URM Physician Scientists

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Lucca

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Hey y'all,

Just curious if there are any other Latinos, African Americans, and Native Americans out there pursuing or in the process of pursuing MD/PhD programs (or other physician scientist paths). I suspect we are a small community but maybe on SDN we can have some numbers!

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Checking in - we are a small community lol
 
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yah I figured hehe. Im not applying until next year, but from the summer program I attended for students interested in MD/PhD programs it was self-evident.

A lot of those faces are the ones you'll see on the interview trail. Whichever school you end up picking, be sure to meet students in other grad and professional programs (always good to branch outside of the med school crowd, especially during the PhD years).
 
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Applying next year as well!
 
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Awesome! Are you taking time off?
Yep! Don't know what I'll be doing but probably research and some pursuit of outside interests on the side. Still up in the air though, it's weird not having a whole year of my life planned out lol. Are you a junior as well or older?
 
Yep! Don't know what I'll be doing but probably research and some pursuit of outside interests on the side. Still up in the air though, it's weird not having a whole year of my life planned out lol. Are you a junior as well or older?

I'm a senior but I'm taking time off to do more research.
 
I'm late but I'm a URM currently applying to MD/PhD programs. I'd be happy to keep you all updated on my progress if it would help at all.
 
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I'm late but I'm a URM currently applying to MD/PhD programs. I'd be happy to keep you all updated on my progress if it would help at all.
Would also love to hear how applying from abroad goes (I admit I stalked you briefly lol). I will probably be abroad when I apply next year and want to make sure it's doable. Good luck!!
 
Would also love to hear how applying from abroad goes (I admit I stalked you briefly lol).

I appreciate a person who does their research :claps:. To be honest, it's not the smartest decision. I anticipate that it will cost me a lot since I hope, but don't expect, med schools to pay for a ticket to and from Germany. Also, I may have shot myself in the foot by not applying as early as possible, because it might be harder to coordinate interviews around the same time if I am given the last available slot. That said, I contacted a handful of programs to see if my being abroad would be an issue if I am invited to interview (idk why I thought that just because Johns Hopkins does Skype interviews for their med students, that everyone would be cool with it for MD/PhD). Needless to say, every program I contacted said that I'd have to interview in person, but most programs also said that they'd be happy to coordinate their schedule to fit mine and that they've done this in the past with other students who were overseas. I'm glad they said that, because if I decided to save money and not travel, I wouldn't get to see the campus, and they wouldn't get a good feel for who I was. On the flip side, depending on how things work out, I might have to take out a loan and a credit card with travel bonuses because this is about to be one expensive application cycle.
 
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Checking in many months late lol. I've been lurking on this site for quite some time.
 
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Updates: Thus far, I've been invited to interview at NYU, UChicago, and UT San Antonio (yay me!:banana:). I still have about 10 more secondaries to submit, but the main thing that's holding me up is having to tell every school why I wanna go there and nowhere else (-__-). Part of what that work entails is identifying potential mentors at each school, which can be very, very time consuming if the school doesn't have a user-friendly website for people to look up faculty members. If I could share a piece of advice: choose your schools wisely. Unfortunately, I chose many of the schools on my list because I liked their location (coastal city schools) and I assumed that because they were a big name school, they would be doing the type of research that I am interested in (epilepsy, neurosurgery, cognition). Nothing could be further from the truth, lol. It would have been much better if I had reviewed which schools in the nation were doing the type of research that I was sincerely interested in pursuing before submitting my primary. Luckily, there are only a few schools that I applied to that I know I won't be going to even if I am offered an interview, but if you know that your research interests are kind of specific and hard to find, then start the hunt for some good mentors now. Nothing is more awkward than the moment when the school's secondary is like, "so who would you like to do research with here?" and your heart is like "no one."
 
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I will be applying this upcoming year as well! How were your interviews Future MD/PhD?
 
