Yale MD/PhD kind of weak?

[DarkChild]

I'm not trying to flame at all, but in taking a close look at Yale's website, I cant help but thing that research wise the school doesnt seem very strong. Can someone tell me what departments at Yale have the strongest research reputations?
Do any current Yale MSTPers or prospective mudphudders care to comment?
Thanks so much - and forgive my ignorance.

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[Simon]

DarkChild,

Yale has a very strong pharmacology department. And they've got the philosophy thing going - no grades, a lot of contact with faculty, etc...

Having said this, it is not nearly as good as one would think it should be with a name like "Yale".

~Simon

P.S. They are really slowly in their paperwork...

 

[surge]

I spent the summer at Yale, so I speak with some experience.

I feel that Yale's neuroscience and neurobiology are some of the best departments anywhere. This is both true from the organizational point of view, and the research one.
I am especially interested in some of the neuronal migration/neurogenesis and neuronal regeneration work that is done at Yale, and it is by far leading in those fields. I actually just came back from Society for Neuroscience conference where I saw the most recent results from these labs, which are stunning at the very least.
Just for the record, since I have no real chance of getting into their program, I'm not saying it just to make them sound good.

Anyway, I'm interested in what others think...? S.

 

[DarkChild]

are you talking about the work done by Prof Greer?
give me some more names - I'm actually really interested in neuroscience, so anything you can share would be a huge help!!

Originally posted by surge
I spent the summer at Yale, so I speak with some experience.

I feel that Yale's neuroscience and neurobiology are some of the best departments anywhere. This is both true from the organizational point of view, and the research one.
I am especially interested in some of the neuronal migration/neurogenesis and neuronal regeneration work that is done at Yale, and it is by far leading in those fields. I actually just came back from Society for Neuroscience conference where I saw the most recent results from these labs, which are stunning at the very least.
Just for the record, since I have no real chance of getting into their program, I'm not saying it just to make them sound good.

Anyway, I'm interested in what others think...? S.

 

[surge]

Originally posted by DarkChild
are you talking about the work done by Prof Greer?
give me some more names - I'm actually really interested in neuroscience, so anything you can share would be a huge help!!

It depends, but I'm primarily interested in work by Stritmatter and Rakic. The former does nogo-66 neuronal regeneration, where as the latter is heavily into neuronal migration.
I saw Stritmatter's work at Neuroscience. Also, there is Waxman with his spinal cord injury repair....

S.

 

[exigente chica]

I'm not sure but it seems like Yale is more research orientated med school, offering the 5 year free to do research, and research is looked at as a plus for regular med school apps. So, I figure they would have some strong programs.

THere is a great MD who does some work in the feild that I am interested in, top of line and is the leader in her feild, lost of pubs and new findings!!

I hope to be at Yale this summer

 

[exigente chica]

Originally posted by surge
I spent the summer at Yale, so I speak with some experience.

Just for the record, since I have no real chance of getting into their program, I'm not saying it just to make them sound good.

.

WHy do u feel this way?

 

[DarkChild]

I saw Yale today. I really liked it, the people were extremely nice and I think the flexibility of the yale system is great. the fifth year option is pretty sweet. I suppose its a nice compromise between an MD and an MD/PhD program.
love yale... still need to really look at their research though, whats the deal with their paltry website?

 

[giverny]

Three more questions about Yale:

(1) How long does app processing take?

(2) Does anyone know when/how many interview dates?

(3) Since their app didn't ask us to give a detailed description of past research, did you guys forward any additional material to them?

Thanks for your help, really appreciate it!

Hope your week is going well.

 

[MeGrowTall]

I don't know if you guys heard about this or not, but I thought I would slap a link up here since no one else had mentioned this:

http://www.ama-assn.org/sci-pubs/amnews/pick_02/prbf0610.htm

Course, I don't think a surgery accreditation problem would affect MD/PhDers too much.

 

[DarkChild]

I'm just plain old MD at Yale:
but they processed my app pretty quick; I guess two weeks after it went complete.
I'm know for a fact that interviews extend for at least another month and I'd be willing to bet they'll still be interviewing in Jan/Feb
The interview every monday/wed/fri.. so dont sweat, there's plenty of time

Cant help you guys on number 3 since I'm only an MD app there.
I dont think it'll hurt to send in some stuff on your research. I have a one pager that summarizes my different research, that I send in to all the MD/PhD schools I apply to..

