A few months ago, I wrote an article for Almost Docs on the daily life of a MD/PhD student. To follow up, I wanted to highlight how my daily life can change dramatically depending on the semester and stage of training. I also wanted to show how many things a MD/PhD student may need to balance at the same time! Therefore, here’s an overview of what I have generally had going on each semester thus far in my program (maybe not the most exciting read but more of a reference for those of you out there who are interested.)

Year 1

Fall 2013

Classes:

• Advanced biochemistry (MCB501)
• Advanced molecular genetics (MCB502)
• M1 Clinical Practice Preceptorship – shadowing a local physician

Research:

• Research rotation #1
• Research rotation #2
• Research rotation #3
• Joined my dissertation lab!

Professional Meetings:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 2013), Champaign, IL
• Minnesota Neuro-Oncology Symposium (September 26-27, 2013), Minneapolis, MN

Spring 2014

Classes:

• Tumor Targeting Seminar (MCB529)
• Immunology (MCB408)
• M1 Immunology
• M1 Brain, Behavior and Human Development
• MIP Seminar (MIP595)
• M1 Clinical Practice Preceptorship – shadowing a local physician

Teaching:

• Introduction to Microbiology Lab (MCB101) – 10 hours/week Teaching Assistant Position

Research:

• Trying to get things started in lab…
• Presented a poster at Research Day

Professional Meetings:

• College of Medicine Annual Research Day (April 17, 2014), Champaign, IL
• American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 23-25, 2014), Chicago, IL

Summer 2014

Classes:

• Computational Genomics – 1-week intensive course

Research:

• Wrote an entire NIH F30 Fellowship Application and didn’t submit! 😳

Service:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member

Professional Meetings:

• American College of Physicians Leadership Day (May 18-19, 2014), Washington, DC

Year 2

Fall 2014

Classes:

• Frontiers in Physiology (MCB509)
• Research Ethics (MCB580)
• M1 Physiology I

Teaching:

• Anatomy & Physiology Lab I (MCB245) – 10 hours/week Teaching Assistant Position

Research:

• SWITCHED LABS
• Trying to get things started…again.
• Started collected data on research project #2.

Professional Meetings:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 23, 2014), Champaign, IL
• Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Annual Retreat (September 12, 2014), Champaign, IL

Spring 2015

Classes:

• Metabolic Diseases (MCB493)
• M1 Physiology II
• MIP Seminar (MIP590)

Research:

• Helped PI write RO1 grant
• PhD Qualification Exam
• Presented a poster at Research Day and APSA Annual Meeting

Service:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member

Professional Meetings:

• College of Medicine Annual Research Day (April 16, 2015), Champaign, IL
• American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 24-26, 2015), Champaign, IL

Summer 2015

Research:

• Wrote an entire NIH F30 Fellowship Application and submitted this time! (wasn’t funded)
• Started working on research project #1 (tech working on project with me left! 😢)

Service:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member
• Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee, Retreat Subcommittee Chair

Professional Meetings:

• Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Metabolic Signaling and Disease: From Cell to Organism (August 11-15, 2015), Cold Spring Harbor, NY

Year 3

Fall 2015

Classes:

• M1 Anatomy
• M1 Cell and Tissue Biology
• M1 Embryology
• MIP Seminar (MIP595)

Research:

• Trying to keep chugging along on project #1
• Crazy month of collecting data for RO1 re-submission (80 hours on campus in 5 days during that period – my record!)

Teaching:

• Anatomy & Physiology Lab I (MCB245) – 20 hours/week Teaching Assistant Position

Service:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Co-Chair
• Internal Medicine Interest Group M1 Representative
• Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee, Retreat Subcommittee Chair
• American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Member

Professional Meetings:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 23, 2015), Champaign, IL

Spring 2016

Classes:

• M1 Anatomy
• M1 Cell and Tissue Biology II
• MIP Seminar (MIP595)

Research:

• Gave my first departmental seminar on project #1!
• Gave a talk at the UIUC Division of Nutritional Sciences Symposium
• Gave a talk at the UIUC Beckman Institute Graduate Student Seminar

Service:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Co-Chair
• Internal Medicine Interest Group M1 Representative
• Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee, Retreat Subcommittee Chair
• American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Member

Professional Meetings:

• College of Medicine Annual Research Day (April 14, 2016), Champaign, IL
• American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 15-17, 2016), Chicago, IL
• Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Annual Retreat (April 29, 2016), Monticello, IL

Summer 2016

Research:

• First summer with no NIH F30 Fellowship Application writing 😁
• Trying to keep chugging along with project #1

Service:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Co-Chair
• American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Co-Chair
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Council of Student Members Representative
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member

Professional Meetings:

• American College of Physicians Leadership Day (May 3-4, 2016), Washington, DC
• American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Meeting (May 5-7, 2016), Washington, DC
• American Physician Scientists Association Leadership Retreat (June 16-17, 2016), Atlanta, GA

