Hello, I am an undergraduate student deliberating between PhD and MD/PhD programs. I plan to take my MCAT soon but am having some doubts about the process. Here are my concerns/questions about MD/PhD:

1. One of the MD/PhD students in my lab told me that I should consider a straight PhD if research is my priority. She says that many of her fellow MD/PhD students have "watered-down" PhDs that are specifically tailored for 3-4-year completion. I place a have a heavy emphasis on the quality of my research and cutting no corners so this tends to turn me away.

2. Is the M1/M2 coursework really transferable to PhD work? For a straight PhD, students must take graduate coursework related to their field. I have a hard time believing that 2 years of general medical school coursework will will transfer to any biomedical PhD there is. I am looking at Biophysics programs and the prereq coursework seems vital for full understanding of the field.

3. Is there any financial incentive to get the dual degree (in the form of grants) apart from the physician salary boosting the overall compensation? I know that the dual degree is often sought after for grants but not to an extreme enough degree to matter.

4. Can I get through the program/residency if I do not like clinical/patient work? I have about 150 hours of clinical hospital experience and it was some of the most boring work ever. Being cramped around other nurses/doctors/patients under the bright fluorescent lighting and dealing with monotonous tasks was a really poor experience for me. I am interested in the internal medicine route (hem/onc) primarily for its ties with research and because most MD/PhDs go this way. I am not sure I can make it through 3-5 years of residency though.

Thanks!

Practically impossible to get in unless you meet one of these four categories( it is impossible lol cuz every person in the class meets one )

1. high stat urm / famous PI/ prestigious undergrad

2. x factor ( rhodes, fulbright, veteran, famous writer/journalist/singer, marshall, large nonprofit or company founder( im talking in tens of thousands) , d1 athelete, , prestigious undergrad/ famous PI, and pubs

3. x factor, prestigious undergrad/ famous pi, but no pubs

4. non x factor, prestigious undergrad/ famous PI, and pubs

Same for stanford, conclusion is its a wrap and dont waste money donating if you dont meet one of these categories

Hi everyone,

I’m currently in a difficult spot with my PI, and it’s starting to affect my day-to-day motivation. They often make comments like, “Is that all you’ve done since then?” which leaves me feeling like my efforts aren’t valued. I genuinely love research and put in my best, but this environment has me feeling constantly questioned and doubted. For the first time, I’m dreading going to work and even just having meetings.

I’ve considered switching labs, but I’ve heard from OITE it can take around six months, so I’m torn. I’m in communication with OITE as well.

On the bright side, I applied to 22 MD-PhD programs, was quickly rejected by one, but thankfully got 7 interview invitations and was accepted into two programs. I feel incredibly grateful for this.

My hesitation about leaving is that it might look bad to MD-PhD programs, especially since postbacs are viewed positively in the application process. I’m also worried about disappointing my PI by not completing our project goals, and I’m uncertain about how this could impact any future plans to return to the NIH.

If anyone has any advice, thoughts, or has been through something similar, I’d really appreciate hearing from you. Thank you all so much.

UMass MSTP applicants: we're told on our application portals that we have to attend a PSF and an admissions committee-led Q&A session for our application to be complete. Will they make any decisions without them? I've been trying to access the link on the portal, but it says that it's not available for public access. Just wondering if you guys are experiencing the same thing before I reach out to the AdComs. Thanks!

Hi everyone! I’m currently in an MD program and already hold an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Science (BMedSc). I’m really interested in pursuing a PhD in an exact science, ideally within an engineering or computer science faculty, with a focus on machine learning. My long-term goal is to dive into innovative projects that bridge healthcare and technology.

My current plan is to finish my MD while taking courses in CS, math, or physics to build up a stronger foundation for a PhD in these fields. I’m hoping to leverage this as a stepping stone towards a research-intensive role in machine learning and applied science.

Does this sound like a good approach? Are there specific courses or experiences that would help strengthen my application and prepare me for a PhD in an engineering/CS field? Any advice or alternative suggestions would be much appreciated!

Thanks for any guidance!

Many programs have likely already sent out all their interview invitations, and several others will soon wrap up. Unfortunately, rejections often aren't sent until much later. I’d rather not be in a prolonged state of uncertainty.

Hi all. I'm a 4th year undergraduate who is set on pursuing a career in medicine, but have always been unsure of whether or not I want to do an MD only or an MD-PhD. I wanted to receive input from these community that might help me pivot in the right direction.

For transparency's sake (to see if I am even competitive for MD-PhD programs), I will (likely) have a 3.8-3.85 by the time I graduate and I have a 514 MCAT. I have about ~1500 hours in research, mostly working on computational projects such as single-cell RNA-seq analyses and other small bioinformatics projects. I have a mid-author CNS publication in review and have given an oral presentation at a regional conference. I have some basic wet lab experience, but most of my work has been in the computational space. Broadly, my research interests are in the realm of computational genomics and proteomics in the psychiatric disorder space. My PI has suggested I get more research experience if I want to be competitive for MD-PhD programs. I was planning on applying in the 2025-2026 cycle, but if I really have to, I am open to applying later down the line.