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Meh. They were decent. I gotta be honest, I've been told many times by directors and students alike that "I'll get in everywhere," and BOY did that blow up my head. I wasn't acting arrogant on interviews or anything, but I honestly thought that I'd be a shoe-in everywhere, and I think that may have caused me to interview with a little less tenacity and eagerness (not to mention humility :hardy:). Either that or I just wasn't prepared for how cutthroat the process is. Let me start off with the good news: since my last comment, I've received plenty of amazing interview offers. I've attended all of these interviews except for Emory and UCLA due to scheduling conflicts and issues. I've been told before by my post-bacc scholarship advisor that I interview well, so although I was never able to practice using mock interviews for MD/PhD programs, I feel like my interviews went well overall. There are certain smaller things that I wish I had known before interviewing (like how interviewers want to hear you pledge to an 80/20 split), but even still, I think that showing your truest, most authentic self can only work in your favor.

As you all know, it is coming close to mid-March and I have received a great deal of feedback thus far. I've been waitlisted at a few schools. I have also received 2 acceptances. Since I am very happy with and grateful for my Northwestern acceptance, I have withdrawn my application from a number of schools. Still, if I happened to be offered a spot by Columbia, I would choose them over Northwestern. Not sure about if I would choose NYU over Northwestern, but I know that I wouldn't choose any MD program over MD/PhD. Harvard, UCSF, and Johns Hopkins said no. In addition, UPenn, USC, and even Drexel said no before interviewing me. I thought that I would have a better chance at many of these schools, and I'm keep trying to remind myself that I've done well regardless, but it really is a bit of a blow to my self-esteem. That said, don't let your ego get the best of you! Especially as a URM, I wanted to prove to myself that I was smart by using external validation, and that was dumb :laugh:. I actually think it's cute to look back on my previous comment and remember how happy I was to have simply received an interview offer from the first three schools that reached out to me.

Although I have a lot of advice, anecdotes, and opinions to give about my experience, I would like to believe that I would have had a better shot at some of these schools if I showed more interest. At first, I thought that UChicago was my first choice AND I thought that I would get in there without a problem. They currently have my application under continued review. I've since heard that they are the type of school to respond favorably to strong (and maybe even repetitive) letters of interest. I sent them a letter once about how much I wanted to attend their school, but I refrained from saying "You are my #1 choice." I didn't want to lie, even though I actually felt like they were my #1 choice at the time. I mean, what if I got into Harvard, yknow? Funnily enough, my research interests have shifted in a very significant way since then. Before I went on interviews, I applied to various programs with the mindset of doing epilepsy and/or cognition research, even though my true passion and interest was in neural prosthetics. It wasn't until after my interview at Northwestern that I learned that I can not only do research in neural prosthetics, but also get a degree in Neuroengineering if I wanted, even though I only have a Bachelors in Chemistry. That changed the way I looked at various schools, and unfortunately made UChicago a not-so-ideal option for me since they simply do not have a lab working on the type of neural prosthetics that I'm interested in. I could probably do something related to neural prosthetics research, but that's a gamble. I also remember sending Columbia a desperate email after being waitlisted, telling them that they were my #1 choice before I was certain of it. First of all, I had no reason to be desperate since I had already been accepted somewhere that was able to offer me what I need in a program. I don't recommend lying to programs, though I do recommend showing tons of interest, even if it's not 150% genuine, just so that you have options. I was 100% genuine in my interviews, and I just feel like it may have come across as uninvested at times. On the other hand, maybe I just wasn't qualified enough to get in. Either way, even though I know that I can be very emotionally fragile at times and self-critical when it comes to things like this, I am absolutely fine and know that everything will work out well. At this stage, Columbia really is my #1 choice, and if I end up at Northwestern, I will still be happy. #TeamLouMalnatis
 
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Meh. They were decent. I gotta be honest, I've been told many times by directors and students alike that "I'll get in everywhere," and BOY did that blow up my head. I wasn't acting arrogant on interviews or anything, but I honestly thought that I'd be a shoe-in everywhere, and I think that may have caused me to interview with a little less tenacity and eagerness (not to mention humility :hardy:). Either that or I just wasn't prepared for how cutthroat the process is. Let me start off with the good news: since my last comment, I've received interview offers at Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Johns Hopkins, Mayo, Emory, UCLA, and even UCSF. I've attended all of these interviews except for Emory and UCLA due to scheduling conflicts and issues. I've been told before by my post-bacc scholarship advisor that I interview well, so although I was never able to practice using mock interviews for MD/PhD programs, I feel like my interviews went well overall. There are certain smaller things that I wish I had known before interviewing, but even still, I think that showing your truest, most authentic self can only work in your favor.

