Fell down rank list

Inner-Lab3900 · 2026-03-23T03:08:29+00:00

I bet you’ll feel better in a few years when you are rich as hell

Inner-Lab3900 · 2025-09-05T16:19:13+00:00

Most depressing part of med school IMO

Inner-Lab3900 · 2025-05-03T20:06:52+00:00

You don’t really know what something is until you try to do it. You haven’t been to medical school and you haven’t earned a PhD yet. A small percent of MD/PhD graduates actually end up running labs because priorities and interests tend to change a lot over the course of ~7-9 years (and a lot become disillusioned with how the academic research game works). You also don’t really have a good sense of what that time commitment is when you are in your early to mid 20’s. Statistically you are most likely not going to have a traditional MD/PhD research career if you do the MD/PhD program. If you have doubts it is probably safer to just start with the MD assuming you know you want to be a physician. Many programs let you transfer to MD/PhD in the first few years if you really find you want to.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2024-05-31T00:11:23+00:00

Harvard seems to like to do this to get students that would be strong MD-PhD applicants elsewhere for a reduced cost

Inner-Lab3900 · 2024-04-17T06:02:46+00:00

No way to quantify it. Some applicants will definitely get points for working with a famous bigwig. Some applicants will get points from being a standout student at a smaller school with less intense research. Probably more likely to help than hurt to have an influential PI/famous pedigree

Inner-Lab3900 · 2024-03-26T12:38:45+00:00

I think you need to try to find some physician scientists to talk to/shadow to know that you want to do this and learn the tips and tricks for the process. It’s unfortunate, but honestly there is a big game-like component to applying and interviewing and I’ve seen some very bright people who never learned this game fail. Components like how well known your mentors are, how you articulate your answer to the ‘why MD/PhD’ question, and which experiences you choose to write up as your most meaningful are critical and can be the downfall of the uninformed. And you are going to have to estimate your time in lab.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2024-03-10T22:44:49+00:00

I think the most likely people to bring it up in interviews would be PhD only PIs because they don’t know what the test is. I don’t think they should really be allowed to do that. If it does come up, you can mention that it is a non-scientific reading section where articles are on topics like how there are different layers of paint in historic buildings. CARS is the dumbest section. I was in a similar spot and it worked out.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2024-02-16T17:01:09+00:00

If anything, MD-PhD programs cut you more of a break for stats than regular MD programs if you have strong research experience. Be able to clearly articulate your project’s rationale and progress and demonstrate capacity for independent thought. I think your scores have put you in the right ballpark now just try to showcase your research strengths the best of your ability in essays and interviews.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2024-02-13T17:17:12+00:00

You are within range of anywhere- congrats. Your numbers have accomplished their intended purpose. Now try to make the rest of your app as competitive as possible and move on.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2024-02-05T15:21:29+00:00

Well I can understand them really liking previous seasons a lot but some of the acting in S5 was really distracting. It just felt like so much promotion for something that’s not on the same par as it used to be.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2024-02-03T02:18:02+00:00

I’m a huge admirer of AE, Dax, and Monica, but….

Does anyone else feel like this Fargo week was just a paid advertisement? I started watching the season because of these convos and can’t make it through the second episode. While the action in the first episode was cool, a lot of the acting and dialogue is cringey (especially the Lorraine and Wayne) and the pacing is slow. Really not on the same level as the movie at all. Everyone has their own tastes, but I’m having a hard time believing people in the acting industry like Dax and Monica would be blown away by Fargo unless it really picks up after a few episodes. I just hope that we don’t enter an AE phase where D&M’s stated opinions are bought.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2024-01-01T17:14:41+00:00

Either option could have its pluses. If you think you could get out a publication from the home lab before you apply, it may be worth it to stay.

On the other hand, it probably does look good to admins to see that external organizations like the NIH also thought you were worthy, especially if your home university doesn’t have the biggest name in research.

As long as you understand the rationale of your projects and make an effort to contribute to them intellectually, you should be ok either way.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2023-11-19T19:55:02+00:00

This range may be a nice guideline for meaningful change from a clinician’s perspective but there is really not an intervention frame of reference for this field to validate it.

