Pursuing an M.D.-Ph.D. degree, which combines the rigors of medical school with the difficulty of a doctoral thesis, is not a challenge to be taken lightly. Becoming a physician-scientist requires demanding training; people who pursue this profession must be prepared to both heal sick patients and conduct biomedical research.
M.D.-Ph.D. programs usually last between seven to eight years, so admissions officers for these programs want to ensure that the students they choose are ready to commit to many years of strenuous study.
Admissions officers also want to select students who have a history of conducting meaningful academic research and who have the potential to increase knowledge in the medical profession. Because M.D.-Ph.D. students frequently attend medical school for free through full scholarships and also receive stipends to pay their living expenses, M.D.-Ph.D. programs hold applicants to high academic standards.
Dr. McGreggor Crowley, an admissions counselor at the education consulting firm IvyWise who previously served on the Harvard Medical School admissions commitee, says that M.D.-Ph.D. programs seek students who are diligent and self-motivated.
“They’re going to want someone who is going to dive into a project and take ownership of it and take control of it,” Crowley says.
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M.D.-Ph.D. applicants are typically expected to write more admissions essays than traditional medical school applicants. In addition to the personal comments essay, which is mandatory for all M.D. applicants who submit their credentials using the American Medical College Application Service, M.D.-Ph.D. hopefuls who use this application method are also obligated to write two supplemental essays. They must write an M.D.-Ph.D. essay, where they explain why they want both a traditional medical degree and a Ph.D. degree, and a significant research experience essay, where they describe the scientific research they have conducted.
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M.D.-Ph.D. admissions officers say that when they read these supplemental essays, they are looking for evidence that an applicant has the grit, initiative, academic aptitude and love of science necessary to excel in an M.D.-Ph.D. program.
Dr. Michael Donnenberg, the senior associate dean for research and research training at Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and director of its M.D.-Ph.D program, says when he reads M.D.-Ph.D. applications, he looks for signs that these students wouldn’t be satisfied by a career that didn’t involve both clinical medicine and research medicine.
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“I’m always looking for that, not that they can’t decide which one they want to do, but that they can’t imagine giving one up for the other,” he says. “I think that’s a really essential quality of a physician scientist.”
Dr. Andrew Zinn, director of the Medical Scientist Training Program and dean of the graduate school of biomedical sciences at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, says he appreciates when M.D.-Ph.D. applicants demonstrate strong interest in a particular area of medicine. Ideally, applicants have completed a series of significant research projects on a specific topic, he says.
“I like to see somebody who has prioritized depth over breadth,” Zinn says.
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How to Write M.D.-Ph.D. Application Essays originally appeared on usnews.com