Originally posted by giverny
Three more questions about Yale:

(1) How long does app processing take?

(2) Does anyone know when/how many interview dates?

(3) Since their app didn't ask us to give a detailed description of past research, did you guys forward any additional material to them?

Thanks for your help, really appreciate it!

Hope your week is going well.

 

[jot]

i actually didn't really answer their one page grad student training weakness/strength question - and instead slapped my md/phd personal statement with the research descriptions in there instead. they didn't seem to mind - but otherwise i woudln't really worry about it - they talk to you at length about your experiences while you are there.
-jot

 

[surge]

Originally posted by exigente chica
WHy do u feel this way?

Quite honestly, although I really feel the rest of my application is flawless, I f***ed up the MCAT. That's life, I have no one to blame but myself.

 

[Vader]

Yale has excellent research, especially in the area of neurobiology. Pasko Rakic is the cortical development/migration god and probably will win a Nobel prize for his work. As surge mentioned, there are also some other top neurobiological investigators.

The Yale curriculum is highly flexible and all students do a thesis, so things are really geared to make the MD/PhD experience better. A faculty member at my school did his MD/PhD in 5 years at Yale. Not that I'd promise or encourage that for everyone, but he does say that Yale's system made it feasible to do this. My former mentor was also in Yale's MSTP and enjoyed it tremendously.

Hope this helps.

 

[Sonya]

honestly, what is great about a 5th year to do reasearch? you can do it without the me d ical school. Now, they close to require it? Not only w/o the school do you not pay tuition, you actually get PAID. and, they don't recognize it any ways with a degree.

I'm not against doing it. I think a year of research is a good comprimise b/w the md and Md phd, but why sucha plus?

-

 

[CaNEM]

Originally posted by Sonya
honestly, what is great about a 5th year to do reasearch? you can do it without the me d ical school. Now, they close to require it? Not only w/o the school do you not pay tuition, you actually get PAID. and, they don't recognize it any ways with a degree.

I was under the impression that at Yale you do NOT pay tuition for the year that you do research and you DO receive a stipend. Yale people correct me if I'm wrong.

Why do it? Because research gets regular MD students to see medicine from a different perspective, and enhance their problem-solving skills. Why not recognize it with a degree? Clearly, the project is not meant to be as in-depth as a PhD thesis, and the committment required for completing a PhD is not for everyone. Besides, there are more benefits to research experience than adding more letters to the end of your name.

If students don't want to be required to do research, there are 130+ other med schools to choose from. =)

 

[Ochieng]

You guys are tripping.
Yale is ranked near the top in research funding per faculty member in the country; that means most faculty are doing steller work; they dont have a billion labs like some other schools, but if you divide their reserach funding by the number of faculty, you get an average very near the top(I've actually heard it is the highest, but I can't confirm). Other schools who I won't mention, have a billion different labs, but only a few are doing good work.

The flexibility thing does matter, and no, from what I know, the fifth year is free. The curriculum thing is the real deal; Yale students are chilling, hard, in years one and two. This is perfect for MSTP students; you can be focusing on research questions and the like, during your pre-clinical years, and not have to worry about class ranking and other nonsense. You have time to take classes in other Depts on campus, etc. Yale ain't for everyone, but for those of you who want a free-thinking environment, its the spot.

Another thing; Yale students are finishing on time, an aspect that people rarely talk about whe comparing programs, there are some schools where people are taking over 10 years to get their degrees.

You guys are buggin. Overanalyzing way too hard. But I guess that's why y'all are gonna be physician-scientists.

Out.

 

[Sonya]

It's obvious why to do it, research would give a good experience (if you're inclined for it, which most of us MSTP-ers are). What I am asking is, why is it considered a plus that the medical schools have it as a part of their required curriculum.

Here is why it is a negative:
* it is a requirement - therefore you loose freedom.
* I do not understand why it is a plus (apparently you guys do, so you can expand/refute this). If you have finished your BS, then a lot of labs will hire you as a tech. So, you will make 20-30k/yr if you work as a tech. And, you will get the same experience as if you did it as part of med school.
* To the best to my knowledge, no one will recognize a MD degree with research different from and MD degree without. How would they know? (or do residency people know that, and factor it in)

So, if you can explain why those negatives don't hold, it think, it may enlighten me.

requiring research DOES mean that they have strong research and ample research opportunities. which is good.

