This is the beginning of a sticky detailing alternative options to the traditional dual degree paths* to prepare for a career as a physician scientist.
*Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD); Institutional MD/PhD programs; and numerous MD/master's options.
Introduction:
In becoming a physician scientist, the most important aspects that prepare you as a successful applicant to residencies and fellowships that further shape you for the ultra competitive career of a physician scientist are developing the skill sets to master methodological protocols and inter-laboratory collaboration/networking, improving your mental capacity to devise, efficiently execute, and eloquently disseminate your results, and most importantly, developing the keen ability to justify and secure funding for your research. I'll say this early,
funding is key. Graduating from a Medical Scientist Training Program (MSTP; dual MD/PhD degree program, fully tuition waived with living stipend provided by NIH) or non-MSTP MD/PhD program alone isn't by default sufficient or a guarantee that one will meet all of these goals. Some graduates of these programs, even top tier, will never see a career as a physician scientist and instead choose to enter clinical or private practice. That's fine for many, but a disappointment to those passionate about research and dedicated so much time working toward that goal. So one must carefully choose which path s/he chooses, based on life circumstances and a great deal of planning. I'm here to help you find the non-MSTP and non-MD/PhD options that don't involve adding a master's degree, yet another option that MANY of my mentors and colleagues chose. That said, I'm not discounting a master's degree during residency or fellowship as my career progresses.
My own story:
The take home of this entry is that there are alternative paths to Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTPs) and MD/PhD programs to becoming a physician scientist. There are unique reasons to pursue each path. This is my brief story of why I ultimately chose a non-MSTP, non-MD/PhD, and (for now) non-master's degree physician scientist path:
I did a great deal of professional clinical and volunteer bench research before coming to medical school, resulting in a first author pub, several coauthored pubs, a first author oral presentation at a national neurological conference, all with a bachelor's degree, and numerous other oral and poster presentations before even finishing undergrad. So as a late medicine bloomer starting in my 30s and misjudging my competitiveness while applying, by the time I realized I
was competitive, I felt that the time commitment of an MSTP transfer, difficult in its own right, was beyond what I needed to begin my physician scientist career. My current school offers a non-MSTP [non-NIH financial supplements] MD/PhD program, which only gives you stipend and tuition waiver for graduate phase, charging full fees during medical phase, not to mention lack of expertise and eminence.
But I knew that I still wanted to become a physician scientist. I did lots of research before starting medical school to find research opportunities and found the Howard Hughes Medical Institute's (HHMI's) very competitive Medical Research Fellow program. I searched high and low, EARLY, to find potential labs and mentors. I was ultimately accepted to my second choice at a top 10 institution during my M1 year. The program begins by completing an initial summer phase at an institution and with a mentor of your choosing to ensure that you show promise, productivity, and get along well with your potential lab. I completed it quite successfully and now reapply based on those summer results and evaluations to take a year off to do the meat of my fellowship, which I’ll complete after I finish M3 to accommodate my fiancée's academic schedule. However, most students choose to do this between M2 and M3, which I highly recommend. You'll be better off clinically to continue M3 to M4 in a seamless fashion. During M4, I’ll apply to residencies with heavy research emphases and protected research time (hopefully urology if my Step 1 results are competitive enough) and then a fellowship (neurourology is the current hope).
All that said, I still wish I knew earlier that I was competitive enough for MSTPs and pursued that pathway from the beginning. It’s what I always wanted, but never thought I was good enough based on my MCAT. It wasn’t until I was accepted to my top choice medical school as an out-of-state (OOS) regular MD student, a school that would’ve charged me $375k for cost of attendance, that I contacted their MSTP and was told that I “should’ve applied; we’d have definitely offered you an interview.” :/ The tuition waivers and stipends of the MSTP would’ve helped me greatly. I was already in immense debt from private university tuition and private loans before starting med school (>$150k before starting medical school, albeit with partial scholarship) that still haunt me today. They’re freaking charging me despite being in school because they’re private loans, not federal. So please do take that however it may apply to you.
*Caveat: If you decide late, you can still apply to the HHMI year-long without having done the summer trial phase.
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Now on to your options.
I'll be honest, securing funding will take you the furthest in your career. When you apply for research oriented residencies, fellowships, and/or junior physician scientist faculty positions, the reviewers now look at funding more heavily than your publications or even the impact of those publications. For instance, one seminal paper in
Nature with no record of securing funding was once sufficient, but now looks much less palatable than an applicant that has several low impact papers, or even none, but has a record of securing multiple training grants or other financial awards to conduct research. This is straight from the mouths of my attending physician scientist and post-doc PhD mentors at a top 10 institution that have
sat on these committees.
The take home here is that I recommend you opt for the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), National Institutes of Health (NIH), or other path in which you're awarded funds in a peer-reviewed fashion. Finding a lab and mentor with whom you get along and taking a year off or more to do research is also an option, and may land you the skills and productivity necessary for the residency you need to begin securing funding, but has been ill-advised by my mentors. Take that as you wish. They're all options.
I'll be updating these options as I have time to research them. Please send me a PM if any of these links become inactive so I can update them:
A) This is where I claim the most expertise: Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), a private funded institution specializing in high-risk, high-yield research.
1.
HHMI Summer Program (initial research, meant to evaluate mentor-mentee fit and potential)
-->
Search for your mentor early! The month you begin school is best. Mentor MUST be an HHMI investigator at this phase.
^^>>
Here's the list of mentors openly stating they're willing to accept summer students.
-->Contact
several mentors, using
1-3 sentence emails max, and attach your CV--many PIs will ask for letters from previous mentors/labs.
-->Once taken on by a mentor, your application is equal parts mentor and mentee, begin early.
-->Applications are NOT rolling: Take your time with revisions.
2.
HHMI Year Program (largest chunk of research, meant to show productivity and fit for research oriented residencies or post-docs)
-->same as above, but mentor "not required" to be HHMI investigator, but still "highly recommended."
-->if choosing a non-HHMI investigator, s/he must currently hold an active
NIH R01 grant, demonstrate publication productivity, and be willing to take the time to provide you with sufficient mentorship to achieve your novel,
discovery-based project proposal.
B) I'd love to hear from those completing these programs: National Institutes of Health (NIH), our federally funded conglomeration of biomedical research institutes.
1. NIH various short programs (
NIEH, summer open to med students;
research electives open to rotating M3/M4s)
2.
NIH's year-long MSRP (intended for those finishing third year)
--I believe these fall under NIH regulation, but offer their own separate funding opportunities at various medical schools and research hospitals, the regulatory formalities and specifics with which I'm not yet fully familiar. Would also love to hear from someone completing one of these.
3. NIDDK
Short-term & Long-term Funding Options as a med student
4. ASBMB
Opportunities by State
More will be added as I have time. Please feel free to send me opportunities that you've completed or with which you're familiar. That'll cut down on my own time committments.
I can also add some prose about my own evolving experience using the private funding route. I could also start a rolling "Ask an MD student physician scientist," but don't see that as being as popular or necessary yet. As always, feel free to ask me questions personally, or depending on how Neuronix decides to implement this thread, post a reply.
-G