Medical Scientist Training Program

The Medical Scientist Training Programs (MSTPs) are extremely competitive MD-PhD training programs that streamline the education towards MD and PhD graduate degrees. MSTPs are offered by a small number of United States medical schools with financial support from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (NIGMS), a branch of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The goal of these training programs is to produce physician scientists who can translate laboratory discoveries into effective treatments for patients. Among a total number of 118 MD-PhD programs in the country, there are currently 43 participating institutions with MSTPs for a total of 933 trainees in all stages of the programs. MSTPs exist at the nation's preeminent medical schools, and, as of 2011, the top 20 medical schools as ranked by the US News and Report had a MSTP. The most recent MSTP grant was awarded to The University of Massachusetts Medical School in 2013.

History

The program has its origins in the non-NIH funded MD-PhD training offered at the nation's research-centric medical schools. The first true dual-degree program began at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in 1956. Other prominent medical schools quickly followed this example and developed explicit MD-PhD training structures. In 1964 the NIH created Medical Scientist Training Program to begin funding this medical and research education. The first programs to receive funding were at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, and New York University School of Medicine. In the decades that followed, the MSTP saw a significant expansion in NIH funding and institutions with MSTP designation.

Admissions

Admission to MSTPs is the most competitive of all graduate medical education programs in the country, with only 170 NIH-funded positions available nationwide each year for a total of 1,813 applicants (a 9.4% acceptance rate), as of 2011. In comparison, MD-only programs had 20,176 positions for a total of 43,915 applicants (a 46% acceptance rate). At each institution, these acceptance rates are varied and are often far more competitive than the national data. Every year, the number of MSTP applicants rapidly increases, as the benefits of such well-structured combined training have become more appreciated. Applicants must have very strong MCAT scores and GPAs to be considered for positions in MSTP. Reflecting this fact, from 2008 to 2010 the average GPA and MCAT for matriculants to MSTPs were 3.76 and 34.5, respectively, and these numbers continue to rise every year. MSTP applicants will often have very strong research experience as well, in addition to the typical qualifications required from MD-only applicants. Interviews for admissions at MSTPs tend to focus on the applicant's career goals and past experiences in scientific research. These may include short research talks or presentations followed by rigorous questioning by an interviewer or interviewing committee. MSTP applicants are often required to demonstrate a deep understanding of their past research projects. Multiple interview sessions conducted by different interviewers that last for 2 days are very common. At some MSTPs, applicants may also be required (or be offered the chance) to interview with the MD-only program.

Financial support

MSTP matriculants receive substantial financial awards that make them financially competitive to their MD-only counterparts even with the longer training periods. These allowances cover all tuition expenses, provide travel and supply allowances, and accommodate living expenses through an annual stipend (ranging from $22,000 to $33,000). Together, these monetary awards compare to approximately $200,000 of pre-tax income.

While MSTP-designated schools have NIH grant funding, a considerable portion of the financial support comes from the institution itself. Furthermore, this grant funding for each student expires before the completion of the program. Therefore, the institution must provide 100% of the funding at that time. For clarification, even with these financial changes, a MSTP student never sees a loss of funding (tuition or stipend).

Since MSTP grants are a type of National Research Service Award, students must be nationals (citizens or noncitizens) of the United States or possess a I-151 or I-551 alien registration receipt. However many MSTPs offer non-MSTP grant funded positions, allowing for non-citizens and non-legalized nationals to be accepted into the MD-PhD program at that particular school. These programs are indistinguishable between the students besides the funding source. Furthermore, many non-MSTP medical schools have MD-PhD programs that are not supported by the NIH but offer similar training opportunities and grant money.

Allied-institution programs

Several MSTPs allow for the PhD portion of the MSTP to be completed outside the home university at an allied institution. These relationships provide additional and sometimes stronger research opportunities to students in these MSTPs.

