MD chances for Central Asia resident

[Citrus123]

Hi everyone, I'd appreciate your opinion on my chances for MD in US. My overall aim is get MD-PhD degrees in US in the future. Thank you.

Do you think I can try apply to US now?

Research:
> 3+ years with international internships
> 3-4 high IF papers as a front co-author
> 2-3 ongoing papers for high IF papers, where I am 1st author and front co-author.
> several national young scientist award, poster, abstract, oral ppt, travel grant on widely known international conferences

Volunteering:
> Constantly from Freshman year such as aids for soc. vulnerable families, tutoring in mid/high schools to promote patience for education etc.

Numerous high school medals on local national and international biology olympiads.

Sports: beginner in karate kyokushinkai

cGPA: ~2.75-3.00, science major GPA ~3.5

MCAT: 489 (1st attempt)

Have strong motivation in getting MD-PhD in US for future career, but lack much informations regarding admission process requirements. Now I'm considering getting Masters degree to increase GPA and MCAT, then try apply US for MD/PhD.

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[lumya]

Short answer, no, your application is not competitive yet for MD/PhD programs in the US.

Long answer with some questions:

Is your undergraduate degree from a US school or a Central Asian school? There are some medical schools that do not accept non-US degrees so you will have to look for international-friendly medical schools if yours is not from the US. If you do have a US-degree, are you a US-citizen?

Your GPA from a Masters degree will not count towards your overall GPA as far as medical schools are concerned. Instead of getting a Masters, it might be wiser to apply for a post-bacc or to take more undergraduate classes to boost your GPA. Your GPA and MCAT are low for a medical school applicant. You do have a lot of research experience but most of the extra-curricular activities you have listed are from high school. Do you have any clinical experienced (example shadowing or work experience?) How much volunteering have you done (number of hours) in both clinical and non-clinical areas.

There are certain MD/PhD programs where you apply through AMCAS and complete a secondary application to be considered as a dual applicant. For other schools, you might have the option of apply to their MD program and one of their PhD programs separate of each other, and if you are accepted into both, they will make allowances to allow you to complete both programs together. The application process is going to depend school by school and the requirements will vary too.

According to the MSAR only 51 schools have a combined MD/PhD program and accept international students, and a lot of these schools are top 25 schools meaning you have to be an incredibly stellar applicant to gain acceptance. In 2017, 1933 international applicants applied to US medical schools and only 350 of them gained acceptance, so while it is possible, being an international student does put you at a disadvantage and you will have to greatly increase both your GPA and MCAT to be competitive. Have you considered applying for a US PhD program and applying to medical school after becoming a citizen?

I would recommend reading Goro's Guide for Reinvention for tips on how to improve your application and you will find a lot of information about MD/PhD programs on the AAMC website.

 

[gyngyn]

This thread can be followed here: MD chances for Cenral Asia resident