Grad to Med transition

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Petypet

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First I want to preface by saying I have been a long time reader of these forums, but more importantly have spent the last several months reading posts (on and off) forums about the grad to med school transition. The insightful posts summarized bv QofQuimiica have been tremendously helpful but I have a specific question about my specific case.

I am a 3rd year biochemistry PhD student in a very good program. My "vitals"
3.6 Undergrad gpa BS chemistry, taken all the premed curriculum, already spent ~4 months prep for the mcat, 3.6 graduate gpa, 3 years graduate research experience, 3 years undergrad experience. I have had several shadowing experiences but minimal volunteer experience.

Basically I went to grad school because I procrastinated in my Jr year to take the mcat, shadow, and volunteer and now I ended up in a program that will give me a good degree but the job outlook in terms of enjoyment would be miserable. I am like I said a 3rd year student, about to take my candidacy examination, and with all honestly will probably pass with flying colors but I am afraid that it just commits me to another 2-3 years in this grad program. My heart is set on med school but it wasn't until the end of year 1 in that I realized that leaving the program is not a viable option if I really want to goto med school, so I've sucked it up but now need some advice from the non trads.

Now, here is where my situation is unique, or so I feel. My advisor is part of 3 divisions in the university and frankly he doesn't know much about either 1. biochemistry or 2. my division. He is a poor advisor and on top of that he has appointments in several universities (in/out of the USA) which makes communication very difficult, and further is considering moving back to his original country after my class graduates. How do I leave this program, or mimize my time so I can get where I want to be? Do i tell him, which I know he will take personally and probably refuse to write a good LoR (which in actuality he would be too lazy to write and I would have to anyway), or do I try and fail my candidacy exam so I can leave with a terminal masters. I am probably one of the top students in my class, and I think the latter would be pretty hard to do. I do need to take the MCAT, which I would do around Jan/Feb with the amount of time I need and have to aloquot to studying. But if I continue in this program it will be 4-5 years realistically before I can get into med school.

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First I want to preface by saying I have been a long time reader of these forums, but more importantly have spent the last several months reading posts (on and off) forums about the grad to med school transition. The insightful posts summarized bv QofQuimiica have been tremendously helpful but I have a specific question about my specific case.

I am a 3rd year biochemistry PhD student in a very good program. My "vitals"
3.6 Undergrad gpa BS chemistry, taken all the premed curriculum, already spent ~4 months prep for the mcat, 3.6 graduate gpa, 3 years graduate research experience, 3 years undergrad experience. I have had several shadowing experiences but minimal volunteer experience.

Basically I went to grad school because I procrastinated in my Jr year to take the mcat, shadow, and volunteer and now I ended up in a program that will give me a good degree but the job outlook in terms of enjoyment would be miserable. I am like I said a 3rd year student, about to take my candidacy examination, and with all honestly will probably pass with flying colors but I am afraid that it just commits me to another 2-3 years in this grad program. My heart is set on med school but it wasn't until the end of year 1 in that I realized that leaving the program is not a viable option if I really want to goto med school, so I've sucked it up but now need some advice from the non trads.

Now, here is where my situation is unique, or so I feel. My advisor is part of 3 divisions in the university and frankly he doesn't know much about either 1. biochemistry or 2. my division. He is a poor advisor and on top of that he has appointments in several universities (in/out of the USA) which makes communication very difficult, and further is considering moving back to his original country after my class graduates. How do I leave this program, or mimize my time so I can get where I want to be? Do i tell him, which I know he will take personally and probably refuse to write a good LoR (which in actuality he would be too lazy to write and I would have to anyway), or do I try and fail my candidacy exam so I can leave with a terminal masters. I am probably one of the top students in my class, and I think the latter would be pretty hard to do. I do need to take the MCAT, which I would do around Jan/Feb with the amount of time I need and have to aloquot to studying. But if I continue in this program it will be 4-5 years realistically before I can get into med school.


Why not take the masters degree? It will be years (5 like you said), before you can apply to medical school. That's 5 years of application cycles you're missing out on. You UG GPA looks good, if you score a decent MCAT, you should be in good shape. I am in similar shoes here in canada. I am also doing my grad studies but stopping at a masters. We don't have a terminal masters here. You start with an M.Sc and transition your way into PhD. Needless to say, I'm not transfering.
 
Thank you for the reply John. There is no "formal" masters program where I go. As like most top Universities a masters is kind of a "heres a degree thanks for trying" type of deal. So in order to get a masters it is because a student didn't have what it takes to sustain the course to get a phd. I understand the benefits of obtaining the PhD but to just get a masters is it really worth it? I am not sure if my situation with my advisor is grounds to leave the uni but I am certainly not getting the education I want nor do I think I deserve.

Thanks for the help
 
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Thank you for the reply John. There is no "formal" masters program where I go. As like most top Universities a masters is kind of a "heres a degree thanks for trying" type of deal. So in order to get a masters it is because a student didn't have what it takes to sustain the course to get a phd. I understand the benefits of obtaining the PhD but to just get a masters is it really worth it? I am not sure if my situation with my advisor is grounds to leave the uni but I am certainly not getting the education I want nor do I think I deserve.

Thanks for the help

I am more than empathetic with your situation. When I started in graduate school, I was in a terrible working environment with my supervisor. I left after 10 months and switched to a new laboratory. I'm quite happy now and I am looking to finish my degree this year. For me, I would be willing to stay a bit longer to publish a paper.

Only you would know the answer to whether or not you should stay. It seems to me that your goal is to become a doctor. If this is the case and your dream is to become a doctor, then in my opinion, it's best to stop with a masters degree. Your undergraduate GPA is quite competitive. If you have a decent MCAT and can get a publication from your masters, I think you will be in excellent shape for medical school. I would also recommend that you develop a good relation with your committee members and a few profs in your department/research area. This way if you feel you supervisor might not write you a good LOR, you'll have a backup.
 
I think you can try to transfer to MD/PhD in your university if possible or to other universities.
 
I am in the wrong department to transfer my PhD to their MD/PhD program. Further to transfer to another school would likely mean restarting the entire PhD program again since the PhD degree is research based not course work based.

I think my best route is to study hard for the mcat, and take that exam, then judge to whether I can gain admittance into an MD school. With the current economy the way it is, and the benefits I have as a grad student, I think it suits me better to stay in school and prep then to just leave now on an impulse. Whether or not I can get a masters degree I guess would depend on whether or not I can get the courage to talk to my professor.
 
Hello Petypet. It's rather interesting to read your story, since I'm in the similar position of being a third-year PhD student who wants to go to med school. Unfortunately I'm not quite as well-poised as you. I have a less competetive GPA (3.3), I have not taken the prereqs, and my field of study (astrophysics) has absolutely nothing to do with medicine. If I could quit right now and apply to med school, I would. However, I figure I can use my time in grad school as an opportunity to take undergrad classes for free, get in some volunteer time, and spend a good deal of time studying for the MCAT.

Good luck to both of us!
 
Just to keep this going, is it appropriate to contact the specific medical schools that I am interested in to tell them of my situation and ask advice? I have spent the last few months seriously deliberating my situation and there seems to be mixed reviews on whether or not quitting grad school (phd program) actually affects the change on admittance. Those who have gotten their phd say that it is not worth the time spent, after getting into an MD school, while others say leaving a school without a piece of paper is detrimental to ones application. I feel given my situation I can thoroughly explain my choice to 1. enter med school and 2. grad school are valid and responsible. I just don't know
 
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