a little different from what I want to do in the Md/phd programs?
Applying for a PhD program slightly different than your undergrad research
- Thread starter neuro130
- Start date
No. Plenty switch psych to neuroscience. Stress your molecular background and you'll be fine.
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2001
- Messages
- 380
- Reaction score
- 1
Doesn't matter at all. Most people do their PhD work on something very different from their undergrad work. It might cause trouble if you were trying to do something really different, like get a PhD in physical chemistry after doing undergrad work in psychology, but aside from that as long as you've had adequate undergrad preparation and can explain your interest you should be fine.
What sort of undegrad courses would I need for this switch? I've taken all your basic science stuff as well as some more advanced courses. Background in science is as follows:
Bio I and II, Gen Chem I and II, Biochem, Genetics, Molecular Bio, Organic I and II, Advanced genetics, physics I and II, Calculus I and II, Differential Equations, Linear Alegbra, Microbiology, Psychology, and I'm sure a few others I'm missing. Are there any gaping holes I can address this next semester? Some more psychology perhaps? Maybe a graduate course in Neuroscience? (My school lets Undergrad students take some grad courses...we don't have a neuroscience undergrad major)
Bio I and II, Gen Chem I and II, Biochem, Genetics, Molecular Bio, Organic I and II, Advanced genetics, physics I and II, Calculus I and II, Differential Equations, Linear Alegbra, Microbiology, Psychology, and I'm sure a few others I'm missing. Are there any gaping holes I can address this next semester? Some more psychology perhaps? Maybe a graduate course in Neuroscience? (My school lets Undergrad students take some grad courses...we don't have a neuroscience undergrad major)
Neuroscience classes. Either graduate or at another college as long as it won't hurt your GPA/wallet.
Thanks for the reply. One question I had is if it's a big deal if my research is a different "type" than what I see myself doing. My undergrad volunteering mainly involved behavior coding videotapes of different parent-child interactions to study child maltreatment. I loved the work but I think I see myself more neurobiology oriented (I'm very interested in studying the biological basis for mental illness). If I have a good knowledge of the field will it matter that my research was a little different format? By the time I apply I should have a decent neuroscience background and a strong lab science class background as well.
Then I would suggest getting some experience at the bench. Try switching labs, a summer program (there are plenty of threads about these floating around), or a gap year of research at the bench.
Do the Adcoms expect you to know exactly what you want to do when you go into M1? It seems equivalent to requiring Pre-meds to know they want to be a Cardiologist right from the get-go. Do people not end up going into programs a good deal different from what they did as an undergrad? I'm looking into more benchwork heavy labs for the coming semesters.
- Joined
- Sep 18, 2001
- Messages
- 380
- Reaction score
- 1
No. But, it helps to have an idea of the types of research/labs you'd be interested in and to be able to explain why.
I think you need to have a better idea of the area of research you want to get a PhD in than the area you specialize in as an MD, because 1) you do less rotations for the PhD (2 or 3 at most institutions and some have their first one before M1) and 2) you decide on your PhD area long before you decide on your MD speciality. I think you should have a general idea what you want to get into, enough to be able to say, "hey, this lab looks like a place I could do my thesis work in". Some of my secondaries had me pick out the areas of research I was interested in, and some of my interviewers asked me about my future goals in research. So if for nothing else, you may have to write about it in your applications/speak intelligently to interviewers about it.
I don't think your PhD work needs to be similar or even in the same field as your undergraduate work. However, it may be a stretch to say you want to do bench work when you've only done non-bench work, or vice versa. I could be wrong on that last part though, so maybe others could comment more on that.
- Joined
- Mar 14, 2002
- Messages
- 14,916
- Reaction score
- 8,857
90% + of the research done in MD/PhD programs is bench research of some type. If you're proposing to do some type of bench research, which is the safest and commonest pathway, you should try to get significant experience performing bench research before applying.
Thanks for the input Goodkarma and Neuronix.
A lot of the guidelines I'm seeing say that the average MD/PhD applicant has around 1.5-2 years of research. How many hours a week would that translate to? Are these 2 years of working 30 hours weeks? Or 5 hour weeks? It makes a big difference. I'd like to tack more lab work on these next few semesters but i can't manage a whole part time job on top of my classes.
A lot of the guidelines I'm seeing say that the average MD/PhD applicant has around 1.5-2 years of research. How many hours a week would that translate to? Are these 2 years of working 30 hours weeks? Or 5 hour weeks? It makes a big difference. I'd like to tack more lab work on these next few semesters but i can't manage a whole part time job on top of my classes.
During the academic year, I would say normal is 10 to 15 hours/week, though many do more. Full time for 10 to 15 weeks during the summers.
- Joined
- Apr 20, 2008
- Messages
- 735
- Reaction score
- 203
I may be doing something similar. I have a Psych degree, but am applying to MD/PhD Programs hoping to do my PhD in neuroscience. I've had 4 interviews, with 1 more coming up...get back to me after the season ends and I can tell you how I ended up doing haha.
- Joined
- May 10, 2011
- Messages
- 999
- Reaction score
- 56
I agree that if you plan on doing bench research during the PhD but haven't done that sort if research that it is important to get some experience before applying. I'd say a summer program should be sufficient if your research experience is otherwise strong.
Similar threads
