MD/Phd programs, which major is better?

<p>Hi, I am an international student starting this fall, and I was interested in doing an Md/Phd program, what major would help me be more prepare for it? which would help me more with the admission process? and what would be better in case I don't get into a program? Microbiology, biomedical sciences, or biomedical engineering?</p>

<p>MD/PhD programs are predominantly funded by NIH and one has to be a permanent resident to get in.</p>

<p>Not necessarily, I have done some research about it, and there are in fact colleges that fully fund everyone admitted to the MD/PHD programs, even internationals.</p>

<p>which ones?</p>

<p>Check this list:
MD/PhD programs that accept intl students:

  1. Hopkins (with Merck scholarship)
  2. Wash U (full funding)
  3. Cornell (full funding)
  4. Duke (full funding)
  5. UT Southwestern (full funding)
  6. Vanderbilt (full funding)
  7. Dartmouth (full funding)
  8. Baylor (full funding)
  9. USC (partial funding)
  10. Stanford (no funding)
  11. Harvard (no funding)
  12. UPenn (full funding)
  13. Mount Sinai (full funding)
  14. Yale (full funding)
  15. Penn State (?)
  16. BU (?)</p>

<p>Have you checked into how many are actually admitted? I was reading Harvard page and it mentioned 1 student may be admitted.</p>

<p>Stanford one says you have to apply separately for MD and PhD.</p>

<p>[Program</a> Structure - MSTP Program - Education - Stanford University School of Medicine](<a href=“MSTP Admissions | MSTP MD-PhD Program | Stanford Medicine”>MSTP Admissions | MSTP MD-PhD Program | Stanford Medicine)</p>

<p>Focus on the question, guys. :/</p>

<p>The answer is “microbiology”. BME will ruin your GPA (unless it, liek, doesn’t) and biomedical sciences sounds deliberately specializing.</p>

<p>Which I hear is a no-no for admissions types. >.></p>

<p>The link below has a lot of good info. Check page seven for the issue of U.S. citizenship. I would agree with the advice in this document that you should check out the schools on that list and personally ask them about their policies on international students. For what it’s worth, my son majored in molecular biology (admitted to an MSTP program). But that’s pretty anecdotal. Again, you might want to ask particular schools which majors are helpful. I don’t think it matters too much really as long as it’s science-related and you’ve done a lot of research.</p>

<p><a href=“http://www.med.upenn.edu/mstp/applicantfaq.pdf[/url]”>http://www.med.upenn.edu/mstp/applicantfaq.pdf&lt;/a&gt;&lt;/p&gt;