Hi all,
Please let me know if this is the wrong area to post this thread--this is my first post after a while of lurking.
Anyway, I find myself in the seemingly unusual place of being competitive for MD and concerned about my competitiveness for PhD. I am aware that research is the focus of most MD/PhD careers, and this is what I believe I primarily want to do. However, due to being unsure about what I wanted to do in my career for the first half of my undergraduate degree, I'm now concerned that my research may not match the rest of my application package (planning to apply for 2018 matriculation, interested in doing PhD in neuroscience).
GPA- 3.94, sGPA 3.96, graduated 2016 from a non-ivy private school
MCAT- unknown (currently studying to take early 2017)
Research- 8 months (2 semesters) volunteering in a visual psychophysics lab (not wet lab, more psych), 4 months (1 semester) volunteering in a regeneration lab (think developmental neurobiology), 6 months as a full time coop doing cancer research (industry setting), and am currently a research tech at a somewhat big name neuroscience lab in academia; also have 6 months clinical research experience if that counts for anything
I believe I have excellent leadership, service, clinical experience, and employment, and sufficient shadowing (though weaker in that category). However, I've heard type that these types of experiences are not as valued when it comes to MD/PhD admissions. I currently have no pubs (aside from my name being on a poster- the abstract is now in a journal but no paper associated) and no poster presentations, although I'm hoping that my current lab may lead to these types of opportunities. I did contribute significantly to the research done on a compound that is now going to enter clinical trials (shortly after I finished my time in industry).
Although I only have a small independent project and am primarily working with two graduate students on their work, I'm confident I can explain the science behind the work that I've done and my own contributions to the project. I'm going to be in this lab for about 2 years and at the time of application, will have been here for ~1. My dream would be to do my PhD in the lab I'm currently working at because I'm very excited about the research and love the people there, but I know that may be unrealistic considering the competition.
Because of the long career path associated with this field, I'd prefer to not tech for more than two years (considering that I also have over a year and a half of other full time work experiences). Do you think I have a shot at MD/PhD programs (applying broadly)?
Please let me know if this is the wrong area to post this thread--this is my first post after a while of lurking.
Anyway, I find myself in the seemingly unusual place of being competitive for MD and concerned about my competitiveness for PhD. I am aware that research is the focus of most MD/PhD careers, and this is what I believe I primarily want to do. However, due to being unsure about what I wanted to do in my career for the first half of my undergraduate degree, I'm now concerned that my research may not match the rest of my application package (planning to apply for 2018 matriculation, interested in doing PhD in neuroscience).
GPA- 3.94, sGPA 3.96, graduated 2016 from a non-ivy private school
MCAT- unknown (currently studying to take early 2017)
Research- 8 months (2 semesters) volunteering in a visual psychophysics lab (not wet lab, more psych), 4 months (1 semester) volunteering in a regeneration lab (think developmental neurobiology), 6 months as a full time coop doing cancer research (industry setting), and am currently a research tech at a somewhat big name neuroscience lab in academia; also have 6 months clinical research experience if that counts for anything
I believe I have excellent leadership, service, clinical experience, and employment, and sufficient shadowing (though weaker in that category). However, I've heard type that these types of experiences are not as valued when it comes to MD/PhD admissions. I currently have no pubs (aside from my name being on a poster- the abstract is now in a journal but no paper associated) and no poster presentations, although I'm hoping that my current lab may lead to these types of opportunities. I did contribute significantly to the research done on a compound that is now going to enter clinical trials (shortly after I finished my time in industry).
Although I only have a small independent project and am primarily working with two graduate students on their work, I'm confident I can explain the science behind the work that I've done and my own contributions to the project. I'm going to be in this lab for about 2 years and at the time of application, will have been here for ~1. My dream would be to do my PhD in the lab I'm currently working at because I'm very excited about the research and love the people there, but I know that may be unrealistic considering the competition.
Because of the long career path associated with this field, I'd prefer to not tech for more than two years (considering that I also have over a year and a half of other full time work experiences). Do you think I have a shot at MD/PhD programs (applying broadly)?
