Canadian Medical Graduate - Looking at How Competitive I am for Top Pathology Programs for Research

[pathologythrowaway135]

I am a Canadian MD/PhD student MSI3 who is interested in applying to academic pathology programs with a specific research focus. Meaning that I am looking for a pathology program with an excellent name-brand recognition in research with a strong pathology clinical training program.

Background wise, I finished my non-pathology PhD in 3 years, with a first author publication that are in the mid-low impact factor range (4-5), one top first author cancer publication (11-13) and one co-first top chemistry publication (10-11). Also I have a few co-authored publications that range in the mid-low impact factor range. I have four first author papers I am writing at the moment to round out my PhD work, two of which will go to a top therapeutics journal. I also initiated a project for COVID which the first paper (co-author) will go to a Nature sub-journal (i.e. Nature XX) and plan to send the second paper as a co-first author to the same journal.

In terms of my other accomplishments, I have a series of drugs that I developed in my PhD that are slated to begin clinical trials next year at my hospital, with a company with financial backing that is sponsoring the clinical trials. On both patents, I am the highest percentage holder, even higher than my PhD supervisor.

After my PhD, I started pathology research in bioinformatics with a former collaborator (now supervisor), and have already co-authored a paper in a top pathology journal (14-18), contributing bioinformatics data. I am also part of a team re-vamping one of the residency programs as it nearly missed accreditation, contributing my expertise from my PhD. I also do consulting work for a biotech company on the side (~5 hours a week). I was awarded multiple fellowships during my PhD for research, beyond the typical F31 (I think?) predoctoral fellowship-equivalent in my country. Finally, (I guess it might matter for the university, less so for the program), I wrote and was awarded a major grant for my lab to continue to fund my project after I left.

My university is not allowing out of country electives this year. Inter-Canadian electives are not allowed until September and there's talk that Omicron might shut that down also, depending on how bad the next wave might be. I will not be able to pursue American electives in my MSI4 year because of these restrictions.

My question is

1. What is my competitiveness for pathology residencies that have a very strong research focus? I am interested in pursuing the path of a physician scientist.
2. How can I improve my application even further? I have been studying for the STEP 1 and STEP 2 exams with the intention of taking both in June before my MSI4 year (I did not consider American residencies until starting MSI3, hence no STEP 1). I know I need to aim for a score of about 240-250 to be competitive for STEP 2 as STEP 1 is turning to a P/F score.

I have no considerations on where I live. I am flexible in moving anywhere for training as long as the institution is strong for research and pathology. I am looking at the top programs (e.g. MGH, BWH, UCSF, UChicago, UPenn, Mayo) but I truly do not know how competitive I am or whether I should consider not applying given the issues with my lack of potential electives in the States. I appreciate any and all advice. Thank you!

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[deleted314957]

Doesn’t Canada have anything?

 

[gbwillner]

1. How competitive you are highly depends on your presentation skills in communicating your work and achievements. Any MD/PhD applicant will be taken seriously at a research-heavy institution.
2. When you said "I developed" drugs, this sounds pretty narcissistic, especially since you did your PhD in just 3 years and also claimed responsibility for several grants, etc. This raises all sorts of red flags to me. Tone down the rhetoric. If I thought you were lying or unreasonably exaggerating your credentials I would put a "hard pass" on you. It's good enough that you worked on interesting projects that bore potential commercial applications.
3. Bioinformatics is very hot right now. Is this what you plan on pursuing?
4. No one gives a crap about US electives, provided that pathology in the states and Canada are the same (I assume they are).
5. Add WashU and Johns Hopkins to your list.
6. Take the Steps ASAP and don't worry too much about the score. You are not competing with the rank and file applicants.

 

[pathologythrowaway135]

1. How competitive you are highly depends on your presentation skills in communicating your work and achievements. Any MD/PhD applicant will be taken seriously at a research-heavy institution.
2. When you said "I developed" drugs, this sounds pretty narcissistic, especially since you did your PhD in just 3 years and also claimed responsibility for several grants, etc. This raises all sorts of red flags to me. Tone down the rhetoric. If I thought you were lying or unreasonably exaggerating your credentials I would put a "hard pass" on you. It's good enough that you worked on interesting projects that bore potential commercial applications.
3. Bioinformatics is very hot right now. Is this what you plan on pursuing?
4. No one gives a crap about US electives, provided that pathology in the states and Canada are the same (I assume they are).
5. Add WashU and Johns Hopkins to your list.
6. Take the Steps ASAP and don't worry too much about the score. You are not competing with the rank and file applicants.

I didn't mean to be arrogant. When I said developed, I meant that I synthesized each drug candidate myself and tested them in cell and animal models. All of these candidates were novel chemical entities that I designed based on a basic scaffold and made in the lab, not contracted out or repurposed for another application. I have a BSc and MSc in chemistry.

I plan to pursue bioinformatics during clinical residency as it complements histopathological work well and easier to do with clinical workload. I plan to return to the bench top during a postdoc.

Thanks for the advice.