Does Major Matter for MD/PhD?

[123med321]

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I know that 99.99% of the time, MD/PhD acceptances go to science majors, but within the sciences does it matter? e.g. are majors like biology, environmental engineering, botany, civil engineering, etc. looked down upon (or not even accepted)? just wondering.

 

[Shifty B]

Your major matters, but only to a degree. If you did engineering and can explain how that led you to want to pursue an MD/PhD doing biomedical engineering research, then no problem. Probably also not a problem if your experiences led you to choose neurosciences or whatever.

The only time I expect it would be a real problem is if you did english or something and couldn't convincingly explain how you got from that to wanting to do an MD/PhD program. Even then, if you had a good reason and enough research experience to justify your decision, probably doesn't matter.

 

[24thGrade]

I wouldn't say the major is much of a limitation. It just tends to go hand and hand with the ammount of research people have done.

If you're not in engineering or in one of the natural sciences, odds are you
1. have not had a signficant basic science research experience
2. are not well prepared to begin such PhD
3. are not convincing that you want to pursue medical research. THESE are important things.

The perceived rigor of your major is likely important as well. ex. Most people in science are not going to take a business degree from most places seriously. In contrast, I know that there are quite a few math majors in my mstp.

I'm sure there are cases of people who were majoring in (insert about anything here)... discovered bio, chem, biochem etc in their final years and continued on to take a few summer classes and do research for a year or so and then went on to an MD-PhD program.

If you're asking about yourself, you should provide us with some more details about your background and we can give you more specific advice.

 

[indya]

I know of someone who had gotten in with a plant biology degree and only plant biology research. anything is possible.

also, I have heard of people getting in without a degree in science at all.

 

[gbwillner]

No, major does not matter. At all.

 

[xanthines]

Agree with gbwillner.

Your major only matters in the sense that it can help your science GPA, get you letters of rec, or provide you with research opportunities. As long as your GPA/MCAT are competitive, your research experience is significant (whether undergrad or 1 or more years off post-grad), and you're not a tool during interviews, you'll be OK.

Yes, I majored in history and history only. No double majoring. 🙂

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