Pre-Medical Information

An M.D./PhD dual degree program or Medical Scientist Training Program assists students in attaining both an M.D. and a Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences in less time than it takes to achieve each degree separately. These dual degree programs are aimed at producing physician scientists who have the analytical skills of basic scientists and the broad base of knowledge and diagnostic skills of a physician. These individuals strive to bridge the gap between the laboratory and the clinic, using the questions from patient care and the tools of basic science to advance medicine.

How long does an M.D./Ph.D. program take to complete and what does it involve?

M.D./Ph.D dual degree programs often take 7-8 years to complete, with some variation depending on the institution. The timeline typically involves the following: completion of the first two years of combined medical and graduate school, three to five years of doctoral research, which includes the completion of a thesis project, and a return to medical school for the remaining two years. The Ph.D. degree can be completed in several areas including biochemistry, cell biology, biomedical engineering, developmental biology, genetics, immunology, pathology, pharmacology, physiology, biophysics, bioinformatics, epidemiology, molecular biology, and neuroscience. These offerings also differ based on institution.

What about the application and cost?

The application process for these programs is varied and should be investigated on a school to school basis. Funding for these programs also varies depending on institution. About 75 schools are funding from General Medical Sciences at the National Institutes of Health. With these programs, students might receive full support for both programs along with a stipend, tuition waivers, and health insurance. This should also be invested on a school to school basis.

Sources: 2009 Medical School Admission Requirements (MSAR)

Mayo website: http://www.mayo.edu/mgs/mstp.html

Alumni Biographies

Learn and grow by reading stories Grove City alumni have shared about their experiences

Brad Heiple 2009

Molecular Biology

Psychology Minor

Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine 2013

GPA: 3.0

MCAT: 26S

As you can see my credentials aren’t spectacular. I applied to 9 osteopathic medical schools in the end, and got 2 interview invitations. Of those 2 schools (NOVA Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine and Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine), I was accepted at Lake Erie and waitlisted at NOVA. I think the key to getting in for me was just showing a great deal of desire on my applications and in my interview. Make sure that your personal statement truly reflects your desire for entering medicine as clearly and convincingly as possible. Avoid clichés such as “I want to help people” and “I’ve wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember”; sure, if these statements apply to you, be sure to let the application committee know, but be sure you can back these overused statements up with some conviction and passion – that’s really what medical schools are looking for. Similarly, I was involved in several activities that illustrated my desire to “help people” and to ultimately enter medicine. I shadowed and volunteered at various medical offices/clinics/hospitals/nursing homes, and I was involved in New Life ministries while at Grove City College. Make sure you integrate the activities in which you’re involved into your reasoning for wanting to become a doctor. Make your argument as persuasive as possible, but make sure that your desire truly shines through and doesn’t appear unoriginal or cliché. Additionally, just know that GROVE CITY IS VERY CHALLENGING. If your GPA is a little lower than you’d like (like mine), make sure you apply to schools such as Lake Erie College of Osteopathic Medicine and Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine that are aware of Grove City’s rigorous reputation. I’m not saying limit yourself to just these schools, nor am I saying that you don’t stand a chance anywhere else (NOVA Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine is in Ft. Lauderdale, after all and I was selected to interview there), I’m simply saying that you need to understand the schools that recognize where you’re coming from, and take advantage of the opportunities you have. In short, if you truly want to be a doctor, don’t let credentials deter you too much. While numbers are important, people aren’t lying when they tell you that medical schools really are looking for the whole package. Just be sure to build a strong resume – a resume that reflects your desire and passion for medicine and people. Good luck; please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.