Other than my research and academics, I am very passionate about higher education, particularly mentoring and serving those from nontraditional pathways (such as community college transfer students). My ideal career would be to work in an academic setting in which I can teach students (med students, residents, etc.), see patients, and continue engaging in research similar to what I have been doing (but probably not as a PI).

That being said, I was wondering if with my research interests and my desire to mostly do clinical work/not be a PI, is it worth it to apply to MD-PhD programs and/or delay applying to do so? Or should I just apply to "research-heavy" MD schools and try to get involved in things like capstone projects/dual MS programs?

This was a really rushed post, so I'm happy to clarify anything I might've missed. Thanks in advance for any insight!

Hey - I'm trying to keep up with learning and lab work

any recommendation on productivity system is welcome

hello good people of r/mdphd, I was wondering what I should do if a PI doesn’t reply to my post-interview email. I’ve been lucky up until this point because all of my previous interviewers have replied, but I’ve encountered this just now.

I’m sure they probably just missed the email, and honestly it was a simple thank you note. However, in one of these emails I asked a specific scientific question, I was wondering if I should follow up to get an answer. Lmk your thoughts

Are there any perks that the IRTA offers premeds other than just name recognition and research hours? How different is doing the IRTA vs a generic research job in gap years?

hello! has anyone used any interview prep services for me/phd? also just looking for guidance on how to prepare or if anyone’s willing to help with prep/recommends someone to prep with!! (esp if you’re at or interviewed with mayo 🙏🏻)

tl:dr - i make music, play video games, and stream on twitch in my free time. im a loud roommate. what do i do when looking for a living situation

A friend not too long ago recommended I look into the NIH IRTA Program not too long ago and I've become very interested. But I know the stipend is pretty modest so many people end up sharing apartments with 1 or 2 people.

My Issue is that I'm a noisy roommate. I thought the solution would be just to get a single apartment for myself but I've seen single apartments can eat 60% of your stipend.

To be specific I record and make music as a hobby, and when I can like to play games online with friends ( if i have the time Ill even stream or make youtube videos). Because of this, I end up constantly talking and singing (and yelling) in my room. This is my only issue as a house mate but all my life I've never actually had a roommate. Just my family and they either just got used to it over the years or can be just as noisy. I dormed single all throughout college.

Does anyone have any recommendations for considering a single or rooming with others as a post bacc in the IRTA program? If it matters Im interested in Bethesda Area. I know most people who go through the program are pretty young so Im hoping someone may have already had to deal with this issue/situation.

Hi everyone, looking for some advice here. I’m an incoming medical student and am very thankful to have received a MD acceptance from my top MD program choice and one of my top choices for MSTP. I applied to a mix of MSTPs and MD programs because my PhD interest isn’t as traditional, and the schools offering it tend to be more competitive. I know I have a whole year to decide, but I’m kind of torn between taking the MD acceptance and an MSTP acceptance. I’m confident I want to be a physician-scientist, but the MD acceptance is from a school with excellent financial aid that I feel is most aligned with my values and mission. Everything about this particular school draws me towards it, and in a way I feel like I could regret passing it up for another school. I’m aware of NIH OxCam and an internal program at this school, but I was hoping to see others perspectives on turning down a MSTP to go here and attempting one of these routes. I’d appreciate any perspectives from others who have been in a similar position.

Do people reserve the category of CNS pubs for only pubs in the main journals (Nature, Cell, and Science) or do people use the term more loosely which also includes pubs from “sub-journals” (Nature Immunology, Science Translational Medicine, etc.)?

Hi all! I'm considering applying to MD/PhD programs in 2025 (have been mainly on the PhD track, recently decided on MD/PhD), but am a bit worried by how intense the competition seems compared to PhD admissions. My main concern is I have been in the same lab since freshman year, and I've only ever been in this one lab. I have a great relationship with my PI, have two projects with multiple presentations each, been middle author on 3 publications, planning for a first author submission by the time I graduate, won several awards through this work (goldwater, many university research awards) and overall have never had any reason to leave and seek other experiences. However, when I look on linkedin pages of MD/PhD students at institutions I would love to attend, every single person has had more than one research experience...I haven't found a single profile that doesn't :,) During my gap year I'll be working in a different lab, but this wouldn't start until a month after I apply.

Basically, I'm really confused about where I stand. Not sure if this info is helpful but 3.9+ GPA, 300 clinical hours by the time i apply (hospital volunteer), several other non-clinical volunteering, have taken graduate courses at my university, lots of science outreach/TA-ing, taking MCAT in March.

