MD/PhD Program Possible Future Applicant

Pre-Med & Medical School Pre-Med Topics
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<p>Alright guys. I need some advice on my entire situation. I'll first start with my stats. I am currently a junior with a 3.37 GPA, which will increase to a 3.5 once I am doing with my senior year. I had a bad year (2 semesters worth) due to the stress that I was undergoing with my mother's condition (she was going through chemotherapy) and I basically left school as my last priority. I have always wanted to be a doctor and specialize in dermatology. I have a fascination with skin, skin conditions, acne, warts, cysts, moles, etc. Recently, I was looking into summer research programs and most of them (or more like all of them) are for prospective MD/PhD applicants. I still decided to go ahead and apply for them. So I wrote a personal statement and went to see an adviser to review it and basically tell me where I stand. I told him that I was looking into an MD/PhD program, and before I can finish my sentence and tell him that an MD was also a possibility, he rambled on for an hour and 30 minutes about the MD/PhD program. </p>

<p>I wanted research experience for my MD application and to experience what occurs in the research labs. I'm not sure if I should continue applying for these programs even if I really want to just be a dermatologist. I might want to do dermatology research. But, then again, I REALLY just want to be a dermatologist and I feel like I basically lied to my adviser and will be lying to the summer research programs. Should I go through with the applications to these programs? Does this look good in an MD or MD/PhD application? Will it even be possible for me to get into a school with my GPA (granted, I receive maybe a 28 or 30 in my MCAT)? What if I ask my research mentor from the summer for a recommendation letter NOT for an MD/PhD program, but for an MD program? Doesn't that look bad? I just feel hesitant about the whole situation, because one of the applications BLATANTLY said the following: "Do NOT apply if you are pursuing an MD." I really want to get accepted into one of these programs though....I'm in such a dilemma.</p>

<p>Here are some EC's: I volunteered for about 8 months at a wetland ecosystems lab but basically all I did was acid wash glassware. I hated my life in that lab. I've been volunteering for about 6 months at a hospital. I volunteer my time in this program called PLTL (Peer Led Team Learning), where basically we tutor students who are taking Gen Bio., Genetics, etc. I plan on shadowing a doctor during my last year in school (and even possibly during the summer if I get accepted into one of these programs). I also plan on being part of a research lab in my actual school for that last year.</p>

<p>Any advice on whether I have a chance or not and whether I should do the summer research, etc. would be greatly appreciated.</p>

<p>PS sorry for the long and extensive story.</p>

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<p>Let me start by saying I don’t know where you got the idea that all or even most summer programs are geared toward MD/PhD applicants. A few specify that you must be a PhD or MD/PhD candidate (Amgen comes to mind), but the NIH and the NSF REU programs do not.</p>

<p>You need to broaden your summer program search.</p>

<p>I would also suggest your broaden your search for another reason: with your relatively low GPA and your dearth of relevant lab experience, you’re going to a very long-shot for all of the more competitive summer programs. Since summer programs don’t last longer than 12 weeks, PIs need students who can hit the ground running with little need to be taught lab techniques/processes.</p>

<p>Here’s a searchable database of REU programs.</p>

<p>[US</a> NSF - REU - Search for an REU Site](<a href=“http://www.nsf.gov/crssprgm/reu/reu_search.cfm]US”>Search for an REU Site | NSF - National Science Foundation)</p>

<p>You should also know your undergrad research will be of very little help in getting you a dermatology residency. Derm is one of THE most competitive specialties around. Your ability to match in a derm residency will depend on having a top USMLE STEP 1 score, getting outstanding LORs from your derm rotation praeceptors, getting outstanding clerkship grades, and probably doing a research thesis/project in basic derm research during med school.</p>

<p>Your goal at this point should be simply to make yourself a reasonable candidate for med school. Forget about derm for now.</p>

<p>FYI, if you do place into summer research program, you will likely not have time to do physician shadowing during the program since you will be expected to work a 40 hour/week, 9-5 schedule. Some programs have additional evening and weekend activities summer students are expected to participate in.</p>

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<p>RE: med school in your future. You know what you need to do, improve your GPA, score well on the MCAT (the national average for matriculating allopathic students is now 31), get more ECs–including community service, more medical volunteering, physician shadowing. Since you will be applying after graduation, you might try to get a medically relevant job while you’re going thru the application process. (Medical scribe, research lab asst, clinical study coordinator)</p>

<p>Your ability to get into med school is also going to be highly impacted by your state of residency. Some states are better than other when it comes to in-state acceptance rates.</p>

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<p>D2 just got finished applying to 7 of the NSF REU programs under the biological sciences category, some were strictly molecular in nature, others ecological, and some mixed. I agree w/WOWMom, I personally didn’t see any that said you should be interested in med school, and there was one that specifically said it did not want premeds. The ones I saw were from 9-10 week duration. Some did say that they wanted to give opportunities to students with no/little research experience/opportunities. I was a little surprised at that, because of the reason that WOWMom gave and because D1 had a hard time when she applied, and I always thought part of the problem was that she only had research experience in HS, none in college outside of class labs.</p>

