MD/PhD application (and volunteer experience)

[QuincyKane]

---

Members don't see this ad.

Is extensive recent volunteering experience mandatory/required for MD/PhD apps?

 

[Fencer]

no... extensive research is needed (at least as good as your circumstances allowed) and some clinical shadowing (~100 hrs) to convince the medical school to admit you too.

 

[bd4727]

I don't know where the number 100hrs comes in but FWIW I probably spent 5-10hrs 'shadowing' and had tons of acceptances. Just putting in hours is not important, its being able to convey that you have somewhat of an understanding about clinical medicine (which you won't even with 100hrs but you have to play the game)

 

[Fencer]

true... but in most MD/PhD programs, applicants are also presented for acceptance to the SOM admissions committee or the SOM admissions dean. This is actually a requirement standard for the LCME accreditation of each SOM. Hours in clinical medicine is something that is easily measurable (and 100 hrs is just enough to provide sufficient experience), as compared to "understanding about clinical medicine", which is clearly what we want to show but is more difficult to quantify.

 

[QuincyKane]

Thanks everyone. My non-clinical* is okay, but I have ~100hrs 'clinical' volunteering/~30 hrs shadowing experience, but all extremely old (~6 years ago). I was interested in learning about medicine then, but my career focus switched to science only. I returned to the idea of md/phd recently because I research in clinical settings and work with a lot of mds and md/phds.

• I wasn't sure if I can/should even list such old experience (graduate/grant app CVs usually limit to <5 years)
• Wanted to make sure it won't be a deal breaker with my applications

*upwards of 5,000 hrs if I add up all non-academic/non-paid community and uni-based initiatives in the past decade.

 

[Fencer]

It seems that diversity of experiences are not a problem, but age might be. In the last 5 years, there are about 25-30 applicants matriculating of age 30 or greater out of about 3,000 MD/PhD matriculants across the nation.

 

[QuincyKane]

Thanks for the insight Fencer. I have about a thousand stats working against me, demographic and otherwise... this one joins the pile. Have to give it a shot anyway. Maybe somebody will take a chance.

 

[Fencer]

The people who I know are part of that select group of 25-30 have amazing stories... good luck to you. PM me if you want to discuss more details.

 

[md(phd?)]

I got the feeling that most of the medical school side interviews were more to make sure that I wasn't wearing a helmet everywhere I went. My UAB interviewer kinda drilled me as they really just threw us into the normal med student interview mill. At other schools it was clear that they had a time and specific MD side interviewers set aside for the combined program applicants.

If you are PASSABLE you will be fine on the MD side. In my specific case I think I would have been a much less competitive MD only applicant - that is in comparison to being a highly competitive MSTP applicant. I may underestimate the extent to which significant research is valued in the MD process given my school's heavy focus on clinical and community service.