I’ve been doing two summers plus hours of research in fall as well so far and aside from some posters and having independent projects ig??? my output is kinda meh. Meanwhile ik ppl in their first lab just doing technician work whose PIs are already helping them get published and it’s kind of annoying. Like most of the time PIs will always tell you that you need to wait things out and getting published takes time but it’s annoying to see when other ppl get it done so quickly.

I'm going on my 5th post-bacc year. In that time I've amassed 14 publications (all nth author including one in Science and 2 first author preprints) by working as a research associate, earned a certificate to work in the field of medicine I want to (pathology, but apparently that doesn't count for clinical experience?), and worked my ass off trying to study for the MCAT (especially difficult since I did not take organic chem and physics in college so I have been teaching myself - clearly not well).

I didn't do great in undergrad, my GPA was 3.48 but this was an upward trend from my first semester in college. I fought really hard, trying to earn at least cum laude for graduation but I fell 0.02 short. In my certificate program I maintained a 4.0. I took the MCAT twice and basically failed (490 and 488 downward trend). I don't know what to do. Do I have any chance getting in if I somehow manage to get a 500 on the MCAT? I'm considering paying for the Princeton prep class, would that help? Does my experience hold any weight? Or is this all a game of numbers that I'm already exiled from?

If high-tier MSTPs sent me the rejection notice within weeks of completing their secondaries, does that imply my application is weak or my research isn't aligned with their interests?

I am going to finish undergrad at a T20 with a GPA between 3.1-3.4, a medical withdrawal, and two other withdrawals. A number of things have contributed to this. I selected two very difficult majors because I really love my STEM classes (not very smart on my part), I did not have a very solid formal education (homeschooling most of my life and attending a rural high school), and I have been dealing with a chronic health condition throughout undergrad and the end of high school (unnamed but well documented. I have had to learn how to advocate for myself because I had no parental support in my health or academics).

I really want to get my life in order because I’m passionate about pursuing an MD/PhD, but I recognize that a driving factor in my low grades has been my inability to manage my time. Unfortunately I also have next to no support system and have felt very overwhelmed throughout undergrad.

Does anyone have suggestions for ways I can improve my application? I want to focus on my weak points and go from there. I have struggled with feeling very inconsistent and unhappy and I really want to find a way to gain balance while working toward improving my application. Is a postbac the right option given my gpa? Should I take on a tech position so I can spend a solid year in a lab? I am all set on clinical hours.

Please advise!

Hi everyone. I’m a current sophomore in undergrad that is hoping to apply to MD/PhD programs in the future. I will be graduating in 3 years, and I’m wondering if it is even feasible to try to apply without taking a gap year (applying immediately after sophomore year). By December, I will taken all the prerequisite courses for the MCAT, and so I could study for it starting from the end of Nov until April and take it then.

WAMC: applying Spring 2025

cGPA: 4.0 ; sGPA: 4.0 (although this may change? slightly?)

Shadowing: 16 hrs Internal Med, 8 hrs General Surgery, 25 hrs Gynecologic Oncologist.

Non-Clinical Volunteering: Nothing longterm at the moment. Have some miscellaneous volunteering from doing lab tours for high schoolers and running scioly tournaments amounting to around 25 hrs. I can try to do some food bank volunteering or something over winter break.

Clinical Volunteering: 75 hrs in peds heme onc dept currently but aiming to increase this to 140ish by May 2025. Is that too low?

Research Experience: Been working in the same lab since the start of freshman year. Worked full time over this past summer. Have about 1200hrs as of now and by May 2025, I’m thinking I’ll have around 1800-2000 hrs. I know this is on the lower side but I’m wondering if productivity could make up for it. I also had a a very independent role, meaning I worked on a total of 4 projects where I contributed to hypotheses and experimental design and analysis. I have an independent project as well that is just starting to take off.

Research productivity: 3 poster presentations (1 statewide, 1 university wide, 1 MD/PhD conference). Currently have a 2nd author paper accepted with revisions in mid tier but respected journal, 14th author paper in review at high tier journal, 4th author paper to be submitted in Jan/Feb 2025. Hoping to do 1 oral presentation at least before May.

LORs: 2 from science profs that know me, 1 from research mentor, maybe 1 from doc I shadowed and 1 from english prof. The science prof letters and research mentor should be very good.

Teaching: Organic Chemistry Tutor (30~ hrs atm).

Extracurriculars:

Lead of a global health/engineering project team creating a sustainable device to mitigate disparities in womens health issues. Won couple competitions and several thousands in grant money. Prob spent around 300 or so hours on this.

Member of school’s iGEM team and won silver medal at the international competition this past year. About 200 hours doing this.

Awards: merit scholarship, departmental awards.

