Questions from a potential PhD to MD

[sbeausol]

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I received my PhD in 2007 from Harvard Medical in Cell Biology, and currently post-doc at harvard. My reasons to potentially pursue an MD are pretty similar to most PhD->MD ers but i have some general questions on what i may need to do to get my app in good shape. I would say my uGPA is fine at 3.7 with my science GPA around 3.9. I've got 2 high impact first author pubs and 12 total pubs with more to come. Back in my undergrad years i ran a program called hospital encounters where we visited different hospital departments every other week and got to learn what they did. In addition, i was president of the biology honor society. Aside from a solid MCAT, what else do i need to round out my app? Do i need to volunteer? Any other ideas?

Thanks for any input

 

[DrMidlife]

Damn, you're in great shape.

Think ahead (like now) about letters of recommendation. When you ask for one, ask "can you give me a strong positive letter?" and if the person doesn't immediately respond with enthusiasm, find somebody else. This is also a great opportunity to get feedback on a draft personal statement.

The only thing I'd maybe add to your app package is some current volunteering, such as a 4 hr/wk shift in an ER or something. Do something that sounds like fun, that also gets you in the same room with sick folks.

Make sure to get up to speed on health care policy and bioethics - NYT or WSJ health pages are good for this.

I highly recommend interview practice. Spend some money on a decent suit and get it tailored. Make sure you feel like a million bucks in it. Get your PI to bully some PI friends that you don't know into mock interviewing you. Videotape it. Collect feedback and respond to negatives.

Lastly, take advantage of every MD/DO you meet, from now on. Harass them about job satisfaction, financial issues, legal issues, etc. Ideally find a male ob/gyn who is ready to retire, and collect that earful - that's a one-sitting education.

Best of luck to you.

 

[Scottish Chap]

If you've not already done so, read the PhD-to-MD section here:http://74.202.11.228/showpost.php?p=6420517&postcount=6. Many of the questions you have asked/not asked are answered there.

Based on your academic success and pedigree, you should be in good shape for applying to medical school. However, you are going to need three additional things. 1. A competitive MCAT score. This is critical. 2. Volunteer and/or paid experiences around physicians so that you can honestly convince the Admission Committee you understand what you are getting into. 3. A convincing personal statement and interview performance explaining that a medical degree is a logical step for you and that you are not jumping ship. Medical schools will anticipate that you want to be a physician scientist and, even if that's true, many won't believe you.

Welcome, and good luck!

 

[QofQuimica]

If you've not already done so, read the PhD-to-MD section here:http://74.202.11.228/showpost.php?p=6420517&postcount=6. Many of the questions you have asked/not asked are answered there.

Based on your academic success and pedigree, you should be in good shape for applying to medical school. However, you are going to need three additional things. 1. A competitive MCAT score. This is critical. 2. Volunteer and/or paid experiences around physicians so that you can honestly convince the Admission Committee you understand what you are getting into. 3. A convincing personal statement and interview performance explaining that a medical degree is a logical step for you and that you are not jumping ship. Medical schools will anticipate that you want to be a physician scientist and, even if that's true, many won't believe you.

Welcome, and good luck!

Just wanted to second all of this.

OP, you are starting at a much better place than many nontrad applicants--especially with no GPA hole to climb out of like many people have. If you can score at least a 30 on the MCAT and you increase your clinical exposure a bit, I think you will do well (assuming strong LORs and essays).

Best of luck to you. 🙂

 

[sbeausol]

I appreciate the input.

I'll have solid LORs, and I'll start my MCAT work in Jan, taking it in March, shooting for mid 30s. I'm actually quite pleased about the format change, in 2000 it would have been a much more grueling test... I was either going to grad school or med school from undergrad so i built my resume that way. Luckily at HMS I'm surrounded by medicine so it should be easy for me to soak up some residents for info and shadow time.

