WAMC/School List (3.75, 518, CA ORM)

[koreankandi]

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Hello, thank you for your advices to whoever are reading 🙂
.

 

[Mr.Smile12]

One thing I am looking for in the schools is the research capacity/funding of the school since I have a strong interest in research and hope to continue research through my career.

For a quick way to check:
1) Any program with an MD/PhD/MSTP NIH support, even though you don't seem to want to apply MD/PhD
2) Programs with an office promoting student research (bench, clinical, community/public)
3) Let NIH Help You in Your Research Career Goal toward Becoming a Physician-Scientist | Research Training

 

[koreankandi]

Thank you @Mr.Smile12, these resources came in very useful!
I want to serve diverse patients and I will pursue research through my career but my reluctance to apply MD/PhD is more practical - had I been 2 years or so younger, I would have definitely applied to MD/PhD. With research opportunities widely available during medical school and as MD, I am more inclined to apply to MD programs.
I ended up looking into which schools have 1) research projects tied into their curriculum/requirements 2) support for gap year research, and 3) MSTP vs MD/PhD programs. The NIH career track and their various grants will surely come in useful later in my career too.
I now have a more refined list although I still have more schools than I would like.
- UPenn, Vanderbilt, Duke, Stanford, WashU, UCSF, Cornell, Yale, Mayo, Northwestern, UChicago
- Michigan, Pitt, Mt Sinai, UCLA, UCSD, Emory, Case Western (+CCLCM), Colorado, Ohio State, USC, UVA, Boston, Rochester, Cincinnati, Albert Einstein, UMass, Hofstra, Kaiser, USF
- Wisconsin, Indiana, UC Irvine, Iowa, Miami, UC Davis, Tufts, Thomas Jefferson, Illinois - Chicago, VCU

Do you have any feedback on the list or my chances? Should I try to reduce the number of reach schools? Would my low non-clinical volunteer hours and rule out some schools? In fact, I'm not sure where the free clinic volunteer should be put into between clinical vs non-clinical volunteering as there is limited patient interaction despite working closely with physicians. Or are there schools on my list that refrain from taking in applicants without any ties to the state?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Would my low non-clinical volunteer hours and rule out some schools?

I think that depends on what you did during your conscription service.

Your list could be a little smaller if you want to be more involved in engineering-based research. You need to bump up your food bank hours (anticipated will not help you in screening so you are still vulnerable of conscription or free clinic didn't count). What is your purpose?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Adding this article with resources.

How medical student research can resonate with residency programs

For medical students with a passion for scholarship, making research a centerpiece of their residency application is a logical choice.

www.ama-assn.org

 

[koreankandi]

I think that depends on what you did during your conscription service.

Your list could be a little smaller if you want to be more involved in engineering-based research. You need to bump up your food bank hours (anticipated will not help you in screening so you are still vulnerable of conscription or free clinic didn't count). What is your purpose?

Thank you again for your guidance @Mr.Smile12!

Without too much detail, I served as an intelligence specialist. For the work and activities section, I "showed" the leadership aspect and "told" the service aspect given the limited space.

Per food bank hours, I don't think I can hit the 150hr mark before submission but I'll try to bump it up as much as I can. With my reflection of free clinic revolving around service and social disparity, I hope it is viewed as a service activity.

My purpose as a physician is to 1) serve patients by ensuring they live their lives with dignity, whether it is through curative care or palliative support to make the most of their time with loved ones 2) contribute to the development and translation of novel therapeutics and strategies that can improve patients' quality of life 3) ensure equitable access to new treatments, though I am still in the explorative stage for the last aim. Although I believe that my interests may change with exposure to other specialties, my research focus is not quite engineering-based at the moment.

How does this impact my service activities and how would you adjust my school list?

 

[Mr.Smile12]

Per food bank hours, I don't think I can hit the 150hr mark before submission but I'll try to bump it up as much as I can. With my reflection of free clinic revolving around service and social disparity, I hope it is viewed as a service activity.

Working in a free clinic -- as will most clinical opportunities -- will have service orientation already included, but most of us also want to see you be more involved in the non-healthcare aspects of the communities you serve. It will depend on your responsibilities in the free clinic to me, but some I know are more strict.