Oliver Wagner 2009

I would say that my journey through medical school applications really began the summer after my sophomore year when I started working in a cancer research lab. This was not an official internship (though I did receive GCC credits for it), but I gained valuable experience that looks great on a medical school application. I also got a lot of clinical experience through shadowing several doctors at the medical center where I did research (about 75 hrs in dermatology, 20 hrs in cardiology, ad 20 hrs family medicine), volunteered at a local ER (about 125 hrs), and went on a two week medical missions trip to the Dominican Republic. It is very important to get in plenty of clinical experience (research alone is not enough), I know of many people who did not get into several schools because of lack of clinical experience. Besides these things, I was involved in varsity tennis, club racquetball, orientation board, and was the newly elected president of Tri-Beta Honorary (when I first sent in my primaries). Being involved in campus activities is also important, they want to see that you have leadership skills and other interests that you can turn to so that you can get away from studies. I had a QPA of 3.61 when I applied, which is competitive at most schools (especially if the school knows Grove City).

I ended up taking the MCAT in April of my junior year because I had not taken physics until that year and wanted to wait until I was almost finished with the class to take it. I highly suggest taking the MCAT somewhat early (either summer after your sophomore year or winter break of junior year), that way you can have the classes fresh in your mind and have time to retake the test if you want to. To prepare for the test, the best thing is to take plenty of practice tests so that you are familiar and comfortable with the format, and know how to effectively budget your time. Prep courses are great for this, as well as for giving you a timetable and an authentic testing atmosphere, but I just used a review book and online tests through Princeton Review. I scored a 33 when I took the test (10 on Verbal, 11 on Biological Sciences, 12 on Physical Sciences, and Q on the writing sample), which is a very competitive score for most of the schools that I applied to.

I started the primary application in late May, and sent in my primaries in early June, shortly after the earliest time that you can send these out. I applied to 12 schools, all of the seven Pennsylvania schools and five others. I only asked professors to write me letters of recommendation by email near the end of June, which was my biggest mistake of the whole process. Plan ahead and ask your professors before the start of the summer, and try to have them get them finished by mid-July as a goal (if not sooner). Typically, schools will ask for 2-3 letters, so you should ask two science professors and one non-science professor, but be sure to check the requirements of each school you plan on attending, in the end I had six different letters written to meet odd criteria that some schools had. Because I waited so long, it was difficult to get in touch with them quickly and effectively, and it took them longer to write the letters than I had hoped.

I started getting secondaries in at the beginning of July, and filled them out and submitted them as soon as I got them. Most of them are very quick and easy, requiring little additional information besides a short two to four essays (most did not ask for any essays). These continued to come in until late August. My secondary applications could have been evaluated in July-August when I submitted them, but since my letters were not finished, they were held. My letters did not get sent out until late September due to delays, so in some cases my application was delayed for over two months, which is absolutely huge in applications. Mrs. Rozic is the letter coordinator for GCC, and she was extremely helpful in getting everything together and solving problems, be sure to go and see her before the summer to get on the same page. The early you get everything in the better since most schools have rolling admissions and interviewing early gives you more time in the whole process.

The worst part of the whole process is waiting, and you have to do a lot of that. I got my first interview in October (extremely fast for when I sent in my application) to West Virginia, and I heard back from them that I was waitlisted about 2-3 weeks later. All of my interviews were very conversational and laid back, I was not stressed out during any of them or grilled with hard questions. The most important thing to remember is to be yourself and show genuine interest in the specific school you are interviewing for (be sure to know things about the school that interest you, they will probably ask you what they are). I had a huge time gap until I got another two interview invites in December, and I interviewed both in late January. Schools take a long time to get back to you, so don’t panic if you don’t hear back within a few months. I interviewed at Rochester and then Commonwealth (In PA) at the end of January, and was accepted into Commonwealth within two weeks, and waitlisted at Rochester after about four. Since I was very impressed with Commonwealth, I then turned down two interview invites to Temple and Drexel and turned in my deposit for Commonwealth. I did keep a later interview at Penn State, which was at the end of February, and we accepted there about two weeks later and decided to commit there as my final choice. A few schools (particularly the more elite ones) never gave me updates at all on my status and either only sent me a formal rejection letter in the spring, or never told me anything at all.

In summary, the road to medical school is long and very annoying at times, but don’t get worried just because it is taking a long time for schools to get back to you, just wait it out and everything will turn out in the end.

Medical School Application Timeline

Curious about what steps to take to get into Medical School? Find helpful information below.

