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guitarman08

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I want to be a physician but need some advice. A little bit of background:

Texas resident

uGPA: 3.48; science is a 3.3x something
Major: Biomedical Science & Biochemistry
not Texas A&M/UT/Rice/Baylor (smaller state school)

MPH in Epidemiology (top 25 program)
GPA: 3.89

My dissertation is scheduled for sometime before the end of this year. PhD *will be awarded by a UK institution (known in the UK, not so much outside... unless you are into premier league); however, I was funded by a well-established engineering school in the US. The other parts of my PhD were funded by the UK government and a US biotech company. I spent three years in the UK and completed the final year doing research at a US biotech company (therapeutics).

During my four years in undergrad, I completed emergency room shadowing and held a secretary position in two student organizations. I did not complete any research during this period. I think I was on the deans list once and received a scholarship for completing high school in three years. I worked on campus tutoring socioeconomically disadvantaged students in STEM disciplines for two and a half years. I spent one-week at a time, on two separate occasions, at an orphanage in India just being a helper of sorts.

During my two years in graduate school: I was the historian of a large student organization one year and the president the other. During this period, volunteer programs with Habitat for Humanity, an equine assisted therapy facility, and a journal club were established. I was also voted in as chair of a committee consisting of faculty department heads that handled matters pertaining to student affairs. I worked as a teaching assistant and as a graduate assistant. The teaching assistant role consisted of running a class, grading, and handling student inquiries. The graduate assistant role related to grants and BARDA proposals. Additionally, a six month practicum consisting of the development of a tracking system for medication compliance at an NGO in South Africa was completed - built some much needed stairs too. I received a scholarship from the DHHS.

I spent the majority of my PhD doing research 🙂 A good chunk of this research is not published due to IP rights and other agreements in place; however, I have one first-author publication in the leading journal in the field (Impact Factor 6.0X) for a novel contribution (at least a few people think it's novel).

I took the MCAT once about five years ago and did not perform well (a 25 I think not sure). I did not give it the attention or respect it deserved. Other than that I like to travel a bit, 30+ different countries (I enjoy food and people).

I did not really attend any big-name schools (excluding the MPH) and the biotech company is not a household name. I guess what I am looking for is some guidance. What should I target for the MCAT in hopes of a Texas school? Is my uGPA going to break my application? Should I be doing some extracurricular stuff? Should I look into a post bacc.

With an MD, PhD, MPH, what are some jobs out there that fuse medicine, engineering, and public health? I am aware there is no role that allows you to simultaneously pursue all three.

Lastly, I am by no means chasing degrees or afraid to leave academia. I have always wanted to be a physician or surgeon; however, life has brought me down the path I am currently on. As such, I ask myself if I am too old but I am constantly reminded to ask myself how old I will be if I do not. I am 26 years old and would ideally like to start in the earliest practical timeframe possible (I think that equates to less than two-years).

Thanks in advance for any optimism or the inevitable criticism 🙂
 
I just got a kick out of reading my last post from 7 years ago... ha!... how much has changed, especially that uGPA 🙁

Also, I am not sure about the India volunteer dates... will need to revisit
 
I hope to complete my PhD in chemical engineering here within the next three months. Aside from that, I work full-time for the biotech company I started out doing research at. Now I am looking at what steps I need to take.
 
guitarman08 said:
I hope to complete my PhD in chemical engineering here within the next three months. Aside from that, I work full-time for the biotech company I started out doing research at. Now I am looking at what steps I need to take.
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So your MPH was in the US and your PhD was in the UK?

Your Ugpa is not that bad and I imagine this was from several years ago. DO Schools will include your MPH gpa into their calculations, MD will not. The PhD looks good but may raise eyebrows that it was not completed in the US.

The next step for you is to create an MCAT study plan and take it in January, Feb or March of next year.
 
Thank you for your reply workaholic181.

Yes, the MPH was completed in the US and the PhD is being completed in the UK.

My undergraduate studies were completed in 2011.

The PhD is nontraditional/unique in the sense that it was research heavy but also industrially relevant, as well as part of a larger international collaboration.

So what do you think I should target for a decent chance at a US allopathic program?
 
Wow, ok, that was my bad. I'm getting sleepy and I read your 2nd post and assumed that you were resurrecting an old post (i.e. the first post in this thread was from 7 years ago). So yeah, took me awhile to figure all that out.

I agree with everything @workaholic181 has said except for the part about the international PhD. A UK PhD won't be viewed negatively.

Your GPA is a little on the low side for MD, but here is a nice chart to show you the chances from the 2016-17 app cycle.

Although it only goes up to 517+, you can see that you'd need at least a 510 to have a 50/50 shot of being accepted at your GPA level. As a non-trad with significant research, you're already a bit exceptional, but I'd still shoot for a 515+. Reason one is that it just makes your app that much stronger. Reason two is that, based upon your history, there's no reason you can't do it with relative ease. You've excelled academically for years, so you kinda need to keep that trend. The other MCAT is so old that it will probably not factor in much; if they ask you about it, you can just be honest about what happened.
 
guitarman08 said:
Thank you for your reply workaholic181.

Yes, the MPH was completed in the US and the PhD is being completed in the UK.

My undergraduate studies were completed in 2011.

The PhD is nontraditional/unique in the sense that it was research heavy but also industrially relevant, as well as part of a larger international collaboration.

So what do you think I should target for a decent chance at a US allopathic program?
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You're an American citizen right? It's hard for me to say since you're definitely a unique applicant, in a good way. I think if you had a 510 and applied broadly you'd get an MD acceptance. Your research background will bode well for you. Your sgpa is low for MD. And you're also going to need some clinical experience to justify exactly what motivated you to come back to medicine (forgive me if you have some and mentioned it above, I just glanced).
 
