Hi everyone, I'm trying to get a read on Oregon's MD/PhD program. When I applied I thought that it was an MSTP, but it seems that I was just looking at an older website and that they no longer are MSTP funded?
That alone is not going to influence whether or not I make the trip (which is not covered at all by the program), but I'm wondering whether anyone has any input on this program, since their website is not too informative. How many students do they have, strengths, interview feedback, etc?
Thanks 🙂
I'm an MD/PhD student at OHSU and I'll answer what I can.
🙂
As for the MSTP status, yes, we technically lost the title during review last year (our program was transitioning to a new director among other things). I won't go into too much detail here, but if you want more information, feel free to PM me.
At our school, the MSTP funding had been used almost exclusively to fund first year training, so our admissions process has changed a bit since then, but not much else about the program has been affected. All accepted students are still fully funded.
As far as program size is concerned, we are a small program. Five students per year made up the incoming class until last year - due to the new shortage of MSTP funds, we only accepted two external applicants last year, and we will be doing the same this year. The remaining 3 "spots" in the program are open to internal applicants from the MD program. We are currently interviewing several MS1 and MS2 students, so we'll see if we actually select 3 to fill those program slots.
Aside from the cut in size, I am quite fond of our program and it has been undergoing a good deal of positive change in the last year. Most students choose PhD training in either the neuroscience graduate program, the program in molecular and cellular biosciences (an umbrella department encompassing everything from pharm to biochem to chemical biology), or behavioral neuro. Students also have the option of pursuing a PhD through the biomedical engineering program, the bioinformatics program, and a few others, but those were new options as of 2008 and no one has done it yet. OHSU is known for its strong programs in neuroscience and cancer research among others.
The MD curriculum is structured with 3 free afternoons per week which allow many of us to take graduate courses or work in labs during the MS1/MS2 years. Over the past year alone many changes have been made in the program (replacing OHSU's famous 3rd year rural clerkship with a translational medicine clerkship, putting "test out" procedures in place for graduate courses that overlap with medical courses, etc). Things are not perfect yet, but they are moving in the right direction.
As for the interview process - OHSU has a one day MD/PhD interview with 4 individual interviews (1 MD and 3 MD/PhD) and scattered lab visits. Students also attend the MD/PhD weekly journal club over lunch and meet informally with students over dinner as with most other programs. While the program does not reimburse for interview expenses, they will often cover the cost of a second look visit.
Oh, and we're working on the website.
😉
Feel free to get in touch if you have any other questions.
