Getting into best MD/PhD programs

[Seldon]

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I am a 19 year old jewish male studying biochemistry at penn state. I am an honors student and I am enrolled in an Integrated undergraduate/graduate program, which will allow me to earn a masters degree at the same time I earn my BS. I have a 3.97 cGPA and a 4.00 sGPA and I have a considerable number of hours working in a molecular biology lab on gene regulation. I am also spending this summer working at a cancer research lab at the Mayo clinic.

What else must I do to make myself competitive for MD/PhD programs?

 

[VitaminVater]

Great job on the GPA, keep it up!

I would say one thing you should strive for is to present your research work (whether oral or poster presentations) at (preferably) regional or national conferences.
Being able to speak about your work is a great skill, and presenting at conferences is a great way to network and practice those skills before interviews.

 

[Seldon]

Thanks for the advice! I will be presenting a poster at Mayo on my work at the end of the summer, so I guess that's a good start.

 

[Fencer]

You also must ace the MCAT, and be humble when you interview. You have seem to have a good chance for "best MSTPs", but what you must realize is that it isn't the program but you and PhD advisor what would determine "best MSTP" during this stage of your training.

 

[Seldon]

Fencer, thank you for the advice.

 

[strangeglove]

Why is your religion relevant?

 

[Seldon]

I thought that it was pertinent to give as much detail about me as possible. I do not know all of the ins and outs of admission and what may be significant, so I disclosed my religion.

 

[Fencer]

it is not considered at all...

 

[Jabeno]

Get some clinical experience. If you go into MD/PhD interviews with great research but no clinical experience it will be hard to justify why you want to do MD/PhD vs just a PhD.

Also, unless it's really, really important to you and you spend a lot of your time involved in it, don't mention your religion.

 

[gbwillner]

I would only mention your religion if you were specifically applying to an institution where it would be relevant, let's say Einstein in NYC (it is affiliated with Yeshiva University). Otherwise, at best it is a neutral statement.

 

[strangeglove]

Hopefully one's religion wouldn't matter at Einstein, either. I'm sure Albert would agree.

 

[Seldon]

I only mentioned my religion in the interest of full disclosure. It is not a big part of my life.

Thank you everyone for the advice and help. I really appreciate it.