PharmD to MD

[PharmDtoMD2018]

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I am 27 y/o and have finished undergrad back in 2011 with a bachelor's in biology and specialization in Developmental genetics. I was NOT a motivated student by any means and finished in 4 years with a 3.2 GPA (sGPA certainly lower, can't recall at the moment)

After that I took a year off from school knowing that I was going to go into pharmaceuticals as I really wanted to be in a setting where there is global impact on healthcare. Anyways, I became extremely motivated during this time off, studied my a** off and got a really good score on the PCAT. Got accepted into Pharmacy school and eventually finished with a 3.8 GPA. I also have a ton of extracurricular activities that I was involved in during this time.

I am currently doing a postdoc research/corporate fellowship (not a PhD) with one of the best pharmacy schools in the US and one of the biggest pharma companies in the world. I have a good amount of research experience, corporate experience and clinical experience through pharmacy school and the fellowship. I have research publications, presented posters at conferences etc

In the Pharma world, as a Doctor of Pharmacy I have a pretty high ceiling, however, my fellowship is nearing its end and as I'm looking for jobs, I noticed a lot of MD's are competing for the same jobs. I am confident in my abilities to work in this environment however, I am concerned my options might be limited given the competition and because of my PharmD.

As I mentioned, my primary goal is to improve patient healthcare whether it be through research and/or advocacy on a global scale. My goal is not just to work at a clinic/hospital and see patients everyday per say. I have ~1.5 years of clinical experience as a pharmacy student interacting directly with patients (mainly counseling for chronic conditions like diabetes, hypertension and many others). I very much enjoyed my clinical experiences kind of miss being in this setting.

I also do not want to be an MD just to be an MD or so that it will help me become an exec in pharma as I am aware of other paths like an MBA that could help me get there as well. I value the clinical experience that I will gain through med school/residency much more and is the route I prefer to attain my long term goals.

I volunteered at a hospital before pharmacy school for about 6 months. During school (not for school), I volunteered at various health clinics numerous times, volunteered/conducted research basically for free at a small company for 3 months - again not required for school.

Given my credentials, experiences, story and say a competitive MCAT score, what are my chances of getting accepted into a medical school?

TL;DR
Undergrad GPA 3.2 (sGPA lower)
Pharmacy school GPA 3.8 (Honors)
Docot of Pharmacy (PharmD) - Experienced in research, clinical, and corporate environments (have ton of volunteer experiences)

Appreciate any information/ thoughts.

 

[pms_testosterone]

Did you post here before? I seem to remember a similar story.

Your chances are good, but I question the decision to get an MD just to work in industry. With your fellowship and your experience, you could likely work your way up into an influential position. In fact, I suspect a PhD may be more helpful than an MD in reaching your career goals, if these include research.

 

[PharmDtoMD2018]

Did you post here before? I seem to remember a similar story.

Your chances are good, but I question the decision to get an MD just to work in industry. With your fellowship and your experience, you could likely work your way up into an influential position. In fact, I suspect a PhD may be more helpful than an MD in reaching your career goals, if these include research.

I have not posted here before (actually made a new account today as I had not used my old account in a long time and could not remeber the username/pw).

While I agree to a certain extent that an MD is not 'required,' it is difficult as a PharmD to 'climb up' the corporate ladder.

To be clear though, my motivation is not to have a MD degree just to show for. I actually want to further develop my clinical skills so that I can have a bit more career flexibility - A good example is leadership roles in clinical trials. Rarely do PharmD's lead landmark clinical studies.

PhD's can technically also lead clinical studies, however, these days the programs are very specific in terms of the research involved and will certainly not help with the development of my clinical skills. There is also little involvement in these programs for healthcare advocacy. My motivation for wanting to go to medical school is to develop my clinical skills and also pursue opportunities and serve as an advocate to improve healthcare across the globe.

 

[WIMNFamilyMed]

Do you see any way an MPH or a MSN can help you reach some of your goals maybe? Would PA school be sufficient instead of an MD?
Just throwing ideas out there that are shorter commitments and might help you reach the final leadership goals. I'm guessing you've considered these other options and combos though.

To the original question: As long as committees see/agree with your line of reasoning of how an MD is the best fit for your goals, grade-wise with the recovery in PharmD you'll be fine. Volunteer/clinical experience-wise, your PharmD training and work might have provided enough - the 1.5yrs of interaction in the counseling role sounds good. They'll want some MD shadowing for sure though - maybe more than from other people since getting an MD after a PharmD could be seen as changing your mind and not being initially committed enough to the first doctorate, so why would the second one be different?

Hopefully that's some food for thought. Best of luck in your journey!