Golden Tips from an MD/PhD
Happy Tuesday! I’m here today to continue our conversation last week with UMD alum: Ashley Zachery-Savella. While at UMD, Ashley was part of the Gemstone Honors Program and graduated with a dual degree in Biochemistry and Neurobiology. She is currently in the second year of her neuroscience PhD, working in the Karen Wilcox Lab. She attends University of Utah School of Medicine (colloquially known as the U) as part of the MD-PhD program with a specific interest in epilepsy research. As a member of her school’s admissions committee, Ashley shares some golden tips on what you should ask schools when considering them! In no particular order:
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Ask if lectures are mandatory or recorded. This can make a BIG difference in your schedule. The U has 75% of the classes recorded/not required attendance while 25% are in-person; at the height of the pandemic, it was 100% online!
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Although it’s always good to be in a lab of your specific research interest, it is very important (if not more) to get along with your PI and the lab’s culture. Take that into consideration when choosing your lab!
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Ask your program about health insurance and disability insurance (as you don’t know what future diagnosis you may get). Consider the question: should you stay with student insurance, your parent’s insurance, or Medicaid? These are very important things to proactively think about, as you commit yourself to a program for the next 8 years!
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Ask about taxes. Yes, grown-up stuff but very important! You don’t get W2s for your MD-PhD stipend, so figure out ahead of time what you need to pay taxes on.
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Ask about what happens if students decide to take a leave of absence. You want a program who will try to keep you and work with you rather than kick you out for needing another year for STEP1. At the U, they even offer free tutoring for STEP exams and are willing to work with students to get them where they want to be given their situation.
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Ask about mental health and wellness resources. What resources do they have for you when you lose your first patient? When you deal with imposter syndrome? Compassion fatigue? Some schools have the sink-or-swim mentality, but the U is very proactive in their approach.
Ashley recounts how representatives from her program’s wellness center came in on the first day of classes to say, “most of you should come see us at some point, as most med students are either on antidepressants, ADHD medication, or heavily dependent on caffeine...if you haven’t seen us yet, we are most worried about you.” The U offers free therapy for students and for spouses/significant others. They even have massage chairs, snacks, therapy animals during finals, and on-call therapists available at any hour of the night.
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Check for a good work-life balance. Ashley suggests really talking to students on interview day to figure out culture there, and see if students are really happy as you can usually sift out those who are putting up a front. You will be committing a decent chunk of your adult life there, so take care of your future self!
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If you have the opportunity to see a school in-person (even if it's just visiting on your own time), it might be worth asking the program manager to tour the facilities. At the very least, ask during interviews what the facilities are like. It's not the end of the world, but it's nice to know if the hospital cafeteria has good food or if your lab will be in an old building with no parking. Might not be something at the front of your mind, but it definitely adds to quality of life.
Wow-- thank you Ashley for imparting such wisdom to all of us. If you would like to learn more about Ashley’s program, check out our last blog post on her school profile. See you next Tuesday everyone!
With care,
Gus
Editor: Grace Suh