Doris Duke/CRTP/HHMI/Sarnoff Thread

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I'm going to guess that none of the current Doris Duke fellows don't actively check this thread or their SDN accounts. I'll try to ask my question anyways; I was checking the Doris Duke fellowship application and it states for the personal statement to address research interests. I'm still up in the air about my future medical specialty etc., so is it required to address a specific topic or would a broad statement be fine. Thanks to anybody who might be able to provide some insight!
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I think the most successful applications are those that address specific interests. For example, I wrote on my application that I was interested in women's health, oncology and survivorship research. I also think that it is very helpful to your application to try and identify a mentor at the different sites even if it is not required.
 
YanCanCook said:
I'm going to guess that none of the current Doris Duke fellows don't actively check this thread or their SDN accounts. I'll try to ask my question anyways; I was checking the Doris Duke fellowship application and it states for the personal statement to address research interests. I'm still up in the air about my future medical specialty etc., so is it required to address a specific topic or would a broad statement be fine. Thanks to anybody who might be able to provide some insight!
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Good to see this thread rolling again.

IMO, you should really try to select a broad topic like "oncology" or "cardiovascular" and maybe just a couple of examples such as "improving screening methods for (insert cancer)." I don't think you need to delineate it much more than that.

That was my approach and got me into HHMI/DD/CRTP. If you're very open, I would think greatly on applying to CRTP and HHMI-NIH for the freedom of choosing a lab/project after arriving at the program. Good luck!
 
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RxnMan said:
From a poster:
I can definitively answer questions about the NIH-CRTP, and I remember some things about HHMI and other programs.

I heard that the HHMI program gets ~200 applications a year for the 42 seats in their program. I don't know how many applicants are invited to interview there. I know the NIH-CRTP program received 142 or so apps last year, 60 were invited to interview, and 30 ended up in the program. NIH-CRTP pays for you to interview, so there's very little cost to you beyond the effort of putting together an app. Many people from my NIH-CRTP interview also were going to interview at Cloisters.

I didn't have to write a research proposal prior to starting at the NIH-CRTP, and I don't think you have to for Cloisters. (but I wrote one after I started in my lab!) For the HHMI Fellows program, you need to put together a proposal before you start at your proposed PI's. I am not sure about the other programs.

Check the FAQ for links to the different year-out programs, which should have updated info for this year's applicants.
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Just to fill in some info: HHMI interviews ~80 for the 42 spots.
 
What an awesome thread:cool:. I am an MSIII and have also decided to take a year off between third and fourth year. I emailed my school's dean yesterday explaining my stats and my interest in either ophtho or radiology as a career and how I think taking a year off for research will help me in my application to either of those programs. I have already done an ophtho rotation and will have radiology in March so I will decide. He replied back saying that I should email the residency directors of ophtho and radiology at my school to see what they think and then try to meet with him if I have any questions. But from what I understand I have to meet with him anyway to get a letter from him for these applications. I am pretty sure the residency directors will say that a research year is actually a good idea. I don't think taking a year off for research can hurt anybody's application.

Now here is my question. I am thinking about applying to HHMI, NIH and DD programs. I know that these programs have deadlines in early January. I was planning to work on and finish the applications during winter break as I am currently on surgery and don't have a lot of time. I was wondering what parts of the applications cannot wait until winter break which for me starts on Dec. 19?

Should I notify the people who will write me letters. I was hoping to be able to meet with my dean ASAP but he suggested meeting with the residency directors first. I will send him another email next Friday even if I haven't met with the directors to request for a meeting and discuss a possible leave of absence.

Please let me know if my plan is sound. I do not want to totally miss some important step in any of these applications and then be upset with myself. lol... :laugh:
 
Futuredoc1364 said:
...Now here is my question. I am thinking about applying to HHMI, NIH and DD programs. I know that these programs have deadlines in early January. I was planning to work on and finish the applications during winter break as I am currently on surgery and don't have a lot of time. I was wondering what parts of the applications cannot wait until winter break which for me starts on Dec. 19?...
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Most important thing now is to letter writers. I generally give my writers 6-8 weeks notice. That gives them a month free before I hammer them with repeat requests!

