How hard is it to get into Academic Medicine from a lower-tier or DO School?

[flatearth22]

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Hello. I am applying to med schools this cycle and would like a career in Academic Medicine. I've done a lot of biology and chemistry research in UG and high school but with my GPA and MCAT score (3.6/32) there is a good chance I end up at a lower tier or DO school which doesn't emphasize research. I keep hearing time and time again that it doesn't matter where you go to med school if you want to do private practice or be a hospitalist but since I am not interested in those careers I am a bit apprehensive about being shutout/limited from Academic Medicine before I even begin medical school.

How hard is it to break into Academic Medicine with a lower-tier or DO pedigree? Thank you.

 

[Ombret]

We've had people from all kinds of med schools in our training program and their performance has been indistinguishable, proving that you can get a good education anywhere. Where you do your residency matters more for launching your academic career. Residency applicants from lower-tier MD or DO schools are also at a disadvantage for getting fancy residencies, but at least you have a couple of chances to break the cycle. If your eventual school has poor research opportunities, just try to tack some on with an outside experience. Bottom line, don't worry about it too much, do the same thing you were going to do anyway--just do your best.

 

[QofQuimica]

Hello. I am applying to med schools this cycle and would like a career in Academic Medicine. I've done a lot of biology and chemistry research in UG and high school but with my GPA and MCAT score (3.6/32) there is a good chance I end up at a lower tier or DO school which doesn't emphasize research. I keep hearing time and time again that it doesn't matter where you go to med school if you want to do private practice or be a hospitalist but since I am not interested in those careers I am a bit apprehensive about being shutout/limited from Academic Medicine before I even begin medical school.

How hard is it to break into Academic Medicine with a lower-tier or DO pedigree? Thank you.

I don't think it's "harder" in the sense of being at an enormous disadvantage because of the name of your school (although there may be some disadvantage). What *is* harder though is that you don't have all of the research-oriented resources in your back yard the way you would if you went to a highly research-oriented school. But there are ways around that; it just takes more initiative and planning on your part. So, let's say you do wind up at a non-research school. Here's what you do:

First, research fellowships for medical students are very plentiful. Pretty much every medical specialty organization offers them, as do various other institutions. So, during the summer between M1 and M2, you do an away research project at a research-oriented school and get funding via a med student research fellowship in that field. You have to apply for most of these programs in the late fall/early winter, so start looking for them sooner rather than later. In addition, obtaining one of these med student research fellowships has the added bonus of giving you an extra award to list on your CV.

Second, depending on how busy you are in med school, you may have some time during first year and/or second year to do some light clinical research on the side, like a case report or even a chart review. I wouldn't do anything though until after you take your first exam. If you do well on the exam and you feel like you had plenty of leftover free time, then you can approach some docs at your school and offer to write up a case report.

Third, pretty much any school in the country will allow you to take a fifth year to do research. Depending on the school, you may need to take a leave of absence, or they may have some other status for you while you're on your research year. But this is definitely something to ask about when you go on interviews. Just as there are summer research fellowships for med students, there are also year-long research fellowships for med students. These are highly competitive, and again, if you want to try for one, you need to prepare early. If you manage to get one, that will look *very* good on your CV.

Fourth, you have elective time during fourth year, at least some of which can probably be used for research. Again, this is something to ask about at interviews. Assuming that the school you attend would allow you to do a couple of elective months as a research away rotation, then you would have a similar scenario as you would for the summer between M1 and M2. In other words, you could try to get a second summer research-length fellowship. The actual timing of the research may not be exactly over the summer though, depending on your rotation and residency app schedule.

