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Has anybody done this? known anybody who's done this?
Any information would be greatly appreciated!
Any information would be greatly appreciated!
NIH Postbacc IRTA?
- Thread starter Booney44
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I am also interested in hearing more information about this program. I have a friend who is just now starting the program, but I haven't yet talked to her about the experience. From what I've heard, if you have a decent GPA, some previous research experience, and a solid reason for being there (i.e. to get into med school) it is not too hard to get into. Can anybody verify this?
I am particularly interested to find out if there is a benefit to doing research at the NIH vs. with a PI directly connected with a med school. A friend of mine (3rd year med student) suggested that working at a med school may provide better connections/LORs, etc...thoughts?
I am particularly interested to find out if there is a benefit to doing research at the NIH vs. with a PI directly connected with a med school. A friend of mine (3rd year med student) suggested that working at a med school may provide better connections/LORs, etc...thoughts?
I can't speak for NIH vs. working with a PI connected to a medical school....but I can certainly talk about NIH! I've spent two summers working there and have several friends and family members who have completed post-bacs.
First, one requirement (well, really, "expectation") of the program is that you apply to grad school of some sort (PhD, MD, DO, etc) while in the program. I think most of the people who are accepted do have decent GPAs and probably good scores if they've taken an entrance exam (not required). Not everybody has research experience-they are certainly open to people who want to pursue research without any prior lab work. They say that they have positions in something like 1250 labs, which equates to a lot of positions. They aren't all in Bethesda, where the main campus is, but I imagine that the majority are.
Since the program caters to students going to graduate school, they have prep classes for the GRE and MCAT, as well as other seminars on admissions and the like. Also, they have a deal with Kaplan that NIH employees get a discount. They also have talks specifically for the post-bacs. The post-bacs also have a social listserv, and many of them are good friends from what I understand. They appear to have a good time at happy hour every Thursday.
Being at NIH also has the perks of working for the government, which amounts to more than just federal holidays off. Since PI's aren't necessarily competing for grants, the likelihood of their funding getting cut is slim. NIH's budget is cut pretty much every year, but it doesn't affect the labs too much. A lot of PI's still have connections at their schools and many of them are MD/PhDs and thus would be able to write strong LORs. My PI is an MD/PhD and I feel confident that his LOR for me will be taken very seriously by ADCOMs (it helps that he went to Hopkins!).
The clinical center is also right there on campus for those who need clinical experience and there are a whole bunch of hospitals in the area. NIH is a really great environment since so many of the people who work there are there only for research. It's pretty cool to walk into a building and see the room listings with "So-and-So, PhD" listed 50 times. I love that each lab is part of a larger group, a section, and the sections meet and rotate presentations. Everybody is super friendly and it's really quite easy to meet people and make new connections. Most people I know have also managed to get their names onto at least one publication, which is a plus as well. I've really enjoyed the (cumulative) 6 months I've spent there.
Alright, I could keep going but I'll stop.....I'll just say that NIH is awesome....definately keep it in mind!
First, one requirement (well, really, "expectation") of the program is that you apply to grad school of some sort (PhD, MD, DO, etc) while in the program. I think most of the people who are accepted do have decent GPAs and probably good scores if they've taken an entrance exam (not required). Not everybody has research experience-they are certainly open to people who want to pursue research without any prior lab work. They say that they have positions in something like 1250 labs, which equates to a lot of positions. They aren't all in Bethesda, where the main campus is, but I imagine that the majority are.
Since the program caters to students going to graduate school, they have prep classes for the GRE and MCAT, as well as other seminars on admissions and the like. Also, they have a deal with Kaplan that NIH employees get a discount. They also have talks specifically for the post-bacs. The post-bacs also have a social listserv, and many of them are good friends from what I understand. They appear to have a good time at happy hour every Thursday.
Being at NIH also has the perks of working for the government, which amounts to more than just federal holidays off. Since PI's aren't necessarily competing for grants, the likelihood of their funding getting cut is slim. NIH's budget is cut pretty much every year, but it doesn't affect the labs too much. A lot of PI's still have connections at their schools and many of them are MD/PhDs and thus would be able to write strong LORs. My PI is an MD/PhD and I feel confident that his LOR for me will be taken very seriously by ADCOMs (it helps that he went to Hopkins!).
The clinical center is also right there on campus for those who need clinical experience and there are a whole bunch of hospitals in the area. NIH is a really great environment since so many of the people who work there are there only for research. It's pretty cool to walk into a building and see the room listings with "So-and-So, PhD" listed 50 times. I love that each lab is part of a larger group, a section, and the sections meet and rotate presentations. Everybody is super friendly and it's really quite easy to meet people and make new connections. Most people I know have also managed to get their names onto at least one publication, which is a plus as well. I've really enjoyed the (cumulative) 6 months I've spent there.
Alright, I could keep going but I'll stop.....I'll just say that NIH is awesome....definately keep it in mind!
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ssquared said:I can't speak for NIH vs. working with a PI connected to a medical school....but I can certainly talk about NIH! I've spent two summers working there and have several friends and family members who have completed post-bacs.