My purpose as a physician is to 1) serve patients by ensuring they live their lives with dignity, whether it is through curative care or palliative support to make the most of their time with loved ones 2) contribute to the development and translation of novel therapeutics and strategies that can improve patients' quality of life 3) ensure equitable access to new treatments, though I am still in the explorative stage for the last aim. Although I believe that my interests may change with exposure to other specialties, my research focus is not quite engineering-based at the moment.

How does this impact my service activities and how would you adjust my school list?

Activities:
1) Hospice care. Get 200+ hours. At least assisted living centers where residents may have limited mobility or ADLs.
2) Not necessarily for the OP, but I've always recommended GSK Cancer Biology PhD Program Overview to candidates interested in your second purpose statement. You may already know some investigators in this area.
3) Equitable access to new treatments... that's an issue, even for frontline pharmacists having to argue with insurance companies. Then there are issues entering the political sphere regarding to medical care generally.

For your school list, I'm hoping you have some recommendations from your PIs for the research aspect, though understand you aren't going to get a PhD. Don't get too hung up going to a medical school to research therapeutics that way, but if your research shows MD students participating in testing candidate therapies, then you have an idea of a "why our school." Perhaps you're looking at Medical Affairs as an alternate career once you get your MD?

 

[koreankandi]

Working in a free clinic -- as will most clinical opportunities -- will have service orientation already included, but most of us also want to see you be more involved in the non-healthcare aspects of the communities you serve. It will depend on your responsibilities in the free clinic to me, but some I know are more strict.



Activities:
1) Hospice care. Get 200+ hours. At least assisted living centers where residents may have limited mobility or ADLs.
2) Not necessarily for the OP, but I've always recommended GSK Cancer Biology PhD Program Overview to candidates interested in your second purpose statement. You may already know some investigators in this area.
3) Equitable access to new treatments... that's an issue, even for frontline pharmacists having to argue with insurance companies. Then there are issues entering the political sphere regarding to medical care generally.

For your school list, I'm hoping you have some recommendations from your PIs for the research aspect, though understand you aren't going to get a PhD. Don't get too hung up going to a medical school to research therapeutics that way, but if your research shows MD students participating in testing candidate therapies, then you have an idea of a "why our school." Perhaps you're looking at Medical Affairs as an alternate career once you get your MD?

I appreciate your suggestions @Mr.Smile12!
1) Hospice care would definitely be meaningful and in line with my purpose. I'll look into some hospice volunteer opportunities in the vicinity.
2) GSK PhD program is interesting! At first glance, I thought it was the company but MSKCC is a big draw - Cornell is one of my top choices for their work with MSK and I hope they like me too. Though, wherever I end up, I'll continue investigating cancer biology or its adjacent.
3) Equitable access to new treatments is certainly a complex issue. My initial thoughts were on cell and gene therapy, but GLP1 agonists also show how multifaceted the problem is. I’m not sure where the strain lies with the supply—whether it’s production, distribution, development costs, insurance —but seeing patients at the free clinic struggle to maintain their GLP1 medication has been both tough and thought-provoking. Where can this be tackled? Is it through advocacy as a policy maker or in the industry? Perhaps this is where politics comes in.
Medical affairs is new to me but it seems interesting - would this be in an academic setting or in the industry? If it's a position involving direct patient care, I would dive more into it but if it's not, seeing patients would be a bigger priority for me.

 

[mike-sheree]

Thank you @Mr.Smile12, these resources came in very useful!
I want to serve diverse patients and I will pursue research through my career but my reluctance to apply MD/PhD is more practical - had I been 2 years or so younger, I would have definitely applied to MD/PhD. With research opportunities widely available during medical school and as MD, I am more inclined to apply to MD programs.
I ended up looking into which schools have 1) research projects tied into their curriculum/requirements 2) support for gap year research, and 3) MSTP vs MD/PhD programs. The NIH career track and their various grants will surely come in useful later in my career too.
I now have a more refined list although I still have more schools than I would like.
- UPenn, Vanderbilt, Duke, Stanford, WashU, UCSF, Cornell, Yale, Mayo, Northwestern, UChicago
- Michigan, Pitt, Mt Sinai, UCLA, UCSD, Emory, Case Western (+CCLCM), Colorado, Ohio State, USC, UVA, Boston, Rochester, Cincinnati, Albert Einstein, UMass, Hofstra, Kaiser, USF
- Wisconsin, Indiana, UC Irvine, Iowa, Miami, UC Davis, Tufts, Thomas Jefferson, Illinois - Chicago, VCU

Do you have any feedback on the list or my chances? Should I try to reduce the number of reach schools? Would my low non-clinical volunteer hours and rule out some schools? In fact, I'm not sure where the free clinic volunteer should be put into between clinical vs non-clinical volunteering as there is limited patient interaction despite working closely with physicians. Or are there schools on my list that refrain from taking in applicants without any ties to the state?