As you all know, it is coming close to mid-March and I have received a great deal of feedback thus far. I got into Stanford's MD program, and I'm still waiting to hear back from their MSTP. I've been waitlisted at Cornell, Mayo, Columbia, NYU, and Einstein. I have also received acceptances from UT San Antonio, Boston U, and Northwestern. Since I am very happy with and grateful for my Northwestern acceptance, I have withdrawn my application from Mayo, Einstein, UT San Antonio, and Boston U (note to self: I should probably also pull my application from Cornell). Still, if I happened to be offered a spot by Columbia, I would choose them over Northwestern. Not sure about if I would choose NYU over Northwestern, but I know that I wouldn't choose any MD program over MD/PhD. Harvard, UCSF, and Johns Hopkins said no. In addition, UPenn, USC, and even Drexel said no before interviewing me. I thought that I would have a better chance at many of these schools, and I'm keep trying to remind myself that I've done well regardless, but it really is a bit of a blow to my self-esteem. That said, don't let your ego get the best of you! Especially as a URM, I wanted to prove to myself that I was smart by using external validation, and that was dumb . I actually think it's cute to look back on my previous comment and remember how happy I was to have simply received an interview offer from the first three schools that reached out to me.

Although I have a lot of advice, anecdotes, and opinions to give about my experience, I would like to believe that I would have had a better shot at some of these schools if I showed more interest. At first, I thought that UChicago was my first choice AND I thought that I would get in there without a problem. They currently have my application under continued review (... :wtf:). I've since heard that they are the type of school to respond favorably to strong (and maybe even repetitive) letters of interest. I sent them a letter once about how much I wanted to attend their school, but I refrained from saying "You are my #1 choice." I didn't want to lie, even though I actually felt like they were my #1 choice at the time. I mean, what if I got into Harvard, yknow? Funnily enough, my research interests have shifted in a very significant way since then. Before I went on interviews, I applied to various programs with the mindset of doing epilepsy and/or cognition research, even though my true passion and interest was in neural prosthetics. It wasn't until after my interview at Northwestern that I learned that I can not only do research in neural prosthetics, but also get a degree in Neuroengineering if I wanted, even though I only have a Bachelors in Chemistry. That changed the way I looked at various schools, and unfortunately made UChicago a not-so-ideal option for me since they simply do not have a lab working on the type of neural prosthetics that I'm interested in. I could probably do something related to neural prosthetics research, but that's a gamble. I also remember sending Columbia a desperate email after being waitlisted, telling them that they were my #1 choice before I was certain of it. First of all, I had no reason to be desperate since I had already been accepted somewhere that was able to offer me what I need in a program. I don't recommend lying to programs, though I do recommend showing tons of interest, even if it's not 150% genuine, just so that you have options. I was 100% genuine in my interviews, and I just feel like it may have come across as uninvested at times. On the other hand, maybe I just wasn't qualified enough to get in. Either way, even though I know that I can be very emotionally fragile at times and self-critical when it comes to things like this, I am absolutely fine and know that everything will work out well. At this stage, Columbia really is my #1 choice, and if I end up at Northwestern, I will still be happy. #TeamLouMalnatis
Congratulations and thanks so much for the insight! I've heard many of the same things in regards to being a great applicant, but I honestly always had my doubts so I'm going in expecting the worst and hoping for the best. It sucks that you got waitlisted but I've seen other threads saying that waitlist movement is higher for MD/PhD. Are you originally from Chicago?

I also learned something new today cause I didn't even know Northwestern had a neuroengineering program.

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Congratulations and thanks so much for the insight! I've heard many of the same things in regards to being a great applicant, but I honestly always had my doubts so I'm going in expecting the worst and hoping for the best.

