biomedical PhD and THEN MD

[hihan91]

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Hello,

I am an UG senior who is both interested in research and medicine. While I want to do MD/PHD, I certainly do not have the qualifications to do both as of now. Moreover, I am not a resident or a citizen so I will be at a serious disadvantage when applying for medical school as an international student.
Therefore, I have decided to pursue research first and then if my mind is still set on MD after 5 years, I will go get an MD.

Thankfully, I have been accepted to a biomedical repro/phys PhD program in Anschutz medical campus.
I certain will take advantage of my setting to get to know MD/PhD mentors who could advise me and provide me with clinical experience during my PhD program. I've read plenty of threads that say a PhD deg does not strengthen medical school apps as much. Do you think getting a PhD in a medical school will give me a leverage in clinical experience than a PhD in regular biology program? Say I work with a md/phd lab that handles human and primate metabolism problems and juvenile diabetes development, closely working with patients. Would this kind of PhD experience make me a stronger phd applicant?

At the end of my senior year, I will have 3.5 GPA (UG). My non-studied practice MCAT was 31, so I am hoping that after a few months of studying before application (probably after 4-6 years from now) I will reach at least a 34-36.

Do I have a good chance? Should I start contemplating on doing extra volunteer/clincial experience things on the side while I am completing my PhD?
Thank you.

 

[QofQuimica]

I've read plenty of threads that say a PhD deg does not strengthen medical school apps as much. Do you think getting a PhD in a medical school will give me a leverage in clinical experience than a PhD in regular biology program? Say I work with a md/phd lab that handles human and primate metabolism problems and juvenile diabetes development, closely working with patients. Would this kind of PhD experience make me a stronger phd applicant?

If you've already read the prior threads on the subject, then you already know that the answer is no. A PhD is *never* something you should do for the purpose of trying to strengthen your app for med school. Getting a PhD won't help you improve your UG GPA, and it won't prove to the med schools that you have what it takes to succeed in medical school. If your UG grades are weak, then what you need to do is to take more UG classes as a post bac. Alternatively, you can do a med school-linked SMP. But don't do the straight PhD program unless you A) want a career as a PhD, and B) aren't planning on going to med school.

 

[Amygdarya]

OP, I agree with all that Q said above, I'd just like to add:
1) you absolutely don't need to have a PhD to do research, plenty of MDs-only do all kinds of research, including basic science research. Expectations from MD/PhD applicants are higher than from MD only applicants, but for the purpose of doing research you don't need to aim as high as MD/PhD. The problem, of course, is that you're an international applicant: with your stats and decent ECs, you could have a decent shot at DO and some MD schools; as an international, you really have 2 options - get a green card if it's feasible or significantly improve your application, which, as Q mentioned, involves things other than getting a PhD (improving UG GPA and MCAT, for starters);
2) the problem with applying to US medical schools as an international is not only that it's harder to get accepted, far from it: you'll have difficulties getting loans to pay for school, and then you'll have substantial difficulties applying to residencies (your residency program will have to sponsor a work visa for you, and most programs won't do that unless you're an extraordinary candidate, which is not something I would bank on, especially considering the increasing competition for residency spots);
3) your projected clinical experience that is part of your PhD research will most likely not be "enough" for medical schools. The point of "clinical experience" for the purpose of medical school application is that you've seen what the practice of medicine is like and know what you're getting into, and you will not get that in a research setting, even if you work with patients under the supervision of an MD - it's just not the same at all. With your PhD, you'll have to get at least as much "clinical exposure" as a traditional medical school applicant (I could argue more: as a PhD-to-MD applicant, you'll be considered a career changer, so you'll have to try even harder to prove you know what you're getting yourself into);
4) last but not least: that UG GPA you're talking about - is it from US or foreign college? It's likely that you'll have to retake/take more UG classes to improve your GPA regardless, but if your GPA is from a foreign school, you're in luck: your foreign credits and grades don't count 😀 The luck of it is that, while you'll have to retake all prereqs and then some, you'll be starting from scratch and can get a reasonably high GPA if you make an appropriate effort.