NIH postbac IRTA Questions and Cover Letter

[Judson]

I am currently in the process of applying to the NIH postbac IRTA program. I will be taking a year off between undergrad and med school. I understand some labs require two years, while others are only one. I have two main questions:

1.) Has anyone done this program and, if so, do you have any advise for the application process or insight about the program itself?

2.) Would someone be willing to read and critique my cover letter? I would be willing to reciprocate the service.

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[Bethany555]

A few of my friends did a year or two at the NIH before matriculating. Ideally, you should have applied a lot earlier (December), since acceptances are on a rolling basis. I doubt your cover letter matters at all. I would submit your resume/cover letter via the NIH portal and then contact investigators directly via email. Otherwise, you have practically a 0% chance of being selected, especially this late in the cycle. Most won't respond or say they have no available positions, but if you e-mail enough, hopefully you'll get some bites. Good luck.

 

[cactus8910]

Here's a thread that people applying currently have been posting in:
http://forums.studentdoctor.net/threads/nih-irta-program.1101892/

A few of my friends did a year or two at the NIH before matriculating. Ideally, you should have applied a lot earlier (December), since acceptances are on a rolling basis. I doubt your cover letter matters at all. I would submit your resume/cover letter via the NIH portal and then contact investigators directly via email. Otherwise, you have practically a 0% chance of being selected, especially this late in the cycle. Most won't respond or say they have no available positions, but if you e-mail enough, hopefully you'll get some bites. Good luck.

I wouldn't say the cover letter doesn't matter, since it's your opportunity to expand upon any research you've done previously and slip in some key words PIs might search applications for. But I definitely agree emailing investigators directly is key.