- Joined
- Jun 8, 2008
- Messages
- 208
- Reaction score
- 3
Hi everyone,
I am a MSTP student considering quitting the PhD and returning to clinical rotations and am hoping from advice or stories from anyone who underwent anything similar. I did my first two years of med school and did ok with a mix of H/HP, then started the PhD years. I'm in my 3rd year of PhD research (5th year MSTP overall) and just failed my qualifying exam. I have several publications, but no first author scientific paper yet; all of my publications thus far have been 2 review articles (1st author), 1 case report (1st author), and some middle author scientific papers. Failing the qualifying exam is extremely rare at my school and I feel like such a failure for not passing. There may be an option to re-do the written and oral portions of the exam, but that's not guaranteed and my advisor at this point feels that it will take too long for me to finish the PhD (another 2-3 years), so he thinks it would be best for me to return to med school. I've had some bad luck regarding advisors- my PI left the university so I had to switch labs during my second year and now (2.5 years into the PhD) I feel as though I'm finally getting my stride and making good progress towards the PhD, but it seems to be too little, too late regarding the qualifying exam. I'm incredibly disappointed and hoping I can appeal and re-do the exam to be allowed to continue and finish the PhD, but am facing the reality that I may need to return to 3rd year of med school instead.
I've searched the forums and have found examples of MSTP students who quit the PhD at the end of their 1st and 2nd year of research, but I haven't read anything about students who quit in later years of their PhD (3rd year or beyond). Do any of you know anyone who quit the PhD after 3 years of research and successfully returned to clinics and matched? I'm quite concerned that having such a long leave of absence from med school (3 years of research without a PhD) will look very bad on my residency applications. Although I have publications, I won't have a PhD or even a Masters so it will probably raise some red flags during interviews. My step 1 score is good but not outstanding, my preclinical grades are just ok, and now I have this big gap in my education with 3 years away from med school and nothing to show for it. I want to continue the PhD if I'm allowed, but I am likely going to be asked to leave since I didn't pass the qualifying exam. If I successfully appeal the committee's decision, I may be allowed to write-up for a Masters, and there's a small chance I could convince them to allow me to continue the PhD, but it's not guaranteed and seems unlikely at this point. This whole experience has been quite a blow to my self esteem.
Do you have any advice for how I should proceed or how I should address quitting the PhD on residency applications? I feel like such a failure and am embarrassed to tell my family that I didn't cut it, and concerned about how this may affect my residency chances.
Thanks so much for reading and I would greatly appreciate any advice or insight.
I am a MSTP student considering quitting the PhD and returning to clinical rotations and am hoping from advice or stories from anyone who underwent anything similar. I did my first two years of med school and did ok with a mix of H/HP, then started the PhD years. I'm in my 3rd year of PhD research (5th year MSTP overall) and just failed my qualifying exam. I have several publications, but no first author scientific paper yet; all of my publications thus far have been 2 review articles (1st author), 1 case report (1st author), and some middle author scientific papers. Failing the qualifying exam is extremely rare at my school and I feel like such a failure for not passing. There may be an option to re-do the written and oral portions of the exam, but that's not guaranteed and my advisor at this point feels that it will take too long for me to finish the PhD (another 2-3 years), so he thinks it would be best for me to return to med school. I've had some bad luck regarding advisors- my PI left the university so I had to switch labs during my second year and now (2.5 years into the PhD) I feel as though I'm finally getting my stride and making good progress towards the PhD, but it seems to be too little, too late regarding the qualifying exam. I'm incredibly disappointed and hoping I can appeal and re-do the exam to be allowed to continue and finish the PhD, but am facing the reality that I may need to return to 3rd year of med school instead.
I've searched the forums and have found examples of MSTP students who quit the PhD at the end of their 1st and 2nd year of research, but I haven't read anything about students who quit in later years of their PhD (3rd year or beyond). Do any of you know anyone who quit the PhD after 3 years of research and successfully returned to clinics and matched? I'm quite concerned that having such a long leave of absence from med school (3 years of research without a PhD) will look very bad on my residency applications. Although I have publications, I won't have a PhD or even a Masters so it will probably raise some red flags during interviews. My step 1 score is good but not outstanding, my preclinical grades are just ok, and now I have this big gap in my education with 3 years away from med school and nothing to show for it. I want to continue the PhD if I'm allowed, but I am likely going to be asked to leave since I didn't pass the qualifying exam. If I successfully appeal the committee's decision, I may be allowed to write-up for a Masters, and there's a small chance I could convince them to allow me to continue the PhD, but it's not guaranteed and seems unlikely at this point. This whole experience has been quite a blow to my self esteem.
Do you have any advice for how I should proceed or how I should address quitting the PhD on residency applications? I feel like such a failure and am embarrassed to tell my family that I didn't cut it, and concerned about how this may affect my residency chances.
Thanks so much for reading and I would greatly appreciate any advice or insight.