3rd year PhD student...

I’m a 3rd year PhD student in Immunology and still at least good 2 years away from graduation, but thought I’d waste some time and contemplate about my post-graduate life.
Some general questions…
Are there any advantages or disadvantages of applying to medical schools as a PhD graduate?
Are there any medical schools that look more “favorably” on applicants with a PhD?
Do I need to worry about “volunteering experiences”?
Thanks!

Quote:

I’m a 3rd year PhD student in Immunology and still at least good 2 years away from graduation, but thought I’d waste some time and contemplate about my post-graduate life.
Some general questions…
Are there any advantages or disadvantages of applying to medical schools as a PhD graduate?
If you have a clear idea of how you are going to combine your Ph.D and MD then the answer to your question is yes, the Ph.D is going to be an advantage. If your goal is academic medicine, then the MD-Ph.D is almost a requirement.



Are there any medical schools that look more “favorably” on applicants with a PhD?

It depends on the rest of your application. If you have a competitive application package, then having a Ph.D especially in the sciences will make most any school look favorably upon you. Medical schools are looking for the best students that they can find to fill their class. If you present evidence that you can handle the medical school curriculum (A Ph.D is no guarantee of this), then you are going to get acceptances. One of my former assoicates who had a Ph.D in physiology did fairly well in the pre-clinical material but started to have problems during third year. She was able to graduate from her medical school but was thrown out of residency (Internal Medicine)before first year was done because she just couldn’t do the clinical stuff safely and manage her time. She became very frustrated and ended up going back into the research lab. So don’t take the attitude that a Ph.D guarantees success in medical school. Medical school is very much about ramping your study skills to a point where you get through first and second year, then your work ethic to get though third and fourth year and into residency.


Do I need to worry about “volunteering experiences”?
You don’t need to “worry” about volunteering experiences but you DO need to have some. Again, a Ph.D does not give you an automatic entry into first year medical school without covering the necessary prereqs.
Good luck!
Natalie