The rest can wait until your break, I believe. You need to check due dates. In any case, you might want to start sooner, that way you can have some other people - docs you respect, folks on ADCOMs - who read these sorts of essays look over you app and see if they can help you.
 
I am currently at a DD program. If any of you have questions let me know and I will try to answer them. I have been really busy as of late, but will try to answer them.
 
Hello, applying for the upcoming CRTP. I'm an osteopathic student hoping that that factor alone won't hold me back! Any former CRTP fellows know if there were DO's in their program?
 
There's a DO student (the first for the program) in CRTP this year. Good luck!
 
nomtreal456 said:
Hello, applying for the upcoming CRTP. I'm an osteopathic student hoping that that factor alone won't hold me back! Any former CRTP fellows know if there were DO's in their program?
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Shouldn't be an issue. There was a DO student in the Cloister's program last year. If you are qualified, you are qualified.
 
Futuredoc1364 said:
What an awesome thread:cool:. I am an MSIII and have also decided to take a year off between third and fourth year. I emailed my school's dean yesterday explaining my stats and my interest in either ophtho or radiology as a career and how I think taking a year off for research will help me in my application to either of those programs. I have already done an ophtho rotation and will have radiology in March so I will decide. He replied back saying that I should email the residency directors of ophtho and radiology at my school to see what they think and then try to meet with him if I have any questions. But from what I understand I have to meet with him anyway to get a letter from him for these applications. I am pretty sure the residency directors will say that a research year is actually a good idea. I don't think taking a year off for research can hurt anybody's application.

Now here is my question. I am thinking about applying to HHMI, NIH and DD programs. I know that these programs have deadlines in early January. I was planning to work on and finish the applications during winter break as I am currently on surgery and don't have a lot of time. I was wondering what parts of the applications cannot wait until winter break which for me starts on Dec. 19?

Should I notify the people who will write me letters. I was hoping to be able to meet with my dean ASAP but he suggested meeting with the residency directors first. I will send him another email next Friday even if I haven't met with the directors to request for a meeting and discuss a possible leave of absence.

Please let me know if my plan is sound. I do not want to totally miss some important step in any of these applications and then be upset with myself. lol... :laugh:
Click to expand...

A year off for research won't hurt your residency application, but I don't know if that's a great reason to do it. As some on this thread have said: if your numbers aren't there, these programs won't make them any better. If you were going to match anyway, these programs may help you match at a more prestigious/research-oriented institution, but that doesn't help you much if you're not interested in research in the first place.

However, if you're definitely interested in research and you're sure that this is what you want to do, I highly recommend that you get those requests for LOR right away. The rest of the application is an essay and basic other information so they can be done quicker. I also recommend setting up a meeting with your dean for now and trying to talk to the residency directors in the interim. You've got a lot of things to do and not a heck of a lot of time to do them. Good luck!
 
HarveyCushing said:
Shouldn't be an issue. There was a DO student in the Cloister's program last year. If you are qualified, you are qualified.
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Yeah, and he transferred to a top 40 M.D. school during the program. There's usually a DO or 2 in the Cloister. It sometimes helps your application to be from a less research-intensive school.
 
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nomtreal456 said:
Hello, applying for the upcoming CRTP. I'm an osteopathic student hoping that that factor alone won't hold me back! Any former CRTP fellows know if there were DO's in their program?
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There's a current fellow who's the first DO in the program. He's a smart guy, and he's doing some great work. I've never heard of DO vs MD being any problem for the NIH-CRTP or any of the other programs. I met a few DOs during the CIST forum (the annual research year-out nat'l meeting).
 
does anyone have any numbers for total applicants and total spots in the hhmi med fellows program? i went to the info session at my school but the two students leading it really did not have a clear answer on this. they that it was ~1/3 overall.
 
