MD/PhD WAMC

[mdphd?]

Hi, I am interested in whether my background would be competitive for MD/PhD programs. I am mainly concerned that my GPA might be prohibitive. I am interested in attending a program with medical imaging laboratories.

3.7 GPA, 522 MCAT

CA born and raised, MD for past 2 years

Ethnicity: Non-Hispanic White

Undergraduate institution or category: Top 30

Clinical experience (volunteer and non-volunteer):
-500 hours as a surgical technician
-300 hours in a community clinic

Research experience and productivity:
Experience:
-3 years molecular/cell biology
-2 years medical imaging
Productivity:
>10 posters/presentations at institutional and international conferences
5 publications (1 first author, 2 second author, 2 else), reputable journals
~5 manuscripts completed/in progress (2 co-first author, rest variable contribution), one of the co-first authorships we expect will land in a JAMA sub journal.

Shadowing experience and specialties represented
-Family medicine in a community clinic, emergency medicine in a rural hospital setting, dermatology in private practice

Non-clinical volunteering
-1000 hours food bank, lots of responsibility involved
-Various other short-term activities focused on food insecurity and mentorship of disadvantaged students

Other extracurricular activities (including athletics, military service, gap year activities, leadership, teaching, etc)
-NIH fellowship, leadership within the program
-Food bank leadership
-Tutoring, TA'ing, mentoring

Anything else not listed you think might be important
-From a medically underserved area (rural) and have experienced some adverse life events... circumstances that influenced my volunteering and research.

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[voxveritatisetlucis]

Very good chances. Shoot for top schools but don’t apply too top heavy. Do you have a list in mind?

 

[mdphd?]

Very good chances. Shoot for top schools but don’t apply too top heavy. Do you have a list in mind?

Thanks for the encouragement. I only know of a few schools with neuroimaging faculty - primarily schools like Penn, WUSTL, Stanford, Harvard, and UCSF. Since these are very common "brands" I imagine the competition will be elite, so some more obscure program suggestions would be extremely helpful in increasing my odds.

 

[chilly_md]

I agree with vox, you have very good chances. I am not familiar with the faculty and you will need to check, but USC, UC San Diego and Vandy may be options. They are still big brands but still broaden your list, at least from my perspective. I’ll link what I quickly found for some of Vanderbilt’s labs:

Medical Imaging

engineering.vanderbilt.edu

Medical Image Processing

engineering.vanderbilt.edu

 

[stinkycheeseperson]

go poke around the md/phd forum down the list some

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Thanks for the encouragement. I only know of a few schools with neuroimaging faculty - primarily schools like Penn, WUSTL, Stanford, Harvard, and UCSF. Since these are very common "brands" I imagine the competition will be elite, so some more obscure program suggestions would be extremely helpful in increasing my odds.

I don't worry about the competition. They will be your colleagues once the dust settles. You also have a lot of publications and an SES background which will help you.

Your competition really is if you have the metrics and support to do well in medical school. Choose based on the administration of the program and their support for their students and graduates through the years and career choices, especially if you are being groomed from an academic career.

 

[mdphd?]

I agree with vox, you have very good chances. I am not familiar with the faculty and you will need to check, but USC, UC San Diego and Vandy may be options. They are still big brands but still broaden your list, at least from my perspective. I’ll link what I quickly found for some of Vanderbilt’s labs:

Medical Imaging

engineering.vanderbilt.edu

Medical Image Processing

engineering.vanderbilt.edu

Thank you for the encouragement. These sound like great options - I had forgotten about UC San Diego's strength in the field so thank you for pointing them out.

go poke around the md/phd forum down the list some

Will do. I wasn't able to find a WAMC page so I figured to start here and then move there next.

I don't worry about the competition. They will be your colleagues once the dust settles. You also have a lot of publications and an SES background which will help you.

Your competition really is if you have the metrics and support to do well in medical school. Choose based on the administration of the program and their support for their students and graduates through the years and career choices, especially if you are being groomed from an academic career.

Valuable perspective about them being future colleagues, thank you. Is speaking with administrators something I can get started on now, or should I save that for after being invited to interview?