Okay - again I'm going to throw this out there for someone with more experience to comment on it:
I've been reading about MD/PhD procedures for TMDSAS but since I didn't apply MD/PhD this is all coming from scratch for me. Could someone who did apply hit the high points for me! Thanks.
Do MD/PhD applicants use TMDSAS as well?
How do schools schedule their MD/PhD interviews? Are they on different days or the same?
Is it possible to apply both pure MD and MD/PhD at the same time?
How do schools usually notify MD/PhD applicants if they are accepted? When can I expect to hear? What's the earliest I could hear?
If I'm an MD/PhD or MD/MBA or any other dual degree applicant, can I still participate in the match?
MD/PhD applications are a MESS. After it's all over with, I still don't know how it works, and there is no consistency between schools from what I can tell.
For questions about the application process, always call/email the administrative assistant for the specific MD/PhD program. No one in the MD admissions office or even TMDSAS knows what's going on.
Here's what I know for UTSW and UT-Houston, the only two TMDSAS MD/PhD schools I applied to (and I may still be confused, so do correct it if you know better).
UTSW MSTP
Website:
http://www.utsouthwestern.edu/utsw/cda/dept21912/files/171203.html
To Apply
Your primary (and only) application is AMCAS. Then, all you need to do is mail in LORs to the MSTP office.
Interviews
Starting towards the end of August, they begin to invite applicants to interview. This year MD/PhD interviews started the last week of September and continued through the middle of January, every other week. 6-10 people are invited for each session, grand total around 70-80.
First Interview: You have to fund your own travel to UTSW and it takes place over Friday and Saturday. Friday - you go on rounds with M3s and M4s in the morning, join the current MSTP M1s and M2 for a student run journal club with lunch, afternoon you have 3 interviews with MSTP committee members, and that night you are taken out to dinner with current students. Saturday: business casual and you join the MD-only applicants for their interview day. During their interviews, you meet with the MSTP director for a Q&A. Otherwise, you do all the other MD activities.
Response: 2-4 weeks post-interview, the director will give you a phone call if you're invited back to Second Interview, held in February.
Second Interview: 40-50 people are invited back for Second Interview. UTSW foots the bill entirely for this trip. Thurs-Saturday, mostly wining and dining with 2 more interviews with committee members and ample opportunity to meet students. See
www.mdphds.org for more details about interview days. It'll take paragraphs to describe the weekend fully.
Response: As soon as 3 days post-interview, accepted applicants are called by the director. I think up to 30 are eventually accepted for about 12-15 positions.
Now, as far as applying MSTP and MD only, things get more complicated and I get more confused. If you want to be considered for UTSW MD-only, I believe it's entirely separate. You have to fill out the TMDSAS application, the UTSW secondary, and send the MD office your letters. Now, if all goes well with the MSTP, you don't hear a thing about the MD side of the application - no separate interview, no match, etc. This is where my expertise ends and I start postulating. If you get rejected by the MSTP pre-interview or post-first interview (if you have an early enough interview), then I believe you can request your application be reviewed by the MD committee, then go the normal application route. If you get rejected later, I think you're SOL (do correct if that's wrong).
UT Houston MD/PhD
Website:
http://www.uth.tmc.edu/gsbs/programs/mdphd/index.html
To Apply
Your primary application is AMCAS. Your secondary application is TMDSAS. You need to send 1 LOR research specific to TMDSAS, in addition to the LOR requested by TMDSAS.
Interviews
I think the MD and MD/PhD program run their interviews separately. I was invited to interview MD-only in August, but the MD/PhD interviews don't start until October. Some MD/PhD applicants (Houston ones) went ahead and attended this MD-only interview. I contacted both offices about MD/PhD interviews and, eventually many emails later, was able to reschedule my interview so that both were on the same weekend. I think about 8-12 people are invited to each interview session. I have no idea how many interview sessions they hold. Thursday is the MD/PhD interview day. My memory is hazy, but there is a morning introduction and Q&A with students and faculty. In the morning, you interview with 2-3 MSTP committee members including one of the directors. For lunch, you're taken to a nice penthouse restaurant in TMC and talk with students and faculty. In the afternoon, you have a few more interviews. That evening, you're treated to dinner out in Houston with current students. On Friday, you participate fully in the MD-only interview day (if you haven't already done so at an earlier date).
Reponse: You can be accepted to the MD-only program starting Nov 15 with pre-match offers via email. MD/PhD acceptances begin in December, also via email. They have 4-5 positions each year. I don't know how many they accept to fill those positions. Since you do the MD and MD/PhD interviews and applications in parallel, you're already in consideration for both programs.
Ok, that's what I know. There are definitely gaps and maybe errors in what I wrote. Please correct if you can. UTMB and A&M have their own procedures that I don't know about. Oh and of note, if you apply MD/PhD to only a few programs, the schools you applied MD-only to will get your full application and not an MD-only version of your application. All TMDSAS schools will know that you applied to MD/PhD programs and see your research essays (and ask annoying questions in the interviews about it).
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