Transition Advice

Matriculation to BU:
Students should introduce themselves to the Program Director, Carl Franzblau, the faculty advisors (Benjamin Wolozin, Peter Bergathon. Stephanie Lee) and to the MD, PhD administrator (Jesse Macomber):

Principle Contacts:    
Linda Hyman lhyman@bu.edu 8-5744
Jesse Macomber   macomber@medsci.bumc.bu.edu 8-5250
Benjamin Wolozin bwolozin@bu.edu  4-2652
Peter Bergethon  pbergethon@bu.edu 8-4108
Stephanie Lee Stephanie.Lee@bmc.org   8-8526

Students will need to get BU identification badges and become registered with BU.

Student Activities During the Summer between BUSM I and BUSM II (Med Year I and II). 
Students begin looking for labs to rotate in for this summer during the winter/spring of BUSM I.  Lists of Faculty with ongoing research can are available on the M.D., Ph.D. web site.  The program director/faculty advisors meet with students to help them choose laboratories.  Students typically perform one 7-week research rotation per summer, but students area allowed to do two 4 week rotations if desired.  A summer stipend is given to students for these lab rotations from the Division of Graduate Medical Sciences.

Advice for MD, PhD students nearing the graduate phase research:
Identify a department or program:  Departments and programs need to plan in advance to guarantee student stipends.  This means that MD, PhD students need to alert the administrator and graduate training director for the department or program during the spring before the start the graduate phase of research.  This can be done later, but gets progressively more difficult for everyone as fall approaches.
Identify a mentor:  Ideally students will have identified a mentor at the time they notify the department or program that they are joining.  However, students do not always succeed in identifying a mentor before starting their graduate training.  Identifying a mentor can be done as late as the fall after their graduate phase training has started, which is sometimes necessary so that students can rotate during the summer after BUSM II. 
Take the Boards:  Students take the boards part I during the summer after BUSM II is finished, but before they start their graduate training.  Students generally allow 3 – 4 weeks to prepare for the boards. 

Student Activities During the Graduate Phase

  1. Medical School Credit: Credit for medical school coursework is given by all departments, but the particular amount of credit varies by department. Students follow the rules of the particular department.
  2. Departmental requirements:  Outside of the dissertation research, each department has curriculum requirements including courses and qualifying exams.  These vary among departments.  Current information is available on departmental websites.
  3. Quantitative training:  Statistical methods are taught as courses (such as MS700, elementary biostatistics, taught by Ron Kiliany) are available to graduate department that participates in the M.D., Ph.D. program.  Students learn basic statistical analyses relevant to experimental design.  Some programs, such as Biomedical Engineering, Genetics and Genomics, and Bio-informatics, have additional requirements that reflect the specific needs of those fields.
  4. Qualifying exams:  Students take qualifying exams within two years of initiating graduate work.  The format of the qualifiers differs among departments, but includes a written and an oral component.
  5. Dissertation committee: Dissertation committees are formed after students pass the qualifying exams.  The professors on each committee are selected based on expertise and departmental requirements (e.g., some departments require at least one member to be from outside BU). Dissertation committees are requested to meet twice a year to monitor the students’ progress.
  6. Graduate Phase Clinical Clerkship:  As M.D., Ph.D. students enter their (anticipated) last year of graduate work, they participate in two courses designed by the M.D., Ph.D. program to ease re-entry into the medical curriculum.  Students are encouraged to take an elective Graduate Phase Clinical Clerkship for MD/PhD students who are within 1.5 years of completing their PhD training.  Students taking the graduate phase clinical clerkship attend clinic one afternoon per week during which they practice taking histories from patients, and perform physicals on patients under supervision of a physician.  Students completing this course are receive one month of credit from the medical school curriculum.  All M.D., PhD. students returning to the medical school curriculum are required to take the 5 session Clinical Skills Refresher Course.  This is a 5 week course that meets one afternoon per week.  Each week students receive training in a different subject.  The subjects include:  basic clinical care skills, cardiology skills, pulmonary skills, neurology skills, pediatric skills and OB/Gyn skills.

Advice for MD, PhD students nearing the end of the graduate phase research:

Students who believe to be within 1 year of finishing their graduate work need to fill out a Clerkship Transition Form and submit it to the MD, PhD administrative assistant, Jesse Macomber.