Year 4

Fall 2016

Classes:

• M1 Biochemistry
• M1 Medical Genetics
• M1 Microbiology
• M1 Foundations of Clinical Medicine I
• MIP Seminar (MIP595)

Teaching:

• Anatomy & Physiology Lab I (MCB245) – 20 hours/week Teaching Assistant Position

Research:

• Kept chugging along with project #1

Service:

• Internal Medicine Interest Group Vice President
• Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee
• Medical Scholars Program Advisory Council Class II Representative, Basic Sciences Subcommittee Representative
• American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Co-Chair
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Council of Student Members Representative
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member

Professional Meetings:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 20, 2016), Monticello, IL
• American Physician Scientists Association Midwest Regional Meeting (November 5, 2016), Omaha, NE
• American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases Liver Meeting (November 11-15, 2016), Boston, MA

Spring 2017

Classes:

• M1 Neuroanatomy and Neurophysiology
• M1 Biochemistry
• M1 Medical Statistics
• MIP Seminar (595)
• Last semester of M1 classes!

Teaching:

• Graduate Teacher Certificate

Research:

• Kept chugging along with project #1

Service:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member
• Internal Medicine Interest Group Vice President
• Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee
• Medical Scholars Program Advisory Council Class II Representative, Basic Sciences Subcommittee Representative
• Accreditation Monitoring and Quality Improvement Committee, Medical Students Subcommittee, Urbana Campus Representative
• American Physician Scientists Association Events Committee Co-Chair
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Council of Student Members Representative
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member
• American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Representative

Professional Meetings:

• American College of Physicians Internal Medicine Meeting (March 30-April 1, 2017), San Diego, CA
• Central Society for Clinical and Translational Research Annual Meeting (April 20-21, 2017), Chicago, IL
• American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 21-23, 2017), Chicago, IL

Summer 2017

Research:

• Wrote an entire NIH F30 Fellowship Application and submitted it! (It was funded this time!!!)
• Started writing up paper for project #1

Service:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member
• Accreditation Monitoring and Quality Improvement Committee, Medical Students Subcommittee, Urbana Campus Representative
• American Physician Scientists Association Vice President
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member
• American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Representative

Professional Meetings:

• American College of Physicians Leadership Day (May 23-24, 2017)
• American Physician Scientists Association Leadership Retreat (July 22-23, 2017), Atlanta, GA
• American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Meeting (August 11, 2018), Philadelphia, PA

Year 5

Fall 2017

Classes:

• Biostatistics (STAT212)
• Exercise Oncology (KIN494)
• The Literature of Fantasy (ENGL119) – This was a class I took for fun comparing Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings (my favorite!) and Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast books.

Research:

• First paper (project #1) posted on BioRXiv: http://www.biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/09/11/182469
• Submitted paper to journals, worked on final touches
• Wrote a 100-page preliminary exam document (first draft of my thesis!) and did an oral defense (I passed so now I’m All But Dissertation – ABD!)

Service:

• Internal Medicine Interest Group President
• Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee
• Medical Scholars Program Advisory Council Class II Representative, Social Chair
• American Physician Scientists Association Vice President
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member
• American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Representative

Professional Meetings:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat (August 19, 2017), Monticello, IL
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Students and Residents Day (October 24, 2017), Springfield, IL
• Hepatobiliary Cancers: Pathobiology and Translational Advances Meeting (December 8-10, 2017), Richmond, VA

Spring 2018

Classes:

• MIP Seminar (MIP595)

Research:

• Submitted paper to journal for project #1, got reviews back, working on revisions!!!
• Helping new graduate student start to take on project #2

Service:

• Medical Scholars Program Annual Retreat Committee Member
• Internal Medicine Interest Group President
• Department of Molecular and Integrative Physiology Student Committee
• Medical Scholars Program Advisory Council Class II Representative, Social Chair
• American Physician Scientists Association Vice President
• American College of Physicians Downstate Illinois Governor’s Advisory Council Member
• American College of Physicians Council of Student Members (National) Representative

Professional Meetings:

• American Physician Scientists Association Midwest Regional Meeting (January 13, 2018), Iowa City, IA
• Big Ten Lipids Conference (Feburary 16, 2018), West Lafayette, IN
• Midwest Liver Symposium (April 12-13, 2018), Kansas City, KS
• American College of Physicians Board of Governors Meeting and Internal Medicine Meeting (April 17-21, 2018), New Orleans, LA
• American Physician Scientists Association Annual Meeting (April 20-22, 2018), Chicago, IL

 

What’s to come?

As I write this in April of my 5th year, I have about 1 more year to finish up my PhD. Then I’ll go on to start my second year of medical school in August 2019 and will finish my MD in May 2022!