Can someone withdraw from a MD/PhD or MD/MS or ...

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sekem

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If someone gets in an MD/PhD or MD/MS or MD/MBA or other MD/ Graduate school programs, can he withdraw from the graduate program after couple of months after starting his MD program and just complete the MD program?
 
If someone gets in an MD/PhD or MD/MS or MD/MBA or other MD/ Graduate school programs, can he withdraw from the graduate program after couple of months after starting his MD program and just complete the MD program?

I'm sure you can. Usually you don't start those classes right away. The PhD might be the biggest deal because lots of people are involved.
 
and MD/PhD students usually go to school for free and may get a stipend. So that would get screwed up.
 
While it would be frowned upon, it can certainly be done. I doubt dropping the Masters would be noticed much, but the PhD would raise some eyebrows as this dual degree is one that typically pays you, unlike the others where you pay them. However, doing this the first few months would be better than waiting until the end of your second year, typically when the PhD portion starts. There are almost never any binding agreements, but the sooner you drop out, the sooner they can offer the slot to a transfer. Yet you'd have to start paying your own way again as just an MD, if not pursuing a Dr^2.
 
If you're in an MSTP, you're not obligated to pay back for the first two years. I think this is an NIH policy?
 
In MSTPs you don't have to pay back for the first two years. In non-MSTP MD/PhD programs, it depends on the program. At my program (Dartmouth) you get billed for however much tuition you would have had to have paid but you don't have to pay back the stipend money.

I will say this though: dual degree programs (especially MD/PhD because of the time, effort, and money each school pumps into each candidate, and the fact that the NIH gets mad at MSTPs if their dual degree candidates drop down to just an MD) are not programs that should be entered into lightly. You shouldn't just look at an MSTP as a way of getting free med school. These programs should only be undertaken by people who as sure as possible that what the complimentary degree will provide for them is what they have a passion for. So, if you don't have a passion for research, don't apply MD/PhD. Also, if you get accepted to a dual degree program, that means that someone else who wanted both of those degrees has been shut out of getting them from your school. Yes, most schools will allow you to change your mind and drop the second degree. But, if you decide to go to a school that has admitted you to a dual degree, especially the MD/PhD, you should look at it like a "gentleman's agreement": Sure, you can drop it, but there had better be a very compelling reason and you will be letting the school down.
 
if ytou drop out of the PhD say goodbye to a good dean's letter in your residnecy app.
 
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