MD/Ph.D programs and clinical experience?

[CupcakeCrusader]

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My question is regarding clinical experience:

I completed an EMT-B course last year but missed my 6 month period to take my written exam because I was busy trying to study for my other classes. I was going to get certified so I could get into a hospital and actually get to have contact with patients. So should I take another EMT-B course and get certified (beyond pissed to have wasted that money) or should I give up and just volunteer at hospitals? Do I even need clinical experience if I plan on doing research?

As for my stats I have 4 years of research experience and a publication, a 3.0GPA (I know it sucks) that I can pull up to a 3.2 with my last two semesters, and I haven't taken the MCAT yet so there's still some hope there. Should I do an SMP to get my grades up? I really want to do translational research and have contact with patients so I can help cure diseases (currently doing an 8 month co-op at Dana Farber with cancer research so I'm a bit pumped up).

Any help would be LOVELY and thank you in advanced!

 

[Neuronix]

A 3.0 GPA makes you a very long shot for any allopathic medical school, let alone a funded MD/PhD program. My advice would be to focus on getting into a medical school. Get the clinical experience, as this will make you more competitive for DO or MD programs. Exactly how you get it doesn't matter so much, I would just look for 500+ hours of quality experience to try to differentiate yourself. I think the advice you were given in your other thread is otherwise the right advice with regard to getting into medical school at all.

My general advice for SMPs for MD/PhD is in this thread:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=893347

My advice is overall similar here, but your GPA is in the 3.0-3.2 range, which is very different from a 3.4-3.6 as in that thread. I generally don't recommend MD/PhD hopefuls to do SMPs because they are coming from a science background already, and they don't need the $40,000+ in debt for an SMP given their 13+ additional years of training after the SMP, unless they happen to be in-state at a cheap SMP. What I essentially endorse is what I call the "back door" SMP, which is taking a part-time or full-time upper science courseload at your local state school, if they allow such a thing, while doing research and accessing their advising.

 

[Silverfalcon]

Just go for MD or DO programs. You don't have a shot with 3.0 GPA for MD/PhD - think about how some people with 3.9 get rejected.

 

[CupcakeCrusader]

So if I apply for MD schools I will have a better chance? Should I do a SMP if I am only going MD?