Am I able to PM you for a more specific assessment?
This ^^^^^ makes a lot of sense. I don't have first hand experience, but, when you think about it, it just makes a lot of sense.
I agree with the notion of “can’t be everything to everyone” but will strongly disagree with a competitive MD/PhD applicant cannot be a competitive MD only applicant and vice-versa
I'm not pursuing MD/PhD, so I don't know the answer, but, do you know whether schools typically allow you to apply to both simultaneously? If so, your point is well taken. If not, why do you think that is?
Ah, I understand the confusion/miscommunication. I intended to state that someone who is a well qualified MD/PhD applicant could equally be competitive for MD only if they so chose. Most schools do not evaluate concurrently.
But if I want to do MD/PhD but ultimately MD is my goal, it would behoove me to worry more about MD only applications than MD/PhD?
Ngl this just confused me. Why do you wanna do MD/PhD if MD-only is your goal? Just do MD-only lol
Like I want to do MD/PhD but I would rather matriculate MD only than get rejected MD/PhD and have to apply again. I believe I am competitive for both, but MD/PhD competitiveness is something else.
Is it really though? While there are fewer slots, the applicant pool is also much smaller.
Yes, it's statistically more difficult. The applicant pool overall is smaller, but the applicant:matriculant ratio is larger. Plus MD/PhD students are expected to have both higher stats (511.5/3.73 for MD vs 516.2/3.8 for MD/PhD) and far more research experience.
Yeah I understand, that is a more complex decision. Honestly if MD/PhD is what you want, I'd recommend going all in and applying to every MD/PhD program you're interested in and competitive for. And check the box that asks for MD consideration should you not get into the MD/PhD program. Even though it can lead to a bit of delay, it's not a death sentence to your application.
Yes, yes. Agreed!! My point was to spread it around to different schools and not try to do both at the same school unless they allow you to apply concurrently. Even when a school allows you to be considered for MD after MD/PhD, you are disadvantaged not only by the time delay, but also by the fact that the school knows you are gunning for MD/PhD. This causes you to bump into resource protection at many schools, which is likely another reason why @BRTC200 had a difficult time with MD-only IIs.
Interesting that 9 MD/PhD interviews turned in to only* 2 MD acceptances. I didn’t realize they were that selective post-interview. Would you say most MD/PhD applicants get in MD only somewhere? I am applying TMDSAS MD only as well to cover my bases but just want to be more aware.
WHile I was weaker MD/PHD candidate and also I pulled out of the md/phd applications pretty early May be begining of april as I had changed my mind.
Is April early for MD/PhD cycle?
what I was meaning was may be I could have got one or 2 acceptances Had I not pulled out my app early. again it is speculation.
Only applying to those schools would like end in complete disaster imo... Those are top tier schools and research institutions.
He wasn’t recommending JUST applying to those schools, just that those schools more align with my competitiveness and interests.
What is the reality of ‘safety schools’ with MD/PhD? Adding in the PhD component, one’s own interests really does mean one should only apply to programs that match their goals, right? Like I am looking at it and my research interests/career goals are only possible/best align with maybe 10 MSTP schools. Would it be realistic to apply MD/PhDto 10 schools and MD only to 20 more?
For me, I would rather be a physician than a physician scientist at a program that doesn’t cleanly align with my career trajectory.....Is that the wrong view to have?
I don't think so depending on your research interests and career trajectory! It is a big decision to commit 8 years to something you may not enjoy for the whole time. Although I do think the support and training from any established program can help you attain your goals, depending on how specific your goals are I guess.
I'm going to be honest, this is not good advice imo. I think you should absolutely apply to those schools, but there are numerous other MD/PhD programs (especially MSTPs) that are also really solid and will get you where you need to be. Keep in mind that for MD/PhDs, the PhD portion should really be the defining factor when you're choosing schools. WashU and Penn have the biggest (and best, imo) MSTPs, but many other MD/PhD programs are awesome. If you're going to make a distinction for application purposes, then my recommendation would be to apply to fully-funded MD/PhD programs (with the goal of matriculating MSTP, since they have the funding and usually much better internal structures to make their students successful).
Could you elaborate on why you think only 10 will align well with your interests/career goals? And also why you think there are MD-only programs that will align with this better than MSTPs? If you don't want to say here, you can also PM me.
My way of deciding MD/PhD vs MD-only is basically a geography based school list, selecting MSTP programs from my school list, then removing a few schools which don’t necessarily match my interests. It works out to about 10 MSTP programs and 20 MD only programs.
Seems realistic to me. That being said your interests may change and a core part of MD/PhD training is to provide a broad exposure of various fields so I wouldn't remove schools based off of research interests. I would personally just apply MD/PhD everywhere if I was competitve and interested and apply MD only to schools where an MSTP program doesn't exist.
He said application, not applicant. And if tailored specifically to MSTP, it likely won’t read well for MD only.
All of the advice I have been given has been to write the main application normally. There are 13,000 characters plus MD/PhD specific questions on secondaries all completely devoted to the PhD. The rest of my application is written for MD.
At my school the two application processes are separate.
Thank you, I Appreciate your responding anyway. Do you know if we have an MD/PhD ADCOM on here or anyone to provide assessment of scholastic work?
Consider editing the title of this thread to attract preferred input.
Maybe Consider also asking in the MD/PhD Physician Scientist forums.
We have that? I need to go find my people, said the black sheep in his flock of chickens.
in case you don't see it, under Research....
forums.studentdoctor.net
