question about being an MD/PhD applicant

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Mmeow

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I just have a couple questions about MD/PhD programs in general.
Do I need to have a specific topic of interest (like specific research topic) to apply to MD/PhD program? and do I need research experiences with the topic? If so, how much?

I only know that I am interested in certain field (neuro) and want to go into a career where I can do scientific research along with an MD. Is this too broad?

I am currently working full-time in a research & development (R&D) lab in a medical device company (it's been a year now.) but this field is not related to neuro at all (it's diagnostics, more related to immunology and biochemistry of infectious diseases.) I got interested in research after I started working here (before then I did not have a solid research experience) and though I don't consider going into diagnostic field I feel like my experiences I gained here would help.. since the basic principles of researches are the same..

Am I gonna be too weak? Would I need a lot more than what I have right now to be a decent MD\PhD applicant? Thank you.
 
You'd probably want about 2 yrs of basic science research experience before applying. Some MD/PhD programs don't require the students to get basic bio PhD (some let one do PhDs in BME, comp bio, humanities?) - it's program dependent. Though playing it safe and having some basic science (bio, chem, biochem, engineering, etc) shouldn't preclude you from any programs barring no other red flags. Also doing well on the MCAT (515+) and having a strong GPA (3.8+) helps a lot.
 
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