School List: I’m not sure but I’m confident that I want to do my PhD in something related to cancer biology. No strong location preference, I’m fine with applying to a broad range of schools and going to any program that accepts me. In terms of specific research interests, I am interested in the following: Immunosuppression in TME, Immunotherapies, Drug discovery, non-coding RNAs, Organoids, Metabolic reprogramming, and Synthetic biology. A lot of my app is centered around oncology/womens health since that is what I am most passionate about.

Thank you all!

Title- has anyone had success with a majority of their research being clinical? Also, has anyone figured out a cut and dry separation between clinical and translational research?

Hi MD/PhD community, I am very fortunate to have my first interview coming up at a school that is one of my top choice. The more I learn about the program, the more I fall in love with the school-its goals, opportunities, and philosophy. Moreover, this is close by that I could visit my family which further adds to it being my top choice.

Would it be worth it to bring up during the interviews that this program is my top choice?

I would consider the school a bit of a reach for me.

Thanks!

I've looked into a handful of MD/PhD programs and to my understanding, there are some that restrict the PhD portion to Biomedical Sciences but not all of them do, correct? The reason I am asking is because I am hoping to complete an MD/PhD program where my PhD would be in Health Psychology (this is because my specific interest is in the biological mechanisms of toxic stress and Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACES).

Is there a list of programs where the PhD is up to the student's discretion and ones where the PhD is strictly limited to biomedical sciences?

I am currently am an RA for one lab and the lab manager brought up that they want us to be involved in writing for their current work. But of course, that does not guarantee my name being on it. Which is fine, because I’m grateful to be part of the project. But would it be appropriate to bring up if there is a possibility of my name being on it? And how I can contribute more meaningfully?

Thank you!

hi there! im currently debating between two options for my upcoming gap year, during which i will be applying to schools.

option 1: current research lab. this is with a VERY flexible and supportive PI who is mentoring me through my senior honors thesis. he is well connected, taking me to conferences, and papers will start to be pushed out in fall 2025 (this is a new lab). the location of this lab is close to my current clinical job so ideally i would work both jobs!

option 2: the good old nih irta. this option would allow me to save money by living at home while getting the resources, reach, and name of the nih. however, getting a position within the program is a crapshot, it's not guaranteed that i have a supportive PI, and i might not be able to secure a clinical job in the area.

thoughts? much appreciated!

from my understanding, medicine is a path that’s not very travel/vacation friendly given the time commitment & need to stay in the us for residency, training, and practice. i’m in my app cycle right now and want to get a bit of traveling done before i matriculate, but with a full time job it’s not as feasible. im curious as to what everyone thinks about the flexibility of an md/phd to travel? do most people do it during their phd? summers between medical school (but that’s usually allocated for rotations)? after you become an attending? never?

also a huge thing ive always wanted to do is to study/live abroad for a year or two but im pretty sure at this stage its not really feasible anymore idk if anyone has heard of opportunities to do so

I am doing biochem undergrad at Sri Venkateswara College, DU, India and want to transition to MD/PhD and have started to plan for that. What would those like me and those who have been accepted recommend or suggest?
I have just started my second year. I am still somewhat confused about career but want to do research and clinical, hence read about this program in a newspaper. Which university, country would be good fit? and How can I achieve that seat?

hello!! i recently graduated and am taking 2 gap years, and am now currently considering the md/phd route after thinking i was going to go phd for a while. I have a total of 2 years of cumulative research, (1 yr neuro, and 3 reus in biomedicine, cog sci, and neuro, respectively). I have one 2nd author pub from the cog sci research at an ivy. none of the research i've done is exactly in what i would want to pursue in an md/phd, which is cog neuro, but since this is quite a subfield i have been limited by the opportunities. i went to a Tier 2 college and graduated w a 3.91 gpa, (BCPM 3.98), and am planning on taking the mcat in jan. i was part of school orgs like dance and photography but never in any leadership, and I had a family emergency in spring 2023 that limited my ability to be super involved in school, beyond maintaining good grades.

I'm currently unemployed, but looking for work and hoping for something to pan out. I'm wondering if this period of unemployment seriously limits my chances, and what I should try doing in this time. My thought was maybe shadowing for some clinical hours, as I'm lacking in them beyond working as a medical assistant for about 10 months in college. Basically, is it over if I don't have something right now?

hey all,

I am a sophomore in college and I am particularly interested in an md/phd since I am interested in the pharma industry and I want to do research and conduct clinical trials. Right now for my ECs I have a summer of metabolism research under my belt, an I am in a wet lab right now putting in the work, and I am a varsity athlete. I know I should get some clinical experience in. I want to work at a pharma startup this summer to hone in on my intrests. And I want to do entrepreneurial ventures to bc it is exciting to me and I want to show the combo between business and science/medicine. Any advice on how to get a md/phd A from here?