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Ok, so I briefly searched the forums and found some links for doing your PhD after starting an MD program, but what about the other way around?
I seriously considered doing an MD back in undergrad a few times, but I received some bad advice from my adviser who told me an MD was out of the question with anything less than a 3.8... since I was doing ChemE, I knew that the odds of my graduating with that GPA were low (I finished with a 3.6). I took her advice, and didn't think too much about the MD, until my junior year when folks in my class were applying to schools and getting in with lower GPAs. But, by that point, I was on the PhD-bound track, and kinda pushed the thought aside again. I'm working on my PhD in Bioengineering now, I have about a year left, and I've been playing with the MD idea again now, but more from a scientific standpoint. I found that the classes that I took as a graduate student that I most enjoyed were the clinical based ones. And my projects have been slowly evolving towards a clinical approach, which I really enjoy.
So, my questions is... is it worth pursuing at this point? What would I have to make up to get into a decent program? Class-wise, I am short by Organic Chem II, and since its been a LONG time since I've taken the other courses, how much is that going to screw me up on the MCAT? Will my grad-level bio courses (mostly taught through the med school grad program here, and no, they weren't grade-inflated) count towards prereqs?
Finally, I've been going to my husband's med school MD/PhD orientation events this week, and a few people do know that I have been considering the MD route after graduation. I was told that it might be possible to get NIH or Howard Hughes funding for medical school, since my interest in medical school is to benefit me as a medical scientific researcher. Has anyone heard about anything like this? Or do you know where I could go for info? I do know that my school strongly discourages FINISHING your PhD before getting the MD in order to get into the MD/PhD program (in fact, there is a student in my husband's class who got into MD/PhD program while she was in her 4th year of her PhD - entering thesis year. She left her PhD for 2 years to start Med school, and it will therefore take her longer to finish her PhD, but...thats the way it works here, I guess). But is there outside funding available for those who want to pursue the physician-scientist route after starting down the scientist route?
Sorry for the long post! Thanks for any insight you might be able to offer 🙂
I seriously considered doing an MD back in undergrad a few times, but I received some bad advice from my adviser who told me an MD was out of the question with anything less than a 3.8... since I was doing ChemE, I knew that the odds of my graduating with that GPA were low (I finished with a 3.6). I took her advice, and didn't think too much about the MD, until my junior year when folks in my class were applying to schools and getting in with lower GPAs. But, by that point, I was on the PhD-bound track, and kinda pushed the thought aside again. I'm working on my PhD in Bioengineering now, I have about a year left, and I've been playing with the MD idea again now, but more from a scientific standpoint. I found that the classes that I took as a graduate student that I most enjoyed were the clinical based ones. And my projects have been slowly evolving towards a clinical approach, which I really enjoy.
So, my questions is... is it worth pursuing at this point? What would I have to make up to get into a decent program? Class-wise, I am short by Organic Chem II, and since its been a LONG time since I've taken the other courses, how much is that going to screw me up on the MCAT? Will my grad-level bio courses (mostly taught through the med school grad program here, and no, they weren't grade-inflated) count towards prereqs?
Finally, I've been going to my husband's med school MD/PhD orientation events this week, and a few people do know that I have been considering the MD route after graduation. I was told that it might be possible to get NIH or Howard Hughes funding for medical school, since my interest in medical school is to benefit me as a medical scientific researcher. Has anyone heard about anything like this? Or do you know where I could go for info? I do know that my school strongly discourages FINISHING your PhD before getting the MD in order to get into the MD/PhD program (in fact, there is a student in my husband's class who got into MD/PhD program while she was in her 4th year of her PhD - entering thesis year. She left her PhD for 2 years to start Med school, and it will therefore take her longer to finish her PhD, but...thats the way it works here, I guess). But is there outside funding available for those who want to pursue the physician-scientist route after starting down the scientist route?
Sorry for the long post! Thanks for any insight you might be able to offer 🙂