Thanks. It's so funny because when I initially applied, I expected the absolute worst until other people started blowing my head up, like I said. I wish I would have kept that same pessimistic perspective, because it was closer to reality than the BS that people fed me. At the same time, I think the BS gave me confidence on my interviews that I may not have had otherwise. The world may never know.

It sucks that you got waitlisted but I've seen other threads saying that waitlist movement is higher for MD/PhD.

I have seen a lot of people talk about waitlist movement too, but I think that it all comes with a grain of salt as well. For example, the director of Mayo's MD/PhD program actually told me during my interview that if I wanted to come to Mayo, I should just say the word because he has the power to make it happen. He also said that he'd love to have me in his lab (which is on neural prosthetics). He even called me personally to let me know that I was very high on the waitlist with a couple of spots still available in the program if I wanted to be in it, so yeah. In a situation like that, waitlist movement is very real. At the same time, NYU's waitlist email specifically stated that it's highly unlikely that I'll get off the waitlist. Perhaps they only said that out of pride, but I'm not going to get my hopes up there. I still have hope for Columbia, though. I really felt like the director liked me, and I sent that follow-up first-choice email, which people swear by. We'll see.

Are you originally from Chicago?

No, but I'm interested in trying it out. I grew up in NJ, did high school in TX, then did college in DC. I did an internship in LA once, but I've never spent any real time in the Midwest. Plus, I'm really here for this low-cost-of-living life ;).

I also learned something new today cause I didn't even know Northwestern had a neuroengineering program.

Yeah, I really think it's very important to do as much research as possible upfront, maybe even before submitting primaries/secondaries. Even though I did my research, I probably could have done more. I think the goal of your research should be to clarify where you want to go, what you want to do, who you want to be, and which institution can make that happen.

Perhaps I should clarify though. Within Northwestern's biomedical engineering program, they have a neuroengineering branch, which many other programs do not have. From what I've gathered, the label of your PhD is not as important as the topic of your research, and even that isn't as important as the reputation and network of the person you're doing research with. Of course, you should like and be invested in what you're doing and who you're doing it with, but the rank of an institution typically plays a big role in recruiting established leaders in a given field. I had a lot of internal conflict about whether to choose rank over fit, but I think that (within reason) rank should override your feelings. Then again, if you're not that pressed about climbing up the career ladder, then it probably shouldn't matter very much to you. In retrospect, I think people may have meant that I would be a shoe-in at a lot of lower-tier schools, but I wasn't really interested in enrolling in a program like that. Competitive schools are by their very nature competitive, so I would honestly be interested in knowing what it takes to be a shoe-in to a number of schools at that level. Perhaps a 525 with 6 first-author publications would do the job :p.
 
Cycle has gone way better than expected applied to 20 MD/PhD programs interviewed at 13 and was accepted into 11 with 2 waitlists. Now choosing between Case Western and Colorado. I can not make up my mind.
 
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Thanks. It's so funny because when I initially applied, I expected the absolute worst until other people started blowing my head up, like I said. I wish I would have kept that same pessimistic perspective, because it was closer to reality than the BS that people fed me. At the same time, I think the BS gave me confidence on my interviews that I may not have had otherwise. The world may never know.



I have seen a lot of people talk about waitlist movement too, but I think that it all comes with a grain of salt as well. For example, the director of Mayo's MD/PhD program actually told me during my interview that if I wanted to come to Mayo, I should just say the word because he has the power to make it happen. He also said that he'd love to have me in his lab (which is on neural prosthetics). He even called me personally to let me know that I was very high on the waitlist with a couple of spots still available in the program if I wanted to be in it, so yeah. In a situation like that, waitlist movement is very real. At the same time, NYU's waitlist email specifically stated that it's highly unlikely that I'll get off the waitlist. Perhaps they only said that out of pride, but I'm not going to get my hopes up there. I still have hope for Columbia, though. I really felt like the director liked me, and I sent that follow-up first-choice email, which people swear by. We'll see.



No, but I'm interested in trying it out. I grew up in NJ, did high school in TX, then did college in DC. I did an internship in LA once, but I've never spent any real time in the Midwest. Plus, I'm really here for this low-cost-of-living life ;).