The MD, PhD program also requires students to take the Clinical Refresher Course, which is organized by Stephanie Lee and Peter Bergathon.  This is a 6 session course that is presented in the spring, which familiarizes students with the physical exam, communicating with patients and gives tips on comportment in the clinical environment.

The M.D., Ph.D. program encourages students who are within 1 year of finishing their graduate (Ph.D.) research to choose a graduate phase clinical clerkship option.  This is discussed on the Clinical Opportunities section of the MD, PhD website.  Students are encouraged to take the full clerkship, which is 40 half-days over the period of a year, and they get 1 month of credit in BUSM IV for this.  Students may also do 20 half-days over half a year, for which they get 2 weeks of BUSM IV credit. Students need to have a mentor who will observe their activities and write an evaluation at the end of your clerkship. Students can work with the faculty advisors on identifying an appropriate mentor or they can identify their own mentor.  Regardless of the mechanism, the mentors should be sent the Clerkship Guidelines, which can be downloaded from the MD, PhD website.

Checklist and timetable for transitioning back to 3rd year Medical School

(This advice is outlined for students in the traditional path.  The plan follows a similar line for other students with dates adjusted accordingly. )

-    You must defend your dissertation before entering 3rd year – July 1

-    Winter before defense – Meet with MD/PhD faculty advisor to review plan

-    Try for a May thesis defense date to give you time to respond to committee issues and file thesis in library.

-    If you are in jeopardy of not making this deadline, make sure the MD/PhD program office knows so that contingencies can be considered. 

-    MD, PhD students are awarded 2 months of optional BUSM IV clerkship credit for their graduate work, and they receive a 3rd month if they have finished the full Graduate Phase Clinical Clerkship.  Students must formally request this credit to get it.  The main use of the credit is for students who cannot start the clinical clerkships at the traditional time.

-  Clinical clerkships are now grouped in blocks, the blocks are available on the website of the BUSM Registrar and on this web site under the button, Clinical Clerkship Rotations.  As described below, we recommend that you start with a clinical clerkship that is less important to your career, because MD, PhD students frequently find the adjustment from the laboratory environment to the clinical environment challenging.

-    Approximate Timetable for clerkship registration:

  • February, ~2nd week: Mandatory Class Meeting: “Choosing Your 3rd Year Schedule”
  • February, 2nd week to March: Enter sequence selections on Registrar’s website
  • March 3rd week: Final sequences appear on Registrar’s website
  • March 3rd week -April 2nd week: Enter location selections on Registrar’s website
  • May 1st week: Final 3rd year clerkship schedules appear on Registrar’s website

Choosing the right rotation to start off on (Does it really matter? …. Yes!)

  1. Rotations that students find less challenging – Psych or Family Med
  2. Rotations that MD, PhD students find more challenging – Surgery, Medicine, OB/Gyn
  3. Others – Pediatrics, Neurology, Radiology
  4. Refer to the Alpha Omega Alpha Handbook for Third Year Clerkships

The OSA Student Policy and Reference Manual can be accessed through the following link:  

http://www.bu.edu/cms/www.bumc.bu.edu/busm-osa/files/student_policy_and_reference_manual.pdf.

Research Elective Time Credit for MD/PhD Students Returning to MED Clerkships (BUSM III) (effective 2005-2006)

      The Research Elective Time Credit for MD/PhD students returning to MED clerkships will have a duration of up to 8 weeks.  A student may start the BUSM II with up to 8 weeks of time counted as 4th year Research elective time.  This time will be spent completing and defending their Ph.D. thesis.  Students electing this elective time credit should obtain a Transfer Credit Form from the Medical School Registrar.  Your PI and Graduate Program Chair or Director must approve this request.

BUSM IV

  1. The Sub-Internship
  2. ERAS and The Match
  3. 4th year electives – Students typically perform some elective at institutions in which they hope to do a residency.
  4. Clinical Investigation Clerkship Elective (approval process now in progress, see below for descriptions).
  5. Research electives (see above  under BUSM III options for Research Elective Time Credit for MD/PhD students returning to MED clerkships.
  6. USMLE Step II– when is the “right” time to take it? 

Advice on Choosing a residency for MD, PhD students:

It is recommended that students schedule an appointment with Dr. Paul, M. O’Bryan, Assistant Dean of Student Affairs, for advice on chosing a residency program.

Contact|Directory|BUMC
August 17, 2009
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of BU School of Medicine