Non-trad student....credit from grad school for phd or med school classes?

[triple doc]

Hello all! I've been lurking for a while, and since I submitted apps for the 2013 cycle, I figured I should start contributing as well.

So....I am in my final year of veterinary school and am applying for MD/PhD programs. MANY reasons, mainly very interested in research and applying it in a clinical setting as well (a lot of the research I have developed an interest in is not really feasible to apply in a veterinary clinical setting). I have spent all undergrad/grad doing research and have presented and published a number of times (most recently translational research with human clinical projects)

My question is....does anyone know if there are any programs that will potentially grant credit for some of the classes I have already taken. I will already have a doctorate of vet med when/if I matriculate, and would love to not have to take classes such as medical biochem, medical immunology, epidemiology, path/histology. As I have taken up to 3 semesters in a medical doctorate program for these classes already. A few programs told me I could get credit for the PhD classes but not med school, and then some schools told me that I would have the option of testing out of some of the classes. Anyone have any input on this? or new information?

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[solitude]

Hello all! I've been lurking for a while, and since I submitted apps for the 2013 cycle, I figured I should start contributing as well.

So....I am in my final year of veterinary school and am applying for MD/PhD programs. MANY reasons, mainly very interested in research and applying it in a clinical setting as well (a lot of the research I have developed an interest in is not really feasible to apply in a veterinary clinical setting). I have spent all undergrad/grad doing research and have presented and published a number of times (most recently translational research with human clinical projects)

My question is....does anyone know if there are any programs that will potentially grant credit for some of the classes I have already taken. I will already have a doctorate of vet med when/if I matriculate, and would love to not have to take classes such as medical biochem, medical immunology, epidemiology, path/histology. As I have taken up to 3 semesters in a medical doctorate program for these classes already. A few programs told me I could get credit for the PhD classes but not med school, and then some schools told me that I would have the option of testing out of some of the classes. Anyone have any input on this? or new information?

Unlikely. I had about a dozen grad school science courses, and my PhD program helped me to opt out of...none. No way that med school will let you opt out of classes. But more importantly, if you already know the stuff, then why do it?

 

[QofQuimica]

Agree with solitude. You have nothing to lose by asking, but you should not count on having any class requirements waived.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Do you really need do the MD and PhD to do what you want? I know DVM/PhDs that are doing what it seems like you want to do. Do you want to actually practice as a physician at all. If not and your primary focus is research, I'd say just go for the PhD. It seems like overkill and a lot of extra time to get an MD.

For example, in my grad program, we have quite a few DVM and DVM/PhD or DVM/ MS epi folks working for the department of health and university doing research on things like cancer, zoonotic diseases, lyme's disease, foodborne pathogens, and some stuff that seems pretty far from the vet world. Just a thought.

 

[triple doc]

I do want to practice clinical medicine (and apply my research in a clin setting, as I assume most of you are). And I am not so interested in the infectious disease/public health aspect (very important, but not where my passion is). I was surgery/critical care track all through school, but for most of the research and modern medicine (such as reg med) that I am interested in, it is not exactly feasible to expect to do research AND practice it clinically. Not a huge demand for very expensive/experimental procedures, even at high end academia vet med. I'm looking for long term satisfaction, so another 4 years of med, on top of the PhD that I was planning on pursuing already, is not really discouraging me.

 

[wholeheartedly]

I do want to practice clinical medicine (and apply my research in a clin setting, as I assume most of you are). And I am not so interested in the infectious disease/public health aspect (very important, but not where my passion is). I was surgery/critical care track all through school, but for most of the research and modern medicine (such as reg med) that I am interested in, it is not exactly feasible to expect to do research AND practice it clinically. Not a huge demand for very expensive/experimental procedures, even at high end academia vet med. I'm looking for long term satisfaction, so another 4 years of med, on top of the PhD that I was planning on pursuing already, is not really discouraging me.

alright, gotcha. long road. good luck, and like the others have said, it never hurts to ask.