Gozar said:
does anyone have any numbers for total applicants and total spots in the hhmi med fellows program? i went to the info session at my school but the two students leading it really did not have a clear answer on this. they that it was ~1/3 overall.
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It's more like 1/4th to 1/5th. I don't have the exact numbers but the med fellows program is the most competitive of the year off programs.
 
application submitted! anyone else?

what kind of timeline should we expect to hear anything (from current fellows) ?

thanks!:p
 
~2 weeks after the LOR due date (Late Jan) they come back with interview offers (~Early Feb). Then interviews are 3 or 4 weeks after that (~Early March). Decisions and waitlist movement is a month later.
 
How about Doris Duke? LORs were due the same day as the application (January 6th). The deadline in general was moved up 9 days this year (from Jaunary 15th). I wonder if the ~2 wk turnaround for interview offers will still hold true, or if they will be a month from now.
 
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I just pressed submit. I only applied to Cloister. All the best to everyone!:)

Lys
 
I just submitted my application for the med fellows program. Do you think there is any lesser chance of getting into the med fellows program if I chose not to apply for the cloister program in addition to the med fellow program? The reason for this is I already have a mentor and institution for a possible project.
 
FuNutridoc said:
I just submitted my application for the med fellows program. Do you think there is any lesser chance of getting into the med fellows program if I chose not to apply for the cloister program in addition to the med fellow program? The reason for this is I already have a mentor and institution for a possible project.
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No. They don't care.
 
you could really feel their server grind to a halt in the last few minutes there. everything submitted with 5 minutes to spare.
 
does anyone know the deal with this HHMI/IVY fellows program.?..
 
HHMI-Ivy is med fellows with oncology specific research. Looks like only a handful of proposals (<5) get funded.
 
anyone know the interview dates for the various DD schools + CRTP? especially if any of them are over weekends?

i've heard back from one DD school, plus another fellowship program, and it's already causing a headache in terms of scheduling since i don't want to take huge chunks out of clerkship time. trying to figure out whether i should decline one interview offer or not...

thanks!
 
has anyone heard back from any programs this year? if so, which ones? also, do they usually sent interview requests all at once or in batches?
 
Doctor Zoidberg said:
has anyone heard back from any programs this year? if so, which ones? also, do they usually sent interview requests all at once or in batches?
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The CRTP just finished collecting apps a week ago. Those apps will be sent out to various CC folks who will decide who to interview. After those recs are all back, then interview offers go out all at once.
 
let's start a running list for interview dates for the fellowship programs- please update if you hear anything. (note: i didn't apply to all of these programs, just putting them up here in case anyone else did.)

DD:
columbia- ?
harvard- ?
iowa- feb 18-29, feb 25-26, mar 4-5 (sent out jan 28)
mt. sinai- ?
ucsf- none? i think the supplemental app is a substitute..
upenn- mar 10 (per website)
unc- ? (international only, per website)
upitt- ?
utsw- ? ("Limited travel funds may be available for interviews")
yale- ? ("Interviews will be conducted in Feb after all applications are received")


NIH-CRTP: ?

Cloisters: ?

HHMI: ?

Fogarty: mar 1-2 (sent out jan 29)

Sarnoff:
 
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Based on last year, looks like 1 more week until the cloister interview invites go out via email!:cool:
 
jm110 said:
DD:
columbia- ?
harvard- ?
iowa- feb 18-29, feb 25-26, mar 4-5 (sent out jan 28)
mt. sinai- ?
ucsf- none? i think the supplemental app is a substitute..
upenn- mar 10 (per website)
unc- ? (international only, per website)
upitt- ?
utsw- ? ("Limited travel funds may be available for interviews")
yale- ? ("Interviews will be conducted in Feb after all applications are received")


NIH-CRTP: CRTP Interview Weekend-Sunday, March 7, 2010 (from 5:30-8:00pm at the Cloisters) and Monday, March 8, 2010 (all day)

Cloisters: ?

HHMI: ?

Fogarty: mar 1-2 (sent out jan 29)

Sarnoff:
Click to expand...
Updated with dates for this year. Good luck to this year's applicants.
 