First, one requirement (well, really, "expectation") of the program is that you apply to grad school of some sort (PhD, MD, DO, etc) while in the program. I think most of the people who are accepted do have decent GPAs and probably good scores if they've taken an entrance exam (not required). Not everybody has research experience-they are certainly open to people who want to pursue research without any prior lab work. They say that they have positions in something like 1250 labs, which equates to a lot of positions. They aren't all in Bethesda, where the main campus is, but I imagine that the majority are.
Since the program caters to students going to graduate school, they have prep classes for the GRE and MCAT, as well as other seminars on admissions and the like. Also, they have a deal with Kaplan that NIH employees get a discount. They also have talks specifically for the post-bacs. The post-bacs also have a social listserv, and many of them are good friends from what I understand. They appear to have a good time at happy hour every Thursday.
Being at NIH also has the perks of working for the government, which amounts to more than just federal holidays off. Since PI's aren't necessarily competing for grants, the likelihood of their funding getting cut is slim. NIH's budget is cut pretty much every year, but it doesn't affect the labs too much. A lot of PI's still have connections at their schools and many of them are MD/PhDs and thus would be able to write strong LORs. My PI is an MD/PhD and I feel confident that his LOR for me will be taken very seriously by ADCOMs (it helps that he went to Hopkins!).
The clinical center is also right there on campus for those who need clinical experience and there are a whole bunch of hospitals in the area. NIH is a really great environment since so many of the people who work there are there only for research. It's pretty cool to walk into a building and see the room listings with "So-and-So, PhD" listed 50 times. I love that each lab is part of a larger group, a section, and the sections meet and rotate presentations. Everybody is super friendly and it's really quite easy to meet people and make new connections. Most people I know have also managed to get their names onto at least one publication, which is a plus as well. I've really enjoyed the (cumulative) 6 months I've spent there.
Alright, I could keep going but I'll stop.....I'll just say that NIH is awesome....definately keep it in mind!
Very informative... thanks for the info! I am a current Masters student in Pharmacology and plan on applying to med school next year, so this program looks very interesting to do during my year of applying. I would want to do some work in pharmacology research, but I am not sure how many projects NIH has to do with my field.
I just have a few other questions:
When you applied, did you contact the lab that you were interested in working in first? or did they assign you a lab to go to?
My undergraduate GPA isnt too spectacular (~3.3), will they hold that against me if I am doing graduate work and doing well? Pretty much, I'm asking what was the consensus of the others that were in the program in their UG GPA. From the website, it looked pretty competetive with ~10% of applicants getting positions.
I appreciate you giving feedback and hopefully you can answer my questions.
Add anymore tidbits of knowledge if you have them!!
Aaron
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Booney44 said:
As a general caveat, if it involves research NIH probably has it. I cannot promise you that you will get a job doing exactly what you are interested in, but with about 1500 labs, chances are someone is doing something you will like.
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Regarding your undergraduate GPA, my ug GPA was nothing short of horrendous but my drive to get a job at NIH was evident. I was rewarded with a Summer IRTA position and then a Post-Bacc IRTA position. It is competitive, but if you have a pretty good research background and have done better in your graduate endavours you should be ok. Also, you may just want to see if you can become a tech in one of the labs and then get the PI to pull you onto the Post-Bacc IRTA program. (It has been done before.)
E-mail a lot of PIs, tell them what you are interested in and ask them if they know someone with an open position in their lab. I probably emailed about a hundred, but in the end I got the job and that's all that matters.
E-mail a lot of PIs, tell them what you are interested in and ask them if they know someone with an open position in their lab. I probably emailed about a hundred, but in the end I got the job and that's all that matters.
I'm an IRTA right now. It's an experience unlike any other. The sheer number of opportunities to learn here are astounding. Seminars, lectures, classes, your own research...all available to you to prep you to become the best physician / physician-scientist / scientist you can be.
A quick example: Yesterday, I ran out of 200 ul pipette tips and was walking through the halls looking for the storage facility. I stopped and asked a gentleman where it was and he walked me over to it. A few hours later I ran into the same gentleman talking with my PI. Turns out the guy who walked me over to find pipettes also invented the artificial lung.
It's just random meetings with people who made significant contributions to medicine that is awesome.
There are so many instances like this. Yesterday afternoon I sat in on a seminar being given by a prof. of medicine from UIC. She also had recently been awarded the Macarthur Genius Grant. THe seminar was on breast cancer and the role nature vs. nurture plays in the disease. It was damn interesting.
Belive me, if you have any remote interest in this program - apply. Its worth it.
Anyone know more about this program. I have a decent GPA and some research experience but I am more interested in programs that are not necessarily the same as my past experiences. Also, I was wondering if labs pick up people during the fall and winter or only during the turnover in the summer. Let me know if you have any info. Thanks.
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i am in the program..best advice is to contact the PIs via email: send them a "why you're interested" email + attach your resume....emails (informal) > the actual online application to get the lab...i really think first come first serve + minimal threshold of credentials matters more than being a 4.0 student at harvard with 9999 pubs (extreme credentials) as far as getting placed into a lab goes...like I said, email the PIs YOU want to work with so YOU can get what you want