For obvious reasons i would love to stay at HMS, is it worth poking around admissions etc gathering info, getting my name/face out, or not worth my time?

For those of you who are science PhDs did that help on the MCAT at all? My program focused on critical reading, lots of science, and expected a lot from you to earn your degree. My PhD work is based on organic chem and cell bio. I was an adjunct Gen Chem prof so apart from physics i feel like i am much better suited to do well on the MCAT then i was coming out of college? Any of you science PhDs have an opinion on this? Either way I'll give it the time it deserves but I am curious of what others have experienced...

 

[QofQuimica]

For obvious reasons i would love to stay at HMS, is it worth poking around admissions etc gathering info, getting my name/face out, or not worth my time?

Don't see how it could hurt. Just understand that getting into med school (*any* med school) is loads harder than getting into grad school (*any* grad school). Even if you are a stellar applicant, there is a lot of subjectivity in the admissions process, and no guarantees. One thing you might do if Harvard offers it is apply there early-decision. This is a program offered by some schools where they give you early and extra consideration. In return, you agree to attend there and not apply elsewhere if accepted. This is not the best option for most people, but for someone like you with a strong academic record and a compelling need/desire to attend a certain school, it can be a reasonable option. Not all schools offer ED, so you'll have to check with their admissions office if you think you might be interested.

For those of you who are science PhDs did that help on the MCAT at all?

I am an organic chem PhD. In my opinion, no. The MCAT requires no science background more advanced than sophomore-level organic.

My program focused on critical reading, lots of science, and expected a lot from you to earn your degree. My PhD work is based on organic chem and cell bio. I was an adjunct Gen Chem prof so apart from physics i feel like i am much better suited to do well on the MCAT then i was coming out of college? Any of you science PhDs have an opinion on this? Either way I'll give it the time it deserves but I am curious of what others have experienced...

Sounds about like what I was doing when I applied (instructor for organic and gen chem). Again, I don't think that my chem teaching experience or grad level coursework helped much for the MCAT. What really *will* be a help is having excellent critical reasoning skills. That's the main thing the MCAT tests, not your science knowledge. If you look at the AAMC MCAT stats, you will see that humanities majors are among the highest scoring students; they tend to significantly outperform most science students. This is not surprising when you consider the type of training they get at reading dense prose and analyzing it.

You should take a practice test before you begin in January and see where you're at. Ideally you will get 10+ in each subsection. VR is the hardest section for most people to improve in, so if that's a weakness for you, don't blow it off. There's nothing to study for VR and no quick fix to scoring well--improving your score is a matter of consistent practice and learning from your mistakes over a period of several months. Best of luck to you. 🙂

 

[beepbeep]

Making contacts around HMS admissions is probably not a bad thing to do. There are probably people with whom you already work who play a role in admissions--- find out and start talking them up. It sounds like you stand a decent chance of getting in there, so getting your application an "extra look" may push you over to that side.
As far as the advantage of a science PhD in the science portion of the MCAT, I think you have a pretty major one. Most of the questions are based on journal-type passages, and as a PhD who has lived and breathed "science speak" for many years, reading and analyzing these passages will be a breeze. As a molec bio PhD myself, I found that I had to invest some major study time in my "weak spots" not covered by my PhD training, such as O-chem and physiology. However, once I did that, I pulled off a 14 in that section pretty easily.
Good luck to you and congratulations on starting on this exciting journey. Once I decided to do the PhD-->MD transition, I know I was a MUCH happier person. I have had NO regrets about doing this, despite the considerable challenges along the way. Please feel free to PM me (is that how you say it?) if you have any questions.

 

[sbeausol]

Thanks for some great feedback, from the sounds of it, i've got a good idea of how to proceed, now it's just a question of getting it done.

After spending about 7 years in science, i know medicine probably would have been the better choice for me, and at this point my only concerns are the time it will take for me to get a "real job" and the debt. What specialties are you science PhDs favoring?