MD drop-out, MSTP applicant with two-body problem

[SwissMs]

**Edit: I'm using "two-body problem" pretty loosely. Husband is not in academia. He's just another person with a job and goals and such. I probably should have said "location limitations", but now the title is already established.

Hi guys! Ridiculous situation here. I was in the UW E-13 class for about 5 minutes, but I dropped out because I quickly realized some family issues were going to make school at that point impossible (foreign husband's greencard not coming through). Another student took my spot (she did miss orientation, which I feel a little bad about, but at least the spot didn't go to waste). A year has passed and...hubby and I are now living in Seattle, employed, etc, and as of three weeks ago I am sure we are not going to have to move back to Europe (we were worried that neither of us would find work over here). However: Now I am tempted to reapply for school, and when I started talking about this, the general advice I got was "Well, do it this year, you're not getting any younger!" (I'm 27).

So the situation is as follows: I could submit my AMCAS within the week (still working on essays) but, I can only apply to one school: UW. The one I dropped out of. There is no way that my husband would agree to move to another part of the country (his job is here), and I would like to stay married. (Obviously, or I wouldn't have dropped out last time!)

This time I'm going for MSTP--last time I was finishing up a masters' and so couldn't do the summer rotation that was required. But I really like research, and I want to learn all about medicine but I think my heart might lie in research with some clinical stuff on the side.
Stats:
3 years of research (1.5 assisting with others' projects, 1.5 pretty independent) (most research involved, in some way, antibiotic resistance and microbial evolution.)
MSc from Switzerland, gpa 5.8/6.0
1 first author paper in CID
undergraduate gpa cum 3.76, sci 3.76 (bio and public health)
MCAT 40Q

Enough volunteering and shadowing to get in last time, I guess, and it has only increased. Should be able to get some very good recommendation letters, but it will probably take about a month.

After dropping out, I moved back to Europe, cried for two months (seriously, laaame), took 5 weeks of intensive French classes in France, published my thesis, traveled to Myanmar for a month, moved to Seattle, and have been working part-time for a health-related non-profit, teaching health and bio at a community college, volunteering, and developing my hobbies while looking for a 'real job'.

Any advice? Encouragement? Scorn and judgement for dropping out the first time and general dislike of my life choices? I'm, at this point, not sure what else I could do that would be a 'fulfilling' career for me (I've spent the last year trying to find alternatives) but at the same time, I know my chances for this to work out are very slim.

Thanks in advance for any feedback, and sorry for the poorly written novel.

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[StIGMA]

As a preface, you are obviously a very intelligent person and highly qualified for medical school.

My thoughts:
Your chances are better for MD admission. You don't have much research experience for the time you have spent during and post-college. I would have expected you to have spent the past 2 or so years in a research lab. How recent are your research experiences?

Are you an international student? If so, that makes MD/PhD admission significantly more challenging because there are fewer spots and some schools do not enroll international students (I assume you know the UW policy).

What are your specific reasons for pursuing MD/PhD training instead of MD-only? Beside the significant career differences between the two- the practical issue that you may be constrained to specific locations makes a career in science nearly intolerable- you should to be able to move on demand to be a scientist- to go where the post-doc is, to go wherever you may be hired as faculty, etc.

The fact that you left medical school previously is not good - why would you not leave again in the 4 years of medical school or 7-11 years of an MD/PhD program? You will need to have a good rationale for them.

Frankly, you need to be able to make decisions on where you live if you want to pursue MD/PhD training. It will be close to impossible to always be where your husband is and have a tenure-track job. Maybe you two can work out some compromise that enables multiple larger cities as potential cities for residency/future employment (noting that this is 7-10+ years in the future, 4 years if MD)? You both need to be on-board for this- if you are making concessions for him, he needs to make concessions for you. He needs to support you in whatever you decide. His verbal support needs to be backed with actions- at this point, that means sitting down and discussing specific future possibilities of moving for your job, at which points this may happen, how likely you are to need to move, when children may happen & how that would affect things, etc. For instance, if you are applying internal medicine, you are more likely to be able to stay in Seattle than if you were applying for dermatology. If you don't get in this year, will you two agree to apply to additional programs next year (and move if necessary)? Is long-distance a possibility, even if only for a few months while he looks for work?

