MD MD/PhD WAMC

[pBar]

I recently decided that I was extremely interested in pursuing and MD/PhD rather that just a strict MD, however am unsure about how competitive I would actually be as an applicant. I am particularly interested in pursuing a PhD in Health Policy or Public policy. I realize this limits the number of available school I can apply to, as (based on my research), only a small fraction of medical schools offer PhD programs outside the traditional biomedical sciences. Over the past four years I have developed a strong passion for improving end-of-life care for patients via palliative and hospice practice. Aside from my various research involvements related to hospice and palliative medicine, following a 3 month health policy fellowship I served in Washington DC, I become extremely passionate regarding how policy can effect individual access towards such services via effecting treatment cost, provider education, and community advocacy.

I would appreciate any advice if possible seeing that I intend to apply this upcoming cycle and need to make my decision soon, whether or not I will apply as an MD/PhD candidate.

Degree: B.A. Biochemistry & Music Studies
cGPA: 3.96
sGPA: 4.00
MCAT: 518 (131, 128, 131, 128)
State of Residence: Florida
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Undergraduate Institution: University of South Florida

Research Experience:

• 1 year (~550hrs) on a health communications research team evaluating barriers and dilemmas faced by individual in initiating end-of-life care ACP discussions with loved ones. Resulting in:
  • 2nd author on a publication in Health Communications
  • 2nd author on a manuscript presented at the National Communication Association
• 1+ year (~700hrs) on a pilot study evaluating palliative/hospice advocacy programs with young adult target populations.
  • Poster presentation at university's yearly health conference
  • Expected thesis paper
• 3 months (400hrs) as a health policy fellow at a lobbying group in Washington D.C.
  • 20+ congressional + senate hearing/briefing summaries
  • 2 NIH summit write-ups
  • Organized 40+ congressional meetings on the behalf of the association of molecular pathology
  • Provided documentation on the implementation of the Right to Try Legislation as well as the 21st Century Cures Act
• 1 month (120hrs, 20hrs/week, Expected ~1200 before end of year) as a paid research assistant in College of Public Health working on study related to Accelerated Resolution Therapy on veteran populations
• This summer I have also been hired on as a research assistant (15hrs/week) in my university's college of nursing for another study related to accelerated resolution therapy on hospice patients and loved ones. I have also been hired as a study coordinator for a separate study at the college of nursing (20hrs/week) evaluating the clinical study of a new physical therapy technique with early stage cardio-oncology patients.

Clinical Experience:

• 128 hours of volunteering in the ICU and ER
• 30hrs of volunteering in mobile medical clinics while on a service-learning trip in the Dominican Republic (will probably avoid mentioning if possible)
• A couple months working on and off as an ER scribe (however was not able to stay long because the scribe program at both hospitals I worked at were cut after working at each one for a month).

Shadowing Experiences:

• Orthopedics/Sports Medicine - 40 hrs
• Palliative Medicine -24 hrs
• PCP - 12hrs
• Radiology - 15hrs
• Pediatric Endocrinology - 25 hrs
• Cardiovascular Surgery - 10 hrs
• Hospice - 64 hrs

Non-Clinical Volunteering:

• Counselor at Florida Diabetes Camps (168 hrs)
• Counselor at HPH and LPH hospice camps (140hrs)
• Community outreach performances through student organizations and ensembles (50+ hrs)

Extracurriculars:

• 3 Years - 8hrs/week - Bassoonist in university symphony orchestra
• 1 Year - President and founder of student organization focused on raising student awareness surrounding advance care planning and end-of-life care discussions
• 2 Years - Treasurer of a music student organization
• Various musical pursuits over the past 3 years including chamber music, free lance contracting with major professional orchestra, and recital performances.

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[pubh12]

Hey pBar, to me it looks like you have a strong application (although the mods of physician scientists probably have a better idea than me).

I applied this past cycle to MD/PhD programs in health policy and epidemiology (some of each), so feel free to PM me if you want to talk about your school list or anything else. Most schools that I've talked to haven't had that many HP people in their MD/PhD programs - one exception is UNC, which currently has 4. I'm sure there are other exceptions that I don't know about.

Also, this program at Harvard might be right up your alley: NIA Training Program

 

[pBar]

Hey pBar, to me it looks like you have a strong application (although the mods of physician scientists probably have a better idea than me).

I applied this past cycle to MD/PhD programs in health policy and epidemiology (some of each), so feel free to PM me if you want to talk about your school list or anything else. Most schools that I've talked to haven't had that many HP people in their MD/PhD programs - one exception is UNC, which currently has 4. I'm sure there are other exceptions that I don't know about.

Also, this program at Harvard might be right up your alley: NIA Training Program

Thank you! This is very insightful! I have a few questions I would like to ask you, but do not seem to be able to PM you. Could you send me a message for me to respond to?

 

[pubh12]

hm i can't PM you either