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<p>Hello, I would first like to say thank you so much for the thorough and informative reply. I understand what I need to focus on. I just wish I would have begun during my freshman year. I did not do my research (no pun intended) about EC’s and how important they are until the end of my sophomore year. Enough with the excuses, I am applying to 14 summer research programs. All of them say that the program is for students who wish to pursue a career in bio medical research. I would also like to add that I am a minority (Hispanic, like most people these days), which will definitely help since many of these programs are geared towards providing resources to minority groups. I believe that I just need to a hit a home run with my personal statement. </p>

<p>I work at an immunizations office (clerical work) currently, so I’m not sure if that helps a bit. I am always exposed to medical records and lab results. </p>

<p>So what I got from your message is to go ahead and apply to these programs despite the fact that I am not 100% on pursuing a career in bio medical research, correct?</p>

<p>In addition, I can medically appeal the grades that I received in one semester. It will boost my final GPA from a 3.5 to a 3.6. I’m not sure if any of you are familiar about this. What happens is that my grade is wiped out completely from my transcript. Is it even worth doing? What do medical schools think about this?</p>

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<p>Haha! There are so many mom’s in this website. I should bring my mom in.</p>

<p>Does D1 and D2 mean Daughter 1 and Daughter 2, respectively? I’m sorry, I am pretty new to the lingo in this website.</p>

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<p>Some REUs are specifically designed for students who have little or no research experience. Giving students a chance to experience real research in a real research lab is one of the reason the NSF developed the REU program.</p>

<p>But some of the more competitive summer programs (Amgen, some NIH summer intern labs, SSP, SURP, etc) expect students to come in with lab-ready skills.</p>

<p>Here’s probably the most comprehensive list of pre-med summer program that I know of:</p>

<p>[Pre-med</a> Internships](<a href=“http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/premed.htm]Pre-med”>http://people.rit.edu/gtfsbi/Symp/premed.htm)</p>

<p>Note that NONE of them specify you must be a MD/PhD applicant.</p>

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<p>D1= daughter #1; D2 = daughter #2.</p>

<p>Both entomom and I have multiple daughters and those designations are a way of keeping them straight.</p>

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<p>I would make that personal statements.</p>

<p>At least it is my feeling that the PS should be tailored to each individual REU–it’s particular emphasis and additional features (eg. workshops, presentations, etc.).</p>

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<p>No, that’s not allowed by AMCAS. Also it would need to be your illness–not a family members’.</p>

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<p>Again, AMCAS will not allow this. Even if you are successful in petitioning your college to remove a grade, you are required to report the class and the grade to AMCAS. It’s says so right in their rules. Don’t even think about falsifying this information. If it is ever discovered, your medical degree will be revoked.</p>

<p>If you will be applying to DO (osteopathic medicine) programs, you could retake the class(es) which have a poor grade and only report the newer grade. But allopathic medical schools (MD) do not allow this and require ALL grades to be reported.</p>

<p>And it’s not too late. My D1 didn’t decide she wanted to go to medical school until right before her college graduation. She didn’t even have the pre-req classes done (physics & math major). She spent 3 years post graduation taking her pre-reqs part-time while working multiple part-time jobs to support herself. She did tons of volunteering and community service, took the MCAT and killed it, and started medical school at age 25. (BTW, she is far from the oldest student in her class at med school.) She had research experience, but not in anything remotely related to medicine. D2 wanted a break between undergrad and med school so she is taking 2 years off. (She graduated last May, is taking her MCAT this weekend and will apply during the 2013-14 cycle.)</p>

<p>At all med schools, it’s quite common to have non-traditional students–students who don’t go straight to med school from undergrad. The average age of a first year med student nationally is around 24-25.</p>

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<p>Yes! I will definitely cater to each program.</p>

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<p>I know! I do not like blaming anything that I could have prevented (like actually studying for the exams instead of being a worried puppy) on other people, especially my mom. I’m the one at fault, of course. I just feel like my GPA is so low and at this point I just want to do everything and anything possible to boost it up. </p>

<p>Since I work with medical records, I always review medical appeals and about 70% of the appeals are students saying that they had to take care of their ill family member and provide proof that the family member was, in fact, ill. About 100% of the time, the appeals are approved (I never understood why). Then a student came into the office wanting to appeal a grade she received and she told me it was urgent because she was wait listed at a medical school, and this grade would ruin her chances. So, of course, I asked her about it and she told me everything. So after reading what you said, I hope that does not affect her chances.</p>

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<p>Thank you for those encouraging words. I am still a youngster…I turned 20 a couple of days ago. Congratulations to your daughter (D1) though!</p>