Freshman – Sophomore Years

- Not too much to start worrying about yet except for getting as much clinical and research experience as possible. A summer internship either at a hospital or doing research are both great things to put on a resume and really are crucial in helping you stand out from the other applicants. Also try and get as much doctor shadowing and volunteering as possible, medical schools look for much more than just your grades and MCAT scores, they look for experience.

- Also, it is a good idea to start building relationships with teachers so that you can ask them to write you letters of recommendation later on.

Junior Year

- The main thing to get accomplished is taking the MCAT, which can be done at a number of times. The earliest that people usually take it is the end of the summer following your sophomore year, and if you have taken all the courses necessary (biology 101 and 234, chem 101 and 102, both semesters of o-chem and both semesters of college physics) then this is a good time to take it. One class that is not a requirement but that is very helpful to have is anatomy and physiology, as the biology section does usually contain a good amount of it. Other good times to take it are during winter break of your junior year or sometime in the spring, remember if you take it earlier, you always have the option of retaking it to try and improve your scores. You can take it during the summer after your junior year, but this will push back your applications and not give you enough time to retake it if you are not happy with your scores. Be sure to take plenty of practice tests so that you are familiar with the format of the test, and taking a course can also be helpful.

- Before you go on summer break after your junior year, be sure to scope out what medical schools you want to apply to. This will make it easier to finish the primary applications quickly, will let you know their course requirements so that you can make last minute adjustments if necessary (but probably won’t be for most schools), and determine who you need to ask to write letters of recommendation for you (the requirements vary widely between schools).

- Contact the professors and other people that you want to write you letters, and ask them to try and have them for you by the end of July. It is very easy to have one letter hold up the whole process and delay your application significantly, so be sure to let them know how important it is that you get this letter on time. Typically you will need to ask two science professors and one non-science professor, but check the specific requirements of the schools you are applying too.

- Contact Mrs. Rozic and let her know that you are starting the application process over the summer. She coordinates all of our letters of recommendation and is incredibly helpful, so the earlier you let her start helping you, the better.

Summer After Junior Year

- Fill out your primary application online in May, and send it out as soon as possible beginning of June. Once you send this out to all the schools you select, then they can start looking at you and send you secondaries.

- Secondaries will start coming in early July through August (or later depending on the schools or when you got your primary sent out). Most of these can be completed very quickly online, but a few will require a mailed component or essays, so be sure to look for that. Secondaries also require letters of recommendation before they are processed, so as soon as you start sending in secondaries, hopefully you have all of your letters in to Mrs. Rozic so she can send them out to the schools that have responded to you.

Senior Year

- The whole year consists of waiting for schools to get back to you (which can take a long time, sometimes not until the second semester), scheduling interviews, and then actually interviewing. Don’t be afraid to call schools you haven’t heard from in a while to check up on your status, sometimes they do make mistakes and it shows them that you are interested in the school.

- Remember, the earlier the better with interviews, so schedule them as soon as possible. Medical Schools have rolling admissions, so you have a better chance to get in the earlier you get into the system.

- If you get waitlisted on schools, don’t worry, most schools accept quite a few people off of this list.

- Be sure to call other schools your are no longer considering to cancel interviews or be removed from the waiting list out of courtesy once you start getting acceptances.

- Prepare all of your Financial Aid information, housing applications, and other forms they have to for you to fill out and get ready for your first year of Medical School!

D.O. Timeline

Guidelines for Applying to Osteopathic Medical Schools

Please Note: this timeline assumes that you’ll be planning on taking the MCAT at the end of the summer after your sophomore year – I highly recommend taking it at the end of your sophomore year, as it keeps the relevant material fresh in your mind, and it leaves time for you to re-take it if you desire to.

