Med school after grad school

[kchan99]

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Does anyone have any insight on how difficult it is to get into med school after earning a PhD in a biomedical science?

 

[cammy1313]

Oh you'd be a shoe-in. Most schools love researchers which will most definatly be after a PhD program. Friend of mine had no real clinical exposure but had just completed his PhD and was admitted to Harvard. His numbers were average if I recall.

 

[Khenon]

It depends on the school. When going through the MSAR I saw some schools specifically say that people with graduate degrees were considered the same as those without (ie you have no advantage/disadvantage with a graduate degree). But there are definitely some schools that are very interested in taking people with PhD's for the research aspect of it. Just check the schools and make sure they are for research. I met a resident that applied to a family practice school (she had a PhD already), and was instantly rejected (and it was her in state school). She ended up getting into Mayo. So be careful. If you do want to apply to non-research based schools, I'd make sure your PS states that clearly. If not you may be looking at quick rejections, because they assume you want to do research. But overall, you should get in somewhere. I think a graduate degree in a good thing on your application. 🙂

 

[ecoscuba]

I have a PhD. I'll let you know what insight I've gained after this application year is over. As of right now . . . to early to tell.

 

[DoctorTox]

I am not sure what stage of the process you are in, but as to your question about the difficulty of getting into medical school, there are two main questions that any MS applicant needs to consider. First, why do you want to go to MS. Second, are you capable of handling the academic and clinical workload of MS. As for the second question, your Ph.D. should resoundingly answer your ability to handle the academic workload. 😎 Obviously, like any other applicant, you will need a competitive MCAT and GPA. To some degree, your Ph.D. may help offset lower scores/GPA.

However, the adcoms will also want to see some experience in a clinical setting and will want to know why you want to subject yourself to the extra years of hard work and no pay. I have a Ph.D. (Pharm/Tox) and applied to MS for my first time this year. I received acceptances from Univ of Michigan (they liked my research experience) and from two other schools (whose main focus is on primary care but who also have an interest in research) - I have also interviewed at three other schools and am waiting to hear back from them. From my experience, the interviewers primarily wanted to know my motivation and what I would like to do in a medical career. My interest is in primary care (FP or peds) but I still have an interest in teaching and research. There is also a similar thread on SDN that you might find helpful (http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=152977).

Best of luck!

 

[Friendly]

A Ph.D. will not make up for a poor GPA and MCAT, but perhaps a mediocre performance in one of them will be overlooked. Trust me - I have only one M.D. interview so far; though, for that, I'm very happy. 🙂