Current programs

Institution	Year Founded	Website	Annual Stipend ($)	Allied Institution(s)
Albert Einstein College of Medicine	1964	Einstein MSTP	33,000
Baylor College of Medicine	1976	Baylor MSTP	29,000	Rice University
Case Western Reserve University	1975	CWRU MSTP	27,500	Cleveland Clinic
Columbia University	1969	Columbia MSTP	33,000
Cornell University	1974	Cornell MSTP	29,500*	Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and The Rockefeller University (Tri-Institutional MD-PhD Program)
Duke University	1966	Duke MSTP	29,420
Emory University	1976	Emory MSTP	28,500	Georgia Institute of Technology
Harvard University	1974	Harvard MSTP	32,000	Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Indiana University	2008	IU MSTP	24,000	Purdue University
Johns Hopkins University	1975	Hopkins MSTP	27,920*
Mayo Medical School	2003	Mayo MSTP	26,750
Medical College of Wisconsin	2010	MCW MSTP	27,314
Medical University of South Carolina	1999	MUSC MSTP	23,000
Mount Sinai School of Medicine	1976	Mount Sinai MSTP	34,000
New York University	1964	NYU MSTP	33,000
Northwestern University	1964	NU MSTP	30,000
Stanford University	1968	Stanford MSTP	28,000
Stony Brook University	1992	Stony Brook MSTP	27,000	Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and Brookhaven National Laboratory
The Ohio State University	2011	OSU MSTP	25,038
Tufts University	1994	Tufts MSTP	30,500
University of Alabama at Birmingham	1992	UAB MSTP	26,000
University of California, Irvine	1999	UCI MSTP	27,000
University of California, Los Angeles	1983	UCLA MSTP	31,500	California Institute of Technology
University of California, San Diego	1975	UCSD MSTP	29,500	Salk Institute, The Scripps Research Institute, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, and La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology
University of California, San Francisco	1977	UCSF MSTP	31,000	University of California, Berkeley
University of Chicago	1968	UChicago MSTP	30,000
University of Cincinnati	2002	UC MSTP	27,250	Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
University of Colorado, Denver	1993	CU MSTP	27,000	The University of Colorado at Boulder and National Jewish Health
University of Illinois at Chicago	2007	UIC MSTP	29,000
University of Iowa	1976	UI MSTP	26,000
University of Maryland, Baltimore	2010	UMaryland MSTP	26,000*	University of Maryland, College Park
University of Massachusetts	2013	UMass MSTP	29,500
University of Michigan	1980	UM MSTP	28,500*
University of Minnesota	1988	UMN MSTP	25,000
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	1999	UNC MSTP	26,000	North Carolina State University
University of Pennsylvania	1969	UPenn MSTP	30,000
University of Pittsburgh	1987	Pitt MSTP	25,500	Carnegie Mellon University
University of Rochester	1973	Rochester MSTP	25,500
University of Texas Southwestern	1982	UTSW MSTP	34,500
University of Virginia	1976	UVA MSTP	26,500
University of Washington	1970	UW MSTP	25,800*
University of Wisconsin-Madison	1968	UW SMPH MSTP	28,000
Vanderbilt University	1976	Vandy MSTP	27,000
Washington University in St. Louis	1969	WashU MSTP	29,500
Yale University	1969	Yale MSTP	22,476*

* Stipend amount increases at various times in the program

Non-MSTP MD–PhD and DO–PhD programs

A number of medical and osteopathic medical schools without funded NIH MSTP grant slots maintain their own non-MSTP MD–PhD or DO–PhD combined degree programs, sometimes offering full or partial student financial support funded by the schools themselves. Currently, 75 institutions provide a means for non-MSTP MD–PhD education in the United States, along with seven DO–PhD training programs. Internationally, there are 34 institutions that provide MD–PhD training.

See also

• American Physician Scientists Association

External links

• NIH Overview
• American Physician Scientists Association
• List of NIH MSTPs
• Guidebook for prospective MSTP or MD-PhD students written by students, but with no citations.
• The MD-PhD: An Academic Path to a Career as a Physician-Scientist
• Michigan State University DO/PhD program