MD PhD Medical Anthropology

[violaness]

Hello. I am seeking advice regarding applying to MD-PhD programs for medical anthropology. I was wondering if any of you who have gone through the process have any suggestions on crafting the research statement of purpose. I've found examples for joint programs in STEM PhD programs but not as many resources in medical anthropology. Thank you! Apologies if this thread is redundant.

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[Lucca]

Well like any MD PhD statement you will have to make the case for why your career as a physician will be enhanced by your work in anthropology and why the kind of work you want to pursue as a researcher will be enhanced by your medical training/clinical knowledge/access to patients. The statement is all about showing that you have a vision for a career that is more than the sum of its parts. You don’t have to be hyper specific, I.e know exactly what research problems you will work on. But you should, using your past experiences, make a convincing argument that you understand your field and medicine well enough to see a place for yourself in translation between them.

Unfortunately I don’t know anyone on this site doing something like this or id tag them but if I were you I would contact current MD/PhD students doing this (their e-mails are usually easy to find online) for specific advice.

 

[Ampharos]

I would think deeply about what the PhD would add as there are many barriers to being admitted as an MD/PhD in Med Anthro. A lot of students who matriculate to these programs already have graduate degrees in the subject or have committed substantial time to field research. When I was applying, most schools require that you be admitted to both programs independently and then the departments work together to tailor your time at the University. This means taking both the GRE having 3-4 anthropology letters in addition to the MCAT and med school letters.

I applied and was accepted to both MD and PhD Anthropology programs but ended up going to an MD-only program. A lot of MSTP program directors i met were pretty skeptical about funding a humanities/social science PhD.