IMPORTANT: depending on your major, your course selection is obviously going to vary from other students in other majors. MAKE SURE that you’re aware of the general requirements that each Osteopathic Medical School has, and be sure to work your schedule accordingly. If you’re a molecular biology major, you’ll generally have the credits you need to get into a medical school. If you’re chemistry major or a regular biology major however, be sure to know what each school you’re looking into requires, so that you can use your elective credits to fulfill whatever requirements aren’t fulfilled in your major. Regardless of your major, if you want to go to an Osteopathic Medical School you’re going to HAVE to take the MCAT. As I said above, I highly recommend taking this test during the summer after your sophomore year. If you DO decide to do this, make sure you have taken all the classes needed to succeed on this test beforehand.

è Generally, the courses you’ll want to have completed by the end of your sophomore year (for MCAT purposes) are:

o Biology101, Biology234

o Chemistry101, Chemistry102

o Physics101, Physics102

o Organic Chemistry I and II

è [Please see the MCAT section for more details and useful links to help you through this process]

Freshman Year:

What you’ll want to accomplish:

a. Make sure that you’re on track in terms of courses to take the MCAT (again, I’m not saying you HAVE to take it immediately after your sophomore year; I’m merely stating that it’s a very practical option. Regardless, whenever you do decide to take the MCAT, plan your courses accordingly.)

i. Generally, having taken Biology 101, 234, and Chemistry 101 / 102 by the end of your freshman year will keep you where you need to be

b. Begin to build relationships with professors, both science and non-science professors – you’ll invariably need them for writing letters of recommendation later on, and for general help throughout this whole process

c. Begin to look for internship opportunities for the summers ahead; medical schools like to see activities such as this – better to get it done now than to scramble later to find an internship (additionally, talk to one of your professors about the Biol480 internship program – you can earn school credit for your internships – a great way to boost your GPA and get a few elective credits out of the way)

d. Get involved! Medical schools like to see students taken on extracurricular responsibilities – having an active resume can be just as important as keeping your GPA up

e. It may seem early, but begin looking into individual schools NOW. I’m not saying know for certain which schools you want to apply to by the end of your freshman year, but it is good to have an idea of which schools may interest you, and more importantly, begin to understand their admissions criteria. By the middle of your junior year, you should have a fairly concrete list of which schools you’re going to plan on applying to, so again, starting early won’t hurt

Sophomore Year:

What you’ll want to accomplish:

a. Continue taking courses that will put you on an effective course for taking your MCAT

i. Taking Organic Chemistry I and II and Physics I and II at this point is recommended, especially if you’re planning on taking the MCAT the summer after this year

b. Begin looking into the MCAT (structure of the test, content, etc.) so that you’re aware of what you’ll be tested on

c. Begin looking into finding an Osteopathic Physician to shadow (You’ll need a letter of recommendation from a DO for most schools you’ll apply to, so begin early on this as well)

Summer after Sophomore Year:

è Make sure (if you’re taking the MCAT, that you schedule it so that you have enough time to study for it – at least a month, preferably two months)

è Try to use some of your extra time to shadow an osteopathic physician (and make sure he or she will be willing to write you a recommendation later on down the line)

è By the end of your sophomore year summer make sure you have internships and any such activities completed; you’ll be starting the application process right after your junior year and won’t have much time to get this stuff done after this

Junior Year:

This is where things start to heat up…

a. Before you do anything else, plan out your academic schedule for this year and next, making sure that all of your major requirements will be fulfilled, and making sure that your course requirements for med school will be fulfilled

b. Begin to compile a list of schools that you’d be interested in applying to, by the end of your first semester, I would recommend knowing exactly where you want to apply

c. 2^nd semester:

i. Once you know where you want to apply, compile a list of these schools and find out exactly what types of letters of recommendation each requires. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT, as each school requires different letters. Once you know what letters of recommendation you need, begin to select professors which you think will write you a good recommendation. For example:

1. Say you’re applying to 3 schools – school A, school B, and school C

a. School A requires 2 science professors

b. School B requires 2 science professors and 1 non-science professor

c. School C requires 1 science professor, an advisor, and 1 non-science professor

i. Therefore, do the math, you’re going to need a total of 2 science professors, 1 advisor, and 1 non-science professor

d. (This all may seem simplistic, but if you’re applying to a bunch of school like I did, it’ll get overwhelming)