Scratch Illinois-chicago unless you are in state. otherwise, tuition is draconian. And they seem eager to take as many full-fare oos/foreign as the state legislature allows. They have serious financial difficulties. Illinois politics you know.

 

[koreankandi]

Scratch Illinois-chicago unless you are in state. otherwise, tuition is draconian. And they seem eager to take as many full-fare oos/foreign as the state legislature allows. They have serious financial difficulties. Illinois politics you know.

Thanks for the information! Any other insights on the school list?

 

[koreankandi]

Thank you @Mr.Smile12, these resources came in very useful!
I want to serve diverse patients and I will pursue research through my career but my reluctance to apply MD/PhD is more practical - had I been 2 years or so younger, I would have definitely applied to MD/PhD. With research opportunities widely available during medical school and as MD, I am more inclined to apply to MD programs.
I ended up looking into which schools have 1) research projects tied into their curriculum/requirements 2) support for gap year research, and 3) MSTP vs MD/PhD programs. The NIH career track and their various grants will surely come in useful later in my career too.
I now have a more refined list although I still have more schools than I would like.
- UPenn, Vanderbilt, Duke, Stanford, WashU, UCSF, Cornell, Yale, Mayo, Northwestern, UChicago
- Michigan, Pitt, Mt Sinai, UCLA, UCSD, Emory, Case Western (+CCLCM), Colorado, Ohio State, USC, UVA, Boston, Rochester, Cincinnati, Albert Einstein, UMass, Hofstra, Kaiser, USF
- Wisconsin, Indiana, UC Irvine, Iowa, Miami, UC Davis, Tufts, Thomas Jefferson, Illinois - Chicago, VCU

Do you have any feedback on the list or my chances? Should I try to reduce the number of reach schools? Would my low non-clinical volunteer hours and rule out some schools? In fact, I'm not sure where the free clinic volunteer should be put into between clinical vs non-clinical volunteering as there is limited patient interaction despite working closely with physicians. Or are there schools on my list that refrain from taking in applicants without any ties to the state?

Would you mind providing feedback on the school list @Faha? I would really appreciate your insight 🙂

 

[Faha]

I suggest these schools from your list:
UPenn
Vanderbilt
Duke
Stanford
WashU
UCSF
Cornell
Yale,
Mayo
Northwestern
Michigan
Pitt
Mt Sinai
UCLA
UCSD
Emory
Case Western (+CCLCM)
Colorado
Ohio State
USC,
UVA
Boston
Rochester
Cincinnati
Albert Einstein
UMass
Hofstra
Kaiser
USF
UC Irvine
Iowa
Miami
UC Davis
Tufts
Thomas Jefferson
VCU
You could add Carle Illinois (you fit their profile) and Western Michigan

 

[koreankandi]

I suggest these schools from your list:
UPenn
Vanderbilt
Duke
Stanford
WashU
UCSF
Cornell
Yale,
Mayo
Northwestern
Michigan
Pitt
Mt Sinai
UCLA
UCSD
Emory
Case Western (+CCLCM)
Colorado
Ohio State
USC,
UVA
Boston
Rochester
Cincinnati
Albert Einstein
UMass
Hofstra
Kaiser
USF
UC Irvine
Iowa
Miami
UC Davis
Tufts
Thomas Jefferson
VCU
You could add Carle Illinois (you fit their profile) and Western Michigan

Thank you @Faha! Is the omission of UChicago and Illinois-Chicago for finance and politics? I'm not quite familiar with the situation in Illinois.

 

[Faha]

Thank you @Faha! Is the omission of UChicago and Illinois-Chicago for finance and politics? I'm not quite familiar with the situation in Illinois.

Illinois has high OOS tuition and U Chicago expects more non clinical volunteering hours.

 

[koreankandi]

Illinois has high OOS tuition and U Chicago expects more non clinical volunteering hours.

I see. Thank you for the advice!