Just got accepted...Now what? lol

[DoubleDoc707]

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Just got my first Md/Phd acceptance!

Finally, I can let out a sigh of relief. But I can't help but think...Now what?

Please don't say relax 😀, or drink till you black out (those are standard procedure). I am talking serious.

Suggestions for grants or other things would be great!

 

[agp4]

For starters, congratulations!!!

Boy, you're going to hate my answer, I think you should enjoy the next few months and maybe prepare for your move to whatever city you're headed off to. Grants aren't going to be an issue until you finish your first few years of medical school and get started in the lab, and there's no reason to prepare for medical school - they'll teach you what you need to know.

So, this is a rare moment to sit on your laurels and enjoy your last few months before a long and challenging training period!

 

[Fencer]

Having a mental break is always important. However, if you really want to do something and surprise your PD, then: download the NIH biosketch for F30/F31 awards and start working on filling in the information and work on your personal statement...

 

[Kira]

Honestly, just relax and enjoy it. Realize that you're getting yourself into a very intense training program. I'm now half-way done with my first year of MSTP training, and it's been intense. While my med peers get to enjoy their winter breaks, spring breaks, and summer breaks, I am resigned to the fact that the last real summer of my life was the one before I received my MSTP acceptance. My summers are now devoted to research, my school breaks are devoted to completing additional coursework due to the accelerated MSTP curriculum at my school. Enjoy this victory in your life and the time you have left before you just on the medical wagon for the rest of your life 🙂

But if you really think that you are attending the school you got accepted to, start researching faculty. This is something I didn't do, and I was poorly prepared for faculty meetings during second look and for picking my first summer lab rotation. Start reading JAMA. Review your basic sciences (my first rotation was in gene therapy... what I would give to go back and review basic genetics before getting myself into that!). Don't worry about med school yet... it's just brute force memorizing.

Congratulations!!!!!

 

[uniqenam]

So, somewhat on this topic...how do you decide what school you want to attend? It seems like every school has positives and negatives, and it's hard to know if the same things I'm interested in now are going to be what I'm interested in ~5 years down the road. Any advice from current MD/PhD students?

 

[debateg]

For first question, congrats. I'm a graduating MD/PhD and I regret working that first summer on science. Go have fun. It will be one of the last times in your life when you have no obligations. Working on a grant is a waste of time; you don't have any preliminary data, you probably don't have a solid mentor, you won't be working on it for two years, and filling out the face page takes like an hour at most. Don't study for med school. You will have plenty of time to do that later.

With regards to choosing a program, I think there are three things to consider

1) Does the medical school and graduate school "feel" right? Are these people you can see as your future peers? Do they seem fun? If you left the program thinking that everyone you met was a jerk or simply just got a blah feel, it's probably not right for you. If you can, ask around quietly about people who dropped out of the program. Some programs have severe attrition rates which may shine light on hidden problems.

2) Are there a plethora of quality mentors to choose from in yours and related fields. I think a lot of people fall into the trap of identifying one mentor and choosing a school because of that. That is foolish. Mentors move. Their labs fill up. Good scientists make terrible mentors. There are (often) unforeseen personality conflicts. Your interests change. Go to a place that has a lot to offer. Remember, you do not take your PhD project with you once you graduate, so you are there to learn to be a scientist. Your project is secondary to the mentorship you receive.

3) What is the location like? This is far more important than people make it out to be. You start the program at 21. You finish at 30. A lot in life can happen during that time personally. You may start single and finish married with two kids. Think about the dating possibilities in the city. If you're not interested in that, remember that the city has to offer you what you love doing. If your passion is climbing mountains, then Houston is not going to be a good fit no matter how good the program. Of course, if your passion is WoW, you can go anywhere...

Good luck.

 

[uniqenam]

For first question, congrats. I'm a graduating MD/PhD and I regret working that first summer on science. Go have fun. It will be one of the last times in your life when you have no obligations. Working on a grant is a waste of time; you don't have any preliminary data, you probably don't have a solid mentor, you won't be working on it for two years, and filling out the face page takes like an hour at most. Don't study for med school. You will have plenty of time to do that later.

Thanks for all the info; that's pretty much what I figured the answer would be; I guess I was just hoping you'd have the "silver bullet" of decision-making processes! 🙂 It's just such a huge, hard decision to figure out where to spend the next 8+ years of one's life, and I think by nature MD/PhDs are somewhat indecisive anyway (hence the dual degree), or maybe that's just me!

 

[byaaaaaaah23]

On a related note, do MSTP applicants have to apply for financial aid (ie FAFSA)? And what about the school-specific form? For example UMass med school still wants the CSS Profile and there's another one called the Need Access form; do we need to fill these out?