MD Funding After PhD

[ExtraEspresso]

I am currently in my first year of my PhD program, and I decided just too late that I am interested in pursuing both an MD and a PhD. I am working with my current program to try to switch from PhD to MD/PhD, but there is no guarantee that that will be possible or that I will get accepted.

If I don't get accepted, my plan is to complete my PhD and then start an MD after. Are they any programs that offer some type of funding (scholarship, grant, etc.) to students that have already completed a PhD?

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[OxToCA]

I am currently in my first year of my PhD program, and I decided just too late that I am interested in pursuing both an MD and a PhD. I am working with my current program to try to switch from PhD to MD/PhD, but there is no guarantee that that will be possible or that I will get accepted.

If I don't get accepted, my plan is to complete my PhD and then start an MD after. Are they any programs that offer some type of funding (scholarship, grant, etc.) to students that have already completed a PhD?

The NIH's Graduate Partnerships Program (GPP) https://mdphd.gpp.nih.gov/prospectiveStudents/track3.asp is a good option assuming that you can develop a collaboration with researchers at the NIH. MSTP funding for track 3 GPP students is limited, though. If you can participate in the GPP, then apply for an F31 grant; to be competitive, you need to have publications related to your PhD dissertation. If you received one, that would assist your host department and PI, and might even increase your candidacy for doing what you're hoping to do. However, you may still not receive any funding for your MD and have to support it yourself. All of these things that I mentioned are described on the funding section of the GPP website https://mdphd.gpp.nih.gov/funding/otherFunding.asp and in F31 grant reviewer's advice (attached).

If you can't find a lab at the NIH/participate in the GPP, you could leave your program with a masters while applying to MD/PhD programs. However, doing so might burn bridges with your host department as you've basically utilized their PhD funding to take courses and do lab rotations, and left them with one less trained doctoral researcher. IMO, it would have been better if you did a self-funded masters to begin with, especially one that you could use to support an F30/F31; doing so has a better risk vs reward for getting into medical school (and not having to pay for it while receiving a stipend) than leaving your PhD with an MS as well as entering track 3 of the GPP. As far as I know, medical schools don't give many scholarships out to PhD grads, either.

 

[QofQuimica]

It's possible to get scholarshipped for your MD after completing a PhD, but it is not very common, and you should not not count on being able to do it. As you've already realized, transferring into the MD/PhD program at your school (also often difficult to do) would be a much better option if possible. I would recommend pursuing this route first and only considering PhD-to-MD if unable to transfer.

You didn't mention what your qualifications for MD-only apps were like should the transfer into MD/PhD not work out. Such as, do you have any clinical experience (shadowing, clinical volunteering, and/or clinical jobs)? How about community service? College grades? MCAT score? The adcoms for MD-only programs are looking at somewhat different criteria than are the adcoms for PhD and even MD/PhD programs. If you don't have the correct ECs and competitive stats for MD-only apps, you need to start thinking about how to beef up your med school apps now.

One other option you might consider if you want to have an academic medicine career is to drop out of your PhD program and attend a five year research MD program like Pitt's PSTP or Case's CCLCM programs. These programs provide tuition subsidization but do NOT pay living expenses like an MD/PhD program does. They are also fairly competitive because of the tuition subsidies. But they're well worth considering for someone who wants to practice clinical medicine along with doing clinical or public health research. In order to be competitive for these programs, you will need both strong clinical experience/community service ECs and strong research/academic credentials.

 

[phdplusmd]

I am currently in my first year of my PhD program, and I decided just too late that I am interested in pursuing both an MD and a PhD. I am working with my current program to try to switch from PhD to MD/PhD, but there is no guarantee that that will be possible or that I will get accepted.

If I don't get accepted, my plan is to complete my PhD and then start an MD after. Are they any programs that offer some type of funding (scholarship, grant, etc.) to students that have already completed a PhD?

Yes there are, one really good one is NIH's LRP program: after 4 years of staying in an academic track doing clinical research, my medical school loans are about to be fully paid off.

I started MD after PhD, and had significant debt by end of it all. Loan deferments kept the monthly payments to a minimum until after residency. Since I wanted to stay on the academic track, I did a postdoc, and applied for NIH LRP (Loan Repayment Program) which requires that the research be in pediatric, health disparities, human clinical research (easy to find as MD), or you are from a disadvantaged background (Eligibility & Programs | NIH: Division of Loan Repayment). The only challenge is to find a position post residency where you have at least 50% free time where you can conduct clinical research (it is a requirement of the NIH LRP grant) and have a MENTOR to verify your work obligations. In most centers this would be equivalent to assistant professor research track - which I am on. However if you are a clinical asst. prof you may not have that much protected time available.