If you do all four of these things, your research credentials will be equal to if not better than many students who went to more research-oriented schools. You won't have the opportunities handed to you at a non-research school, but they're definitely available if you're willing to go out and get them. 🙂

 

[flatearth22]

I don't think it's "harder" in the sense of being at an enormous disadvantage because of the name of your school (although there may be some disadvantage). What *is* harder though is that you don't have all of the research-oriented resources in your back yard the way you would if you went to a highly research-oriented school. But there are ways around that; it just takes more initiative and planning on your part. So, let's say you do wind up at a non-research school. Here's what you do:

First, research fellowships for medical students are very plentiful. Pretty much every medical specialty organization offers them, as do various other institutions. So, during the summer between M1 and M2, you do an away research project at a research-oriented school and get funding via a med student research fellowship in that field. You have to apply for most of these programs in the late fall/early winter, so start looking for them sooner rather than later. In addition, obtaining one of these med student research fellowships has the added bonus of giving you an extra award to list on your CV.

Second, depending on how busy you are in med school, you may have some time during first year and/or second year to do some light clinical research on the side, like a case report or even a chart review. I wouldn't do anything though until after you take your first exam. If you do well on the exam and you feel like you had plenty of leftover free time, then you can approach some docs at your school and offer to write up a case report.

Third, pretty much any school in the country will allow you to take a fifth year to do research. Depending on the school, you may need to take a leave of absence, or they may have some other status for you while you're on your research year. But this is definitely something to ask about when you go on interviews. Just as there are summer research fellowships for med students, there are also year-long research fellowships for med students. These are highly competitive, and again, if you want to try for one, you need to prepare early. If you manage to get one, that will look *very* good on your CV.

Fourth, you have elective time during fourth year, at least some of which can probably be used for research. Again, this is something to ask about at interviews. Assuming that the school you attend would allow you to do a couple of elective months as a research away rotation, then you would have a similar scenario as you would for the summer between M1 and M2. In other words, you could try to get a second summer research-length fellowship. The actual timing of the research may not be exactly over the summer though, depending on your rotation and residency app schedule.

If you do all four of these things, your research credentials will be equal to if not better than many students who went to more research-oriented schools. You won't have the opportunities handed to you at a non-research school, but they're definitely available if you're willing to go out and get them. 🙂

Thank you!

 

[wholeheartedly]

There really are TONS of opportunities for fellowships and research experiences out there if you're willing to look for them. I've been looking into that a lot and have been pleasantly surprised by what I'm finding.

🙂

 

[Coclean]

Wait. The OP says he/she has a 3.6 GPA and 32 MCAT. From most information I have seen both in the MSAR and on this site it does not seem to indicate a low tier or DO school for acceptance especially with strong research and letters of rec. Maybe you wouldn't be in the running for a top 10 school....but many high quality research oriented schools would likely be interested, would they not? Is there something else in the app you think would prove a barrier?

I would really encourage the OP not to sell themselves short too early in the game. If you are applying this cycle then go with what you've got, but if you are applying next cycle you could boost the app by doing some excellent ECs and full time research.

 

[Neuronix]

As always, academics means different things to different people. There are plenty of 80-100% clinical academic jobs out there (is this the majority?) called "clinician-educator" tracks or whatever (read: non-tenure). Are you asking about these jobs, because generally they are very easy to get. Or are you asking about a majority research career? That's an entirely different ball of wax.

There really are TONS of opportunities for fellowships and research experiences out there if you're willing to look for them. I've been looking into that a lot and have been pleasantly surprised by what I'm finding.

I agree with this. It's not hard to get academic fellowships in all kinds of areas. If you're asking about academic retinal surgery or pediatric surgery--that is hard and you need every advantage. If you're asking about low paying medicine or pediatrics sub-specialties, no problem. What people don't realize is that many academic departments in high paying private practice specialties like radiology are begging for physicians to come to academics. What sane person would take the massive pay cut (2-3 FOLD difference) to go to academics in that case? In that case it doesn't matter what medical school you graduated from. The fellowships that don't increase your salary much have zero demand and take many from community programs.

I am biased towards lower tier MD programs, however. The stated goal of osteopathic schools is typically to produce primary care physicians. Allopathic medical schools and residencies are generally more open towards academic/research careers and typically have more research opportunities.