Originally Posted by jm110
DD:
columbia- ?
harvard- ?
iowa- feb 18-29, feb 25-26, mar 4-5 (sent out jan 28)
mt. sinai- ?
ucsf- none? i think the supplemental app is a substitute..
upenn- mar 10 (per website)
unc- ? (international only, per website)
upitt- ?
utsw- ? ("Limited travel funds may be available for interviews")
yale- ? ("Interviews will be conducted in Feb after all applications are received")


NIH-CRTP: CRTP Interview Weekend-Sunday, March 7, 2010 (from 5:30-8:00pm at the Cloisters) and Monday, March 8, 2010 (all day)

Cloisters: March 4-5 & March 11-12

HHMI: ?

Fogarty: mar 1-2 (sent out jan 29)

Sarnoff: February 26-27
 
Does UTSW even interview for DD? It doesn't say they do on their website.
 
RxnMan said:
The CRTP just finished collecting apps a week ago. Those apps will be sent out to various CC folks who will decide who to interview. After those recs are all back, then interview offers go out all at once.
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Does CRTP decide to interview based on sort of a "pre-match," ie depending on whether mentors in the fields of interest that you indicated on the app are interested in interviewing you? or do they select interviewees based on overall strength of application, and help you match with a mentor during the actual interviews/after you're accepted?
 
When you say 'sent out', does that mean this program has already emailed interviewees?

sbdoc8212 said:
Originally Posted by jm110
DD:
columbia- ?
harvard- ?
iowa- feb 18-29, feb 25-26, mar 4-5 (sent out jan 28)
mt. sinai- ?
ucsf- none? i think the supplemental app is a substitute..
upenn- mar 10 (per website)
unc- ? (international only, per website)
upitt- ?
utsw- ? ("Limited travel funds may be available for interviews")
yale- ? ("Interviews will be conducted in Feb after all applications are received")


NIH-CRTP: CRTP Interview Weekend-Sunday, March 7, 2010 (from 5:30-8:00pm at the Cloisters) and Monday, March 8, 2010 (all day)

Cloisters: March 4-5 & March 11-12

HHMI: ?

Fogarty: mar 1-2 (sent out jan 29)

Sarnoff: February 26-27
Click to expand...
 
Looking at the posts, looks like next week for the NIH interview invites. Good luck all. I'm applying to Cloisters/CRTP, look forward to reading/contributing to the forum!
 
jm110 said:
Does CRTP decide to interview based on sort of a "pre-match," ie depending on whether mentors in the fields of interest that you indicated on the app are interested in interviewing you? or do they select interviewees based on overall strength of application, and help you match with a mentor during the actual interviews/after you're accepted?
Click to expand...

Interviewees are selected based on the overall strength of their application - the interviewers are a pre-selected group and by no means represent all the potential mentors. There's no attempt to match interviewers with your area of interest (though there may be a rough attempt to match them with your previous research history...so for example, I did angiogenesis research in the past and 2/3 of my interviewers were heme/onc guys.). That said, in terms of selecting people for the fellowship (post-interview) I think some thought does go into ensuring there's a mix of specialties...that everyone isn't interested in the exact same area.

You don't select a mentor until the first couple of weeks after you arrive for the fellowship, although some people (maybe 25% max) line up mentors after being accepted, prior to starting the fellowship. This really isn't necessary in 99% of cases.

We got told that CRTP had the most applications ever this year (~140 I think for 30 spots...and they interview about 50%), so good luck!
 
any other interview invite updates?
 
No word for me yet..good luck everyone.
 
Just got an interview invite for Sarnoff....anyone else?

Does anyone have any advice for this particular interview?
 
triniman said:
Just got an interview invite for Sarnoff....anyone else?

Does anyone have any advice for this particular interview?
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also received a Sarnoff invite. Super excited...
 
Has anyone heard back from CRTP? Someone mentioned they would send out interview invitations this week... Nervous as this program is my favorite...
 
No word from the NIH yet for me. Hoping they come out this evening.
 
Wondering if they have been put on hold with all the snow issues in DC...
 
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