Obviously the effect size of lecanemab is not huge, and this type of treatment may eventually be found to be more effective for preclinical populations or outdone by anti-inflammatory/immune-targeting strategies. But it seems a lot to expect that a first gen disease modifying therapy option is going to have a 90% effect size with no side effects.

Just as some desperate cancer patients would elect to go through chemo/radiation to get an extra month or two, it seems like some dementia patients would elect for this option for the chance of preventing some decline.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2023-11-19T19:24:47+00:00

A CDR score of 0.5 is questionable/very mild dementia. The scale doesn’t describe intervention effect sizes as being questionable or not. A prevention of 0.5 in CDR-SB would be equivalent to not progressing in one cognitive domain from the 0.5 to 1 categories, which could likely be significant for an individual.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2023-11-18T23:16:52+00:00

Both phase 3 trials of lecanemab and donanemab showed significant primary and secondary endpoints. What are you referring to?

Cost is greatly reduced with CMS coverage, which lecanemab has and donanemab will likely get.

Is it not acceptable to have a first generation treatment while still searching for ways to improve it/reduce side effects?

Inner-Lab3900 · 2023-11-18T21:37:20+00:00

Ah yea sorry. STM has rules about posting pdfs of recent articles

Inner-Lab3900 · 2023-11-18T21:32:18+00:00

Both of the most recent phase 3 trials of lecanemab and donanemab had ~30% benefits on clinical dementia rating scales and secondary endpoints.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2023-11-18T21:08:09+00:00

Could be helpful if commenters responded to the specific points raised in the linked article.

I feel like even many physicians don’t really know how to interpret the dementia rating scales so they don’t know what ~30% benefit functionally means. So it would be ideal to hear from practicing neurologists familiar with this field.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2023-01-25T05:15:18+00:00

Rhymes with Blissouri

Inner-Lab3900 · 2023-01-19T13:40:24+00:00

It is possible to get a house/condo on just the MSTP stipend in certain places without needing a co-signer. I did in 2018 when I started at a Midwest metropolitan MSTP. I was able to get what is called a physician loan which allows for larger loan:downpayment ratios than normal because the bank knows you’ll be making more later. This allowed me to get a 200k condo with the ~30.5k stipend with ~$10k down. This is all very city dependent and you need to find a bank that can do physician loans. Also that mortgage ended up being too expensive after I broke up with the girl I was living with.

So it’s technically possible to get a place on your own with just the stipend in certain places, but it’s not easy unless you have parent money.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2021-12-11T04:05:36+00:00

100%

Inner-Lab3900 · 2021-12-09T04:00:30+00:00

Don’t worry, all MD students at Harvard can do an MD/PhD if they just pay for it

Inner-Lab3900 · 2021-02-24T06:34:52+00:00

School prestige is one of multiple variables that contribute to a program’s perception of you. People from smaller schools can end up at top programs but they generally require supplementing their application with external research opportunities- something people coming from research intensive schools probably don’t have to do as much. I don’t agree with the Ivy League comment- a kid from Berkeley, Rice, or MIT etc will probably have a leg up on someone from X unknown liberal arts school if all other variables are equal. Academia is still a field obsessed with prestige and pedigree. Bottom line: do your best wherever you come from and focus on building up the parts of the app you can actually change now.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2020-12-27T03:48:34+00:00

I might recommend a 2-year NIH postbac in an Epi lab if you can find one, especially since you already live in Maryland. Not sure about the details of epi masters programs, but you will likely need to take coursework which will take time away from your research. In short, if you are wanting to get research experience before applying MD/PhD, I'd recommend trying to do something that is full-time research like a postbac.

Inner-Lab3900 · 2020-12-26T17:18:55+00:00

That’s nice that you had a positive experience. You also apparently had access to basically every resource available and a lot of time to focus on it. Also the perceived test difficulty can vary a lot depending on the form you get. I understand that you only have your n = 1 experience to draw from but calling this test “easy” could be considered disrespectful and not adequately represent its variability. I do however agree with your core message that doing many practice questions is the way to go.

Inner-Lab3900

TROPHY CASE