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Disclaimer
Notice: The following
information was provided by MD/PhD students,
and is not official data from the MD/PhD
program administration or from APSA. For
official information, please contact the
program administration listed below. If you
are aware of any outdated or incorrect
information on this page, or if you can
think of anything useful to include, please
let us know at
ssh@physicianscientists.org so that we
may improve the page.
University of Illinois
at Urbana-Champaign
Social Science/Humanities PhD Fields
Supported: History, Philosophy,
Anthropology, Community Health, Economics,
Sociology, Law, Business, English,
Comparative Literature, et al.
Description of Program:
The Medical Scholars Program
(MSP) at the University of Illinois is one
of the largest such programs in the country.
It includes students in a wide array of
social sciences and humanities disciplines
as well as traditional and non-traditional
fields in the natural sciences and
engineering. Since the establishment of the
program in the 1970s, students have
graduated with degrees in each of the
disciplines listed above; many of these
departments include established faculty with
health-related interests. MSP students are
expected to meet the requirements of their
doctoral program in the same manner as other
graduate students.
The MSP is looking for
students who can demonstrate a commitment to
a career that integrates the unique training
afforded by a joint degree program.
Applicants should be able to articulate
clearly why pursuing a joint degree (MD/PhD,
MD/MBA, MD/JD) is critical to their future
goals. The program seeks students with
research experience, so MSP applicants
should have solid letters of recommendation
from research supervisors as well as from
other faculty who are well acquainted with
their work. In addition, applicants should
have strong MCAT scores and GPAs; note that
some graduate programs require or prefer GRE
tests, LSAT or GMAT as appropriate.
Applicants should contact the department(s)
to which they are applying to confirm
specific graduate program requirements
needed for consideration for admissions (http://www.med.uiuc.edu/msp/pdf/GradDeptInfo.pdf).
The mean MCAT score for our recent entering
classes has been a 32, with an average GPA
of 3.5. Please keep in mind that these are
averages and that we take a wide variety of
factors into account. If you have any
questions about the viability of your
application please contact Assistant Dean
Amanda Cuevas (acuevas@uiuc.edu),
Coordinator of the Medical Scholars Program.
Structure of Program:
Given the broad range of
disciplines represented in the program,
there is no hard-and-fast structure to which
students must adhere when planning their
education. Typically, however, SSH students
spend their initial years completing
coursework and preliminary dissertation
planning. Some students take one or two M1
(i.e. first year of medical school) courses
at a time during these initial years; others
wait until the completion of their graduate
coursework to fully immerse themselves in
the medical curriculum. After completing M2
and taking USMLE Step 1, most students
return to their graduate department to
complete their doctoral thesis. The final
years in the program are typically devoted
to the clerkships of the M3 and M4 years.
MSP students receive credit for their
doctoral research in the College of
Medicine, freeing them from 16 weeks of
elective credit in the clinical years.
Size of incoming joint
MD/PhD class: 13
Number of students in
the social sciences or humanities:
Usually 2/year
Number of graduates from the SSH joint
MD/PhD program: 23
Current number of SSH
students in the MD/PhD Program: 21
(30 with MD/JD and MD/MBA)
Application Process:
Students must apply to and be
accepted by the College of Medicine, their
proposed graduate program, and the MSP
admissions committee. We strive to be one of
the friendliest admissions offices in the
nation. If you have any questions regarding
our admissions process, please contact
Assistant Dean Amanda Cuevas at 217-333-8146
or acuevas@uiuc.edu and she will be happy to
assist you.
For the Fall 2008
application season:
Prospective students should
use the online application for all MSP
programs (MD/PhD, MD/JD, and MD/MBA). This
form can be found at
http://www.med.uiuc.edu/msp/Admissions.asp.
In addition to the online application, you
must submit official transcripts, three (3)
letters of recommendation, and (if
applicable) a copy of your personal printout
of LSAT, GMAT and/or GRE scores by Monday,
December 31, 2007. If the latest MCAT scores
are not reflected on your AMCAS application,
a copy of your personal printout of these
scores should be submitted as well. For
additional requirements of individual
graduate departments, please visit
http://www.med.uiuc.edu/msp/pdf/GradDeptInfo.pdf.
Note: The MSP is set up to
receive letters of recommendation via
Virtual Evals and Interfolio. Please request
that your Pre-Med Advising Office send
letters of recommendation to the MSP
directly through Virtual Evals or Interfolio
if possible.
Prospective students must
apply to the University of Illinois College
of Medicine at Chicago (code #128) via AMCAS
(http://www.aamc.org/audienceamcas.htm)
by Monday, December 31, 2007. The University
of Illinois College of Medicine Office of
Medical Student Admissions will then email
you a link to complete the supplemental
application. This supplemental application
is due by January 15, 2008. Please make sure
you meet the University of Illinois College
of Medicine at Chicago pre-requisites. We
strongly encourage you to submit these
materials well in advance of the deadline in
order to expedite your review process. If
you have any questions about pre-requisites
or if you do not receive an invitation to
complete the supplemental application after
submitting your AMCAS application, please do
not hesitate to contact the MSP Assistant
Dean.
Your application to the
Medical Scholars Program will also serve as
your graduate department application. You do
not need to fill out a separate application
unless you are applying to the MD/JD (https://www-s.med.uiuc.edu/msp/mdjd.asp)
or MD/MBA (https://www-s.med.uiuc.edu/msp/mdmba.asp)
program. Applicants should contact these
programs directly to obtain more information
on their application processes. MBA
applicants should complete and submit an MBA
application (https://www-s.med.uiuc.edu/msp/mdmba.asp)
and contact the MBA Program Admissions
Coordinator to request an application fee
waiver. Law applicants should complete and
submit a separate application to the law
school (http://www.law.uiuc.edu/admissions/apply.asp).
We encourage you to submit
all application materials as early as
possible!
Please note that only U.S.
citizens or permanent resident aliens are
eligible for admission to the Medical
Scholars Program. Additional information may
be posted at
https://www-s.med.uiuc.edu/msp/application/welcome.asp.
Funding:
Because the MSP is a non-MSTP
program, our students are largely funded by
obtaining individual fellowships and
employment at the university. MSP students
are encouraged to seek outside funding; in
the past, many students have completed their
education with the support of an NIH
National Research Service Award (NRSA).
Foundations and on-campus centers are
another source of grants and fellowships
meant to assist graduate students in their
education. Students who receive funding of
this nature almost invariably receive a
tuition waiver from the university.
Ultimately, however, many students rely on
teaching assistantships and research
assistantships in the Graduate College and
College of Medicine. Students are generally
supported by their graduate program at the
“half-time” level (50% employment) during
the four to five years they spend primarily
in graduate work. During the years they
spend pursuing medical studies, students are
generally supported at the “quarter-time”
level (25% employment; same tuition and fee
waiver, but one-half the stipend). After
completing the M1 curriculum, many students
are employed as teaching assistants in M1
courses. The MSP “track record” is that all
MD/PhD students who are in good academic
standing and are progressing toward
completion of both degrees have received
support. While there is no comparable
commitment to fund MD/JD or MD/MBA students,
nearly all such students do find support
during their medical school training.
Contact information:
UIUC Medical Scholars Program
125 Medical Sciences Building
506 South Mathews Ave.
Urbana, Illinois 61801
Tel.: (217) 333-8146
Fax: (217) 333-2640
Email: Amanda Cuevas <acuevas@uiuc.edu>
Website:
http://www.med.uiuc.edu/msp/
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