 

[DarkChild]

Sonya:
1) Yale is self selecting - those who dont want the research dont go... its not really a loss of freedom if everyone there has chosen it. Moreover, according to Yale folks, you can do your thesis on anything... a guy designed a website, another lady is doing work on medical ships in the navy
2) If you look at Yale's match list, I would argue that the schools emphasis on research does wonders for its students... either that or its something in the water

but seriously, residencies often probe deeply into the research done by med students. in fact for the most competitive residencies, research is almost a requirement.. as has been pointed out by people on this site, look at the folks who match to UCSFs neurosurgery program, almost ALL of them are MD/PhDs..

Originally posted by Sonya
It's obvious why to do it, research would give a good experience (if you're inclined for it, which most of us MSTP-ers are). What I am asking is, why is it considered a plus that the medical schools have it as a part of their required curriculum.

Here is why it is a negative:
* it is a requirement - therefore you loose freedom.
* I do not understand why it is a plus (apparently you guys do, so you can expand/refute this). If you have finished your BS, then a lot of labs will hire you as a tech. So, you will make 20-30k/yr if you work as a tech. And, you will get the same experience as if you did it as part of med school.
* To the best to my knowledge, no one will recognize a MD degree with research different from and MD degree without. How would they know? (or do residency people know that, and factor it in)

So, if you can explain why those negatives don't hold, it think, it may enlighten me.

requiring research DOES mean that they have strong research and ample research opportunities. which is good.

 

[Vader]

It is considered a plus (at least by me) for many reasons. First, the fact that everyone does some sort of thesis creates a research-friendly medical school environment. While this is difficult to quantify, it cannot be understated that having peers who partake in research and who understand what you're going through is quite valuable. DarkChild is correct in that in having a thesis requirement, students who are more likely to be interested in research will attend the school. This also adds to the research atmosphere. Students are more willing to ask questions, challenge preconceived notions of medicine and its scientific basis, and work to solve problems. Believe me, medical school tends to focus on the memorization of large quantities of information. It is nice for MD/PhD students to have an environment that encourages students to think beyond the facts presented and develop better investigational skills.

Second, as DarkChild mentioned, Yale's thesis requirement allows you to do a project in a virtually unlimited array of areas. Therefore, you do have quite a bit of freedom.

Third, working as a tech is not equivalent to doing a thesis during medical school. A technician often has less of a role on the investigational aspects of research and more on the well, umm... technical side. A thesis represents a large body of work that yields meaningful results and shows that the student is capable of undertaking and completing a significant project. Often, publications result from this work and the results can be presented at meetings.

Finally, residency programs, by and large, love to see research experience and publications. In having students undertake research projects, the school is not only encouraging them to think as independent investigators, but also preparing them for the residency application process.

Hope this helps...

Originally posted by Sonya
It's obvious why to do it, research would give a good experience (if you're inclined for it, which most of us MSTP-ers are). What I am asking is, why is it considered a plus that the medical schools have it as a part of their required curriculum.

Here is why it is a negative:
* it is a requirement - therefore you loose freedom.
* I do not understand why it is a plus (apparently you guys do, so you can expand/refute this). If you have finished your BS, then a lot of labs will hire you as a tech. So, you will make 20-30k/yr if you work as a tech. And, you will get the same experience as if you did it as part of med school.
* To the best to my knowledge, no one will recognize a MD degree with research different from and MD degree without. How would they know? (or do residency people know that, and factor it in)

So, if you can explain why those negatives don't hold, it think, it may enlighten me.

requiring research DOES mean that they have strong research and ample research opportunities. which is good.

 

[CaNEM]

Originally posted by Sonya
Here is why it is a negative:
* it is a requirement - therefore you loose freedom.

I don't see why you think this is so. All medical schools will have "requirements." In many ways Yale has less requirements than other schools - no required grades, fewer required exams, no required lecture attendance, etc. Pick a school which has requirements that suit what you WANT to do, and you won't see requirements as taking away your freedom.

 

[Gradient Echo]

I didnt think the Yale MD/PhD by itself was weak... depends on which graduate program you are talking about though.

The Yale biomedical engineering grad program was a little weaker compared to some other places.