Yeah, I really think it's very important to do as much research as possible upfront, maybe even before submitting primaries/secondaries. Even though I did my research, I probably could have done more. I think the goal of your research should be to clarify where you want to go, what you want to do, who you want to be, and which institution can make that happen.

Perhaps I should clarify though. Within Northwestern's biomedical engineering program, they have a neuroengineering branch, which many other programs do not have. From what I've gathered, the label of your PhD is not as important as the topic of your research, and even that isn't as important as the reputation and network of the person you're doing research with. Of course, you should like and be invested in what you're doing and who you're doing it with, but the rank of an institution typically plays a big role in recruiting established leaders in a given field. I had a lot of internal conflict about whether to choose rank over fit, but I think that (within reason) rank should override your feelings. Then again, if you're not that pressed about climbing up the career ladder, then it probably shouldn't matter very much to you. In retrospect, I think people may have meant that I would be a shoe-in at a lot of lower-tier schools, but I wasn't really interested in enrolling in a program like that. Competitive schools are by their very nature competitive, so I would honestly be interested in knowing what it takes to be a shoe-in to a number of schools at that level. Perhaps a 525 with 6 first-author publications would do the job :p.
For BME I’d honestly choose Northwestern over Columbia. If we are going ranking and BME reputation. Depends which is most important to you the ranking of the grad school or the medical school. Both places medically will get you where you want since both have amazing residency placements. But which school has the bigger name mentors in your field or more potential mentors you’d want to work with?
 
Cycle has gone way better than expected applied to 20 MD/PhD programs interviewed at 13 and was accepted into 11 with 2 waitlists. Now choosing between Case Western and Colorado. I can not make up my mind.

Congratulations! Hopefully the rest of us are as successful as both you and Future MD/PhD! I'm honestly just happy to see URMs succeed cause lord knows I have been wondering if this is the correct path for me due to the limited number of minorities in the field.
 
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For BME I’d honestly choose Northwestern over Columbia. If we are going ranking and BME reputation. Depends which is most important to you the ranking of the grad school or the medical school. Both places medically will get you where you want since both have amazing residency placements. But which school has the bigger name mentors in your field or more potential mentors you’d want to work with?

Congratulations on your acceptances! I was told that the discipline that I get my PhD in is not as important as the reputation of the person I do my research with, or the actual topic of my research. Columbia has two people who I've been told are big names in the field, while Northwestern unfortunately has none that I know of in my area of interest. One of the researchers that I was referring to at Columbia is also working on the exact research topic that I'm interested in. The other is working on research concepts that align well with my long-term goals. The lab I want to join at Northwestern used to have someone who was working on exactly what I'm interested in, but she recently left. That said, I'm not the best at gauging who's a big shot researcher or which graduate program is the most prominent in my field of research, so I certainly didn't know that Northwestern's BME program was top notch. I'm actually unable to get a PhD in BME anywhere except for Northwestern, but I'm OK with that. Columbia has a pretty strong computational neuroscience program, so I'm really not worried either way.
 
Congratulations on your acceptances! I was told that the discipline that I get my PhD in is not as important as the reputation of the person I do my research with, or the actual topic of my research. Columbia has two people who I've been told are big names in the field, while Northwestern unfortunately has none that I know of in my area of interest. One of the researchers that I was referring to at Columbia is also working on the exact research topic that I'm interested in. The other is working on research concepts that align well with my long-term goals. The lab I want to join at Northwestern used to have someone who was working on exactly what I'm interested in, but she recently left. That said, I'm not the best at gauging who's a big shot researcher or which graduate program is the most prominent in my field of research, so I certainly didn't know that Northwestern's BME program was top notch. I'm actually unable to get a PhD in BME anywhere except for Northwestern, but I'm OK with that. Columbia has a pretty strong computational neuroscience program, so I'm really not worried either way.

Very well said. Makes a lot of sense. Columbia definitely sounds like the perfect place now. Computational anything is very popular right now (plus PhD's tend to be shorter in those fields.) All the best.
 
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