It is late in the application season. Whatever you do- decide quickly! Applying to a single top-tier school is unlikely to go well- so be sure to have a backup plan. If you are sincerely interested in a career in research, applying to UW PhD programs would be much more likely to get you an acceptance. If you find the idea of pursuing a PhD (and never pursuing an MD) intolerable... then don't pursue the MD/PhD in the first place and focus on the MD.

You may have some success directly e-mailing the Dean of Admissions and request to interview/speak to them in person- maybe they can pull some strings to get you back in the MD program.

 

[SwissMs]

Hey StIGMA--thanks for your thoughtful reply! I suppose I should clarify--it's not that he wouldn't move ever, but he just moved from Switzerland to Seattle for me 6 months ago and only just now found a job--so proposing to move again in 9 months seems kinda cruel. Also, I'm a U.S. citizen, but he's not. I've also only been done with my master's for a year--but I have been out of research since then, except for editing my paper. I definitely did not have a backup plan when I dropped out of school last August, so it's been kind of a rough year. I am looking for research positions now, but not having too much luck (my last project was mostly computational, and most positions are looking for more lab skills than I've got, honestly). Considering seeing if I can volunteer in a lab...

I am pretty set on doing research, and I would love to do clinical work as well, but I'm pretty tied to Seattle right now. I am planning to apply to some PhD programs as well, at least the epi program. At UW, applying to MSTP also puts you in the running for MD admissions. But obviously dropping out doesn't make my chances there totally stellar.

I am planning to talk to the dean--I did leave on good terms, and at the very least I feel like I owe her an explanation of what is going on and what has changed since last fall. (Quite a lot--not all the details are here because, well, I don't want to burden you all with even more of my life story!).

 

[QofQuimica]

Agree that you should look into PhD programs at UW and plan on attending one. Given your severe geographic constraints, the MD (and MD/PhD) pathways are likely not going to happen for you. That being said, you have nothing to lose by talking to the med school Dean. Just realize that the odds of med school coming through for you under these circumstances are very low, and you definitely do need a backup plan.

 

[SwissMs]

Thanks Quimica. I am definitely looking into PhD programs as well. There is more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. (Or, I guess, more than one way to get an education.) I know that it's a long shot but I decided to go ahead and give it a try. Nothing to lose by trying (well, except $160, heh!).

 

[Elixir6]

Of course its not impossible, but are you really sure you have the energy to be training to close to age 40 (even just going into a standard length residency)? I would probably just stick to with the MD rather than the MD/PhD. You already have a masters and some research experience. So the marginal benefit of the dual degree is less for you. If you are considering tuition remission - it's not worth the years for that.

I think the geographical location is your biggest stumbling block here. Not to be too blunt, but I would hope your husband would be willing to move to help you pursue your career. You did afterall drop out of med school once to stay together. Though of course I understand your spouse has aspirations as well and you should obviously accommodate them. It's a balance.

I wouldn't be too worried about having dropped out before since it seems you have a good explanation for to the admissions director.

 

[QofQuimica]

Thanks Quimica. I am definitely looking into PhD programs as well. There is more than one way to skin a cat, as they say. (Or, I guess, more than one way to get an education.) I know that it's a long shot but I decided to go ahead and give it a try. Nothing to lose by trying (well, except $160, heh!).

Agree.

Of course its not impossible, but are you really sure you have the energy to be training to close to age 40 (even just going into a standard length residency)?

Oh, for crying out loud, I realize that 40 seems impossibly ancient to those of you in your teens and early 20s, but it's not like you suddenly become totally decrepit and disintegrate into a pile of dust once you hit middle age. The OP's age isn't the problem here.

I think the geographical location is your biggest stumbling block here.

Bingo. This is the problem, particularly since the OP's one state school is highly competitive, and because she is a med school dropout.

 

[Shifty B]

I'll echo the sentiments above. You are clearly qualified, but geographic limitations will make it difficult or even impossible for you to pursue an MD or MD/PhD. I would not advise even the most qualified applicant on applying to programs in only one city.

I know it's a little late for retrospect, but why didn't you ask them to defer your admission? This is a bit of lesson to future applicants that you can ask for deferred admission pretty much any time.

As a side note, they may not count it against you too much since you didn't truly start.