nontraditional MSTP?

[notJERRYFALWELL]

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Probably a bad title, but aside from Duke (which is 6 years, i think), are there any other MSTP or MD/PhD programs that stray from teh 2/3-4/2 trend?

 

[Gfunk6]

Many programs are flexible, you should speak with the Director. For most students the 2/PhD/1.5 route makes most sense, but exceptions are frequently made.

 

[surge]

At Yale you do ~2.5 years of MS before starting in the lab. In other words, you do 6-8 months of clinical rotations before you start your research. In addition, many people do one afternoon a week in the clinic throughout their years in the lab, and this counts as another clinical rotation ('longitudinal rotation').
But as Gfunk6 said, many programs are very flexible. I know that here people have done everything from 1/Phd to 3/Phd.
Also, does anyone know whether Duke's averages really are down to 6 years for MSTP?

 

[Neuronix]

Also, does anyone know whether Duke's averages really are down to 6 years for MSTP?

They told me 7.2 was their average when I interviewed. The lowest for MSTP, but not by a year.

 

[Alexs42]

At Vanderbilt, a popular trend in the last few years is to do 1st yr med-PhD (3-5 av:~3.5)-2nd-3rd-4th med. About half of last years class did it that way. I did it also, but for different reasons (complicated story including moving from overseas) and thought it was a great idea. 1st med year is not that strikingly important anyway, and 2nd year is when we do Path, Pharm, Lab Dx, Phys Dx, Neurosci.. all the major Step 1 topics (except micro&physio, but they can be easily reviewed). Knowing these things cold when entering 3rd yr is a great advantage, and also obviates the whole issue of taking all USMLE Steps within the 7-yr time-frame as required by some states (meaning those that do not exempt mudphuds).
Just my 2c.
Aleks Stanic

 

[lynnier79]

2 schools that i know about:

dartmouth -- does the whole PhD first, i think, so youre not as rushed

UVM -- does 2 years of MS first, but that DOES include some rotations (which start at yr 1.5) before doing the PhD, and then returning to more clerkships and electives.

 

[tedrik]

I talked to a current MSTP student at jhu and he told me that they are very flexible with their program order. Does anyone know how true this is? How many ways could there really be to mix it up?

 

[Neuronix]

UVM -- does 2 years of MS first, but that DOES include some rotations (which start at yr 1.5) before doing the PhD, and then returning to more clerkships and electives.

A couple schools do it this way now, including Penn and Baylor. Of course this would give a much greater disincentive to go do your PhD after year 1 of med school.