2. Confirm that these professors will write letters for you, and then provide each with a list of schools for which you’ll need them to write letters, complete with the address of each school

a. Note: some schools also require that your recommendation providers also fill out an evaluation form along with a letter – make sure any of these forms are also provided to these professors

3. Once the professors have finished your letters, they will send them to Mrs. Rozic, who is in charge of sending out your letters. Check with her to make sure that she has the letters you need

4. Make sure that your letters are on file and ready to send BEFORE the summer; it will make your application process so much easier

d. If you HAVEN’T taken your MCAT by the end of your sophomore year, make sure you schedule it before the end of your junior year; you’ll need the scores to apply during the summer after your junior year.

e. Make sure that you’re signed up for all the appropriate courses for your senior year; make sure they these courses fulfill your med school requirements

Summer after Junior Year:

1. This is where you will being applying

2. You must first fill out a primary application on AACOMAS, this will be sent out to all the schools you wish to apply to

3. You may begin filling out your AACOMAS application sometime in May or June (check the website to make sure of the exact date)

4. As soon as you can begin filling out this application, get it done as fast as you can, and get it sent out to the schools you wish to apply to

5. Go to https://aacomas.aacom.org/ to set up an application profile and begin this process; it’s fairly self-explanatory

6. NOTE: by the end of this summer, if you haven’t already, make sure you find an osteopathic physician to shadow/get letters of recommendation from him/her to submit during your senior year

Senior Year:

1. Assuming that your AACOMAS application was completed/submitted during the summer, you should soon begin to receive secondary applications from your individual schools of choice

2. If you already have your letters of recommendation from your professors/osteopathic physician, the rest of the process should run fairly smoothly

3. Fill out the secondary applications as promptly as possible, and submit them as quickly as you can – promptness will give you a HUGE advantage over other applicants

4. Once each secondary application is ready to submit, contact Mrs. Rozic and have her send in the appropriate letters for the respective schools that you’re applying to.

5. Once your secondary applications have been submitted, then all you have to do is wait to hear if any of the schools are willing to invite you back for an interview. Once you have interview invitations, then begin to look up tips and hints for a successful interview – the rest is up to you!

Best of luck!

MCAT Fast Facts

Some fast facts about the Medical College Admissions Test

The MCAT exam format:

There are 4 sections on the MCAT:

Physical Sciences (70 min.) – 50% Physics and 50% Chemistry
Biological Sciences (70 min.) – 75% Biology and 25% Organic Chemistry
Verbal reasoning (60 min.) – designed to test the individual's ability to comprehend and apply the information that the individual reads
2 Writing samples (30 min. each)

Total time for the MCAT exam:

The total time, including breaks, is around 5 hours and 20 minutes.

Range of scores on MCAT exam:

• The multiple-choice sections of the MCAT exam (meaning biological sciences, physical sciences, and verbal reasoning) are each individually scored on a scale of 1 - 15 based on the number of correct responses, weighted for the difficulty of each question.

• The writing sample essays are scored alphabetically on a scale ranging from J to T, with T as the highest.

• The combined total of all 3 scores can be anywhere between 3-45.

Average MCAT score:

• 24

Where to schedule MCAT exam:

• www.aamc.com

When usually taken:

• Most people take their MCAT between their junior and senior year of undergraduate, but some people, including a large amount in our school, take it between their sophomore and junior year of undergraduate. This allows the test taker to take the MCAT test again if they are not pleased with their scores.

Some programs offered to assist in studying for MCAT exam:

• Kaplan MCAT

• Princeton Review

Classes needed before applying for MCAT:

• One full year of college biology

• One full year of college physics

• One full year of college chemistry

One full year of college organic chemistry

Average MCAT score of students accepted into Med Schools:

• 30

The Best Resource

The best resource of all is the students who have already gone through it already. Dont be afraid to ask upperclassmen and alumni who have already gone through the process.

M.D.-Ph.D Program

What exactly is a M.D.- Ph.D. dual degree program?