Interviews Coming Up

Two interview invites in one week! I was surprised by one of them since it was from a school that had rejected me from their MSTP program, I figured I was out of the running for that school (private). The invite was for a MD-only program. I have heard many good things about this school, including its skyrocketing amounts of NIH funding being brought in during the past few years. It is also a school that has a modified Pass/Fail and Problem-Based-Learning (PBL) curriculum, which are very big draws for a person like me. But since it was MD-only, it would mean I would have to pay my way through school - this I didn't like. However, we are talking a difference of 4 years vs. 7-8 years in a MSTP program - it could be argued that the post-graduation income during that 3-4 year difference would make up for the cost of paying for school. It was something worth spending a little bit of time thinking about. Whats more, the school offers a 5-year program (tuition paid during MD and a stipend during a research year) that is also an attractive potential alternative to an MD/PhD (the program was created to accelerate physician-scientists' training). I figure that I'll go and check it out.

The second school is a large and successful public university and the interview is for their MD/PhD program. I'll admit that I'm nervous about potentially being one of the few non-in-state students in the medical school class and I wonder if the school's emphasis on public health affects the research side of medicine (and education). They have offered to pay for all expenses during the interview, which is nice. I have a couple of weeks to decide to go or not and I think it is worth being sure before I take these nice peoples' money and time.