West coast MD/PhD

[orrinkeenan]

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I am planning to apply to several MD/PhD programs on the west coast (4-5 in California and maybe Wash & Oregon).
A): Are California schools biased towards accepting In-state resident students?
B): It is difficult searching through the faculty of each University for specific types of research programs. Could anyone reccomend some programs that are especially strong in medical/human genetics?
C): I have a solid GPA (3.87), I will graduate with Summa Honors distinction, I have been working in a developmental genetics lab for over 4 years and I have one 2nd author paper (Genes & Dev 2002). Do I still need to volunteer in a hospital or volunteer in a "medical" research facility before I apply.
D): Does the PhD portion of the MSTP program have to be in a specific type "medical" research lab??? Can it be any Cell Bio, Dev Bio, Genetics, Biochem lab on the campus???

 

[Neuronix]

A): Are California schools biased towards accepting In-state resident students?

No, state residency is not a factor in MD/PhD admissions.

I can't help with question B.

C): I have a solid GPA (3.87), I will graduate with Summa Honors distinction, I have been working in a developmental genetics lab for over 4 years and I have one 2nd author paper (Genes & Dev 2002). Do I still need to volunteer in a hospital or volunteer in a "medical" research facility before I apply.

It may be a good idea to put in some clinical shadowing or volunteering experience, but it's not necessary. I know lots of people who got into MD/PhD programs without any clinical experience. Without getting into all the details, ome schools, may frown upon this (i.e. UCSF) more than others .

D): Does the PhD portion of the MSTP program have to be in a specific type "medical" research lab??? Can it be any Cell Bio, Dev Bio, Genetics, Biochem lab on the campus???

I'm not sure what you mean by "medical" research. We usually break it down by "basic science" and "clinical" research. Basic science is the use of animals, cells, or other experimental models to ask questions about physiologic or other processes. Clinical research studies people to find associations among diseases or find out what treatments are most beneficial. MD/PhD programs are set up to produce basic science researchers, and as such, you should be able to do research in any cell bio, dev bio, genetics, or biochem lab, no matter how seemingly disparate from medicine. There are obviously some exceptions (i.e. maybe the professor won't like MD/PhDs), but the MD/PhD program will expect you to work on basic science projects.

I hope this answers your questions...
Good luck!

 

[ImmunoANT]

B): It is difficult searching through the faculty of each University for specific types of research programs. Could anyone reccomend some programs that are especially strong in medical/human genetics?

don't know much about UCSF and UCSD, but 2 yrs of undergrad research at Gonda, UCLA, here's my 2 cents:
The dept of human genetics at UCLA was established relatively recently (now 6th or 7th yr?). Some big name investigators include: Ken Lange, Jake Lusis, Stan Nelson (if you like devp of biotech in genotyping), Ed McCade, Nelson Freimer, Wayne Grody, and of course.... Leena Peltonen (used to be the dept chair, but I think now she and her husband have moved back to Finland for a better position 😱 ), and I got to mention Chris Lee although he's in bioinformatics dept, he's awesome. Also, if you are interested in biostatistics, it's the place to go. Pros: new labs, new facilities. Cons: I think so far they've only graduated a couple of PhDs. And last time I heard there's some power wrestling w/i the dept. And they are still searching for a dept chair. Note that this dept is dedicated to human genetics. There are numerous labs in other departments that deal w/ genetics in different context like devp bio, mol bio, etc.

As for clinical exposure, hah, I only had 2 months of volunteering, but YES, UCSF does look heavily on this.

Actually, Neuronix, didn't your mentor at U Del come from UCLA? Now that you guys are done w/ renal & derm, party time? You coming out for the next round of mudphud interview?

oh well, back to head & neck.... 😱

 

[Neuronix]

Actually, Neuronix, didn't your mentor at U Del come from UCLA? Now that you guys are done w/ renal & derm, party time? You coming out for the next round of mudphud interview?

Yeah, and I didn't want to mention it... But... I know some felt that the human genetics department was really screwed up with alot of faculty changes and the old dept. chair getting tossed for squandering money. But, that's not my area of research and I really can't comment further. I'm just spreading rumors...

It's totally party time, except that I'm a little sick. Ah well. There's like a long string of birthday parties this weekend, so I'll be living it up. I'm also going to make a nice big pot of chili tomorrow. I love to cook. I can't really do much with the g/f during the day, since she's got exams this week. I signed up for hanging out with the applicants this time, we'll see if I get it... I can't come to dinner though, I have the history & physical exam Friday afternoon. Blah. Maybe I'll show up late and grab food anyways.

 

[Newquagmire]

B): It is difficult searching through the faculty of each University for specific types of research programs. Could anyone reccomend some programs that are especially strong in medical/human genetics?

if you must stay on the west coast, look into UW