Ok I still haven't figured out how to quote stuff!

I don't blame you for being tired DocJanitor haha.

@workaholic181 I am a US citizen. I mentioned I did clinical shadowing during undergrad but I guess it would not hurt to do some more.

Do you guys know what type of schools I should aim for?
 
guitarman08 said:
Ok I still haven't figured out how to quote stuff!

I don't blame you for being tired DocJanitor haha.

@workaholic181 I am a US citizen. I mentioned I did clinical shadowing during undergrad but I guess it would not hurt to do some more.

Do you guys know what type of schools I should aim for?
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I think you may need more recent clinical experience to bolster your app if possible.

It really depends on MCAT, but if I were you I would apply to schools like Temple, Jefferson, NYMC, BU, etc.
 
I'm going to have to defer to someone like @Goro on this one, as your unusual combination of uGPA, research (though non-clinical), and education makes this a horse of a different color.

I'd check the MSAR and apply broadly to any school where your uGPA is above their 10th percentile of accepted students. More applications means more $$$, but it's probably worth the risk for your situation (if you have the money to spare).
 
Thank you @DocJanItor

I would not say I am risk averse, but at the same time I am sensible. I am sure the probability of rejection from Harvard is 99.9999999%; however, I guess the MSAR may assist with narrowing any potential reach destinations. I spent countless hours googling, trying to find someone in a similar situation, to no avail.

I find people with PhDs (mostly basic science research... not so much engineering). I do not seem to find people with a PhD and MPH obtained separately prior to applying for medical school admission. There is plenty of information regarding dual MD/PhD or MD/MPH options though.
 
Yeah, your situation is fairly unique, but I don't think it makes you incomparable to others. The field of your PhD doesn't really matter, only that you do well and you have good LORs. The MPH is cool, and I think that will make you a more attractive candidate as you will have additional health care perspectives that most med students do not.

At the end of the day, your uGPA is high enough to get your application in front of human eyes at a lot of schools. That's when things like your personal statement, secondary answers, etc. make the difference and get the interview. Then you have to show up and dazzle them with your tale and (in some ways) tell them what they want to hear.

You really want to show them you're the real deal with a killer MCAT score. I think that will be a defining aspect of how far you can reach. But go pay $25 for the MSAR and start looking at schools that will look at cGPAs and sGPAs like yours. My thinking of it always was "ok, I'm going to be dragging down their GPA stats, so I should at least be raising their MCAT stats." I know this is a simplistic view, but it at least gives them some solid evidence to say "ok, he ****ed up before but he's back on track now."
 
guitarman08 said:
Ok I still haven't figured out how to quote stuff!

I don't blame you for being tired DocJanitor haha.

@workaholic181 I am a US citizen. I mentioned I did clinical shadowing during undergrad but I guess it would not hurt to do some more.

Do you guys know what type of schools I should aim for?
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I do not think that you're a viable candidate for a US program. Internationals have to be Harvard/Stanford caliber, and they usually come in via the parent UG school.

Fine for the 14 or so DO schools that take internationals.

Your MPH GPA will be ignored by MD schools.
 
Goro said:
I do not think that you're a viable candidate for a US program. Internationals have to be Harvard/Stanford caliber, and they usually come in via the parent UG school.

Fine for the 14 or so DO schools that take internationals.

Your MPH GPA will be ignored by MD schools.
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OP is a US citizen though.
 
Goro said:
UG GPA is pretty much lethal for OP for MD. ALL DO are doable in this case though.

To reiterate, graduate degrees are not considered by MD schools. You're expected to do well in grad school.
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I guess I have to question the assertion that he's DOA for MD, because the stats I used above and the stats at Applicants and Matriculants Data - FACTS: Applicants, Matriculants, Enrollment, Graduates, MD/PhD, and Residency Applicants Data - Data and Analysis - AAMC say that he's right near 1SD of the mean total GPA. 510 or above in that GPA range gets you at least a 50% chance of success, which increases with MCAT score. And his GPA range for MCAT 510 and up is about 550 acceptees from 950 applicants, so we're not talking about statistical error or special cases.
 
@Goro and @DocJanItor thank you for the responses. My current overall state is confused. There are some conflicting conflicting opinions ranging from lethal chances to 50% chance of success (with a decent MCAT).
 
guitarman08 said:
@Goro and @DocJanItor thank you for the responses. My current overall state is confused. There are some conflicting conflicting opinions ranging from lethal chances to 50% chance of success (with a decent MCAT).
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If I were you man, I would start prepping for the MCAT, and get some clinical volunteering under your belt simultaneously. Take it and see how you do, aim for the best score you can get. Be open to DO schools (there are several fantastic DO programs out there) and see how this plays out if its what you want to do.
 
DocJanItor said:
I guess I have to question the assertion that he's DOA for MD, because the stats I used above and the stats at Applicants and Matriculants Data - FACTS: Applicants, Matriculants, Enrollment, Graduates, MD/PhD, and Residency Applicants Data - Data and Analysis - AAMC say that he's right near 1SD of the mean total GPA. 510 or above in that GPA range gets you at least a 50% chance of success, which increases with MCAT score. And his GPA range for MCAT 510 and up is about 550 acceptees from 950 applicants, so we're not talking about statistical error or special cases.
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Take a look at MSAT and see what the medians are for individual schools. Those tables are misleading because they are skewed by lucky state schools that favor their own residents, who have lower stats.

In addition, rising GPA trends can outshine a less competitive cGPA.
 
@Goro Well I think my GPA did trend a little bit upward. Aside from that, my best bet is a decent MCAT score and hope that Texas shows me some love!

It has been a goal of mine to get accepted for a while. Hopefully, a value add of 0.1 on the GPA is not the deciding factor... otherwise, that would be a complete letdown.
 
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