MD/PhD applicant, should my PS discuss that?

[Calf]

Should I discuss in my personal statement the progression of my desire to become a doctor -> my desire to be a research physician? Or should the personal statement ONLY focus on the medical aspect? I know MD applicants often discuss their research, but I have 2 whole other essays to talk about that.

What to do??

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[magwi11]

Should I discuss in my personal statement the progression of my desire to become a doctor -> my desire to be a research physician? Or should the personal statement ONLY focus on the medical aspect? I know MD applicants often discuss their research, but I have 2 whole other essays to talk about that.

What to do??

I assume that if you are applying MD/PhD you are committed to research, so leaving out your interest in research/academic aspects of medicine would seem a little forced. You do want your PS to focus on your interest in research MEDICINE (as opposed to RESEARCH medicine), but I think that chances are adcoms will get a better picture of you if you tell them the whole story.

Another thing to consider: Would you consider MD only? Are you applying MD only to any schools, or will you elect to be considered MD only at schools that reject you for their MSTP program? You have to realize that if that is the case, the schools will not be considering your other two essays, so you need to make sure that your PS paints a complete picture of what draws you to medicine. The schools with the MD-only programs that would be most appealing to future physician-scientists (schools with the greatest amount of research involved) are going to want to know that is something that's important to you.

You might want to ask at the Physician-Scientist program board if you want more input. Good luck.

 

[TheRealMD]

Don't most MD/PhD applications have yet another essay specifically asking about your research experiences/why you want to be MD/PhD? If that's true, then I wouldn't make your essay so chock full of research experience that you get asked the question "Why not just MD?" (they'll ask it anyway, but don't make it so easy for them that it's the first thing they ask!).

 

[Calf]

No, I'm not applying anywhere MD only. I am 100% committed to becoming a physician scientist. If for some reason I don't get accepted anywhere, I'll just keep working in the lab and try again next year at more schools, though I'm pretty confident I'll get in SOMEWHERE (I'm applying to 14 schools and have a pretty strong application I think).

Therefore, keeping in mind what you've said, it makes sense that the PS should focus on why physician scientist. Leaving out the science aspect would be kind of dumb given that I'm not actually willing to do that in real life haha...

Thanks!

 

[xygplat]

im applying md/phd too

in my ps I mentioned a small bit about research and talked about how it was important, but most of the ps was on why medicine

I talked alot more about why md/phd in the 2nd essay

theres more info on this in the Physician-Scientist forum (if you scroll halfway down the list of forums)