I am graduating from undergrad this semester and am planning on applying to med school this June (Taking MCAT in May). I have been doing research for about a year now and I love it. My passion is immunology/virology/infectious diseases. Literally, I wish I had more free time so that I could re-read my immunology textbook and a virology text. I had always planned on going to med school with hopes of becoming an infectious disease specialist, but now research has me thinking that I would like to do research (and clinical work as well, maybe 50/50 or 80 research/20 clinical).
My question is, should I aim for the just the MD and do research with that, or go for the MD/PhD. I love the idea of getting formal training in an area such as virology (via a PhD) which could also we applied to research I want to do in the future, but done know if this program is for someone like me. I am pretty confused about this and also don't know if I would even be competitive for and MD/PhD, let alone just an MD.
I posted my stats in the what are my chances forum, but here they are again.
The first two years of college for me were not good. My gpa for each semester is:
Fall 08: 3.11
Spring 09: 3.28
Fall 09: 3.30
Spring 10: 3.20(A in orgo 2, B- in analytical chemistry, that was brutal)
Fall 10: 4.0
Spring 11: 4.0
Fall 11: 3.96 (22 credits)
I am almost positive I will get a 4.0 this semester since it is not too bad. Hopefully that will bring my overall up to around 3.63. If I had to estimate I would say that my bcpm gpa is around a 3.50.
For my EC I am a volunteer EMT with active riding experience for 1.5 years (about 6-12 hours a week for the first year)...I just recently took a break from doing this because I am too busy and can't afford the gas to get there.
I have 100+ hours of volunteering in the hospital and working as a tech in a different hospital (for about a year). (probably more like 250-300 hours of volunteer and work combined)
I have been doing research at a medical school since June and will continue with that even after I graduate.
I also have done 50 hours of shadowing a derm, and will be looking into more shadowing before I apply.
I studied for the MCAT last summer and was averaging 31/32 on the AAMCs but voided on test day because I was just having a terrible day and felt I could do better than my average if I retook anyway.
Can anyone give me any input as to which route to take (or any other input is appreciated)? Or opinions on if I even have a chance at an md/phd.
Thanks
My question is, should I aim for the just the MD and do research with that, or go for the MD/PhD. I love the idea of getting formal training in an area such as virology (via a PhD) which could also we applied to research I want to do in the future, but done know if this program is for someone like me. I am pretty confused about this and also don't know if I would even be competitive for and MD/PhD, let alone just an MD.
I posted my stats in the what are my chances forum, but here they are again.
The first two years of college for me were not good. My gpa for each semester is:
Fall 08: 3.11
Spring 09: 3.28
Fall 09: 3.30
Spring 10: 3.20(A in orgo 2, B- in analytical chemistry, that was brutal)
Fall 10: 4.0
Spring 11: 4.0
Fall 11: 3.96 (22 credits)
I am almost positive I will get a 4.0 this semester since it is not too bad. Hopefully that will bring my overall up to around 3.63. If I had to estimate I would say that my bcpm gpa is around a 3.50.
For my EC I am a volunteer EMT with active riding experience for 1.5 years (about 6-12 hours a week for the first year)...I just recently took a break from doing this because I am too busy and can't afford the gas to get there.
I have 100+ hours of volunteering in the hospital and working as a tech in a different hospital (for about a year). (probably more like 250-300 hours of volunteer and work combined)
I have been doing research at a medical school since June and will continue with that even after I graduate.
I also have done 50 hours of shadowing a derm, and will be looking into more shadowing before I apply.
I studied for the MCAT last summer and was averaging 31/32 on the AAMCs but voided on test day because I was just having a terrible day and felt I could do better than my average if I retook anyway.
Can anyone give me any input as to which route to take (or any other input is appreciated)? Or opinions on if I even have a chance at an md/phd.
Thanks