However, while the MD/PhD program is arguably the single most rigorous and challenging academic program with a more competitive and significantly more complex application process, the resources available for students interested in pursuing this program are scarce. In fact, there is not a single book which thoroughly and realistically explains the unique nuances of the stressful, year-long MD/PhD application process. Moreover, there are virtually no examples of successful essays, leaving applicants and their pre-medical advisors overwhelmed and confused by the process. This guide is written by several highly successful MD/PhD applicants and provides a much needed resource to the thousands of students applying to MD/PhD programs. The goals of this work are to clarify the frequently misunderstood differences between MD and MD/PhD applications from the prerequisites to the interviews, provide detailed, proven advice to help applicants along the way, as well as to provide a variety of real essay examples. The limited supply of related books on the market are not only severely outdated but are restricted to mostly discussing the curriculum and outcomes of MD/PhD programs with only a superficial overview of the prerequisite requirements and the application itself. While these factors are important for students considering an MD/PhD as well as for students already in the program, they overlook the most pressing questions that applicants have throughout the grueling process itself. The book will begin by providing an overview of the structure of a typical MD/PhD program as well as student outcomes and career choices of MD/PhD graduates. Next, the authors will outline the academic and extracurricular prerequisites as well as the basic components of the application itself. The authors then will address the factors that MD/PhD students should consider when selecting schools to which to apply. Continuing to the main application, examples will be provided of all the different essay types that MD/PhD applicants will encounter along with comments on how to address the deliberately vague and abstract prompts while tailoring the responses to the combined-degree program. Most uniquely, a very detailed explanation will be provided of the many types of interviews that applicants will encounter and how to prepare for them by integrating extensive personal experience and first-hand discussions with MD/PhD program leaders. Lastly, there will be a discussion on how to cope with the year-long timeline that constitutes this application process and provide guidance regarding properly responding to acceptances and waitlist offers. The book is a student reference on applications to MD/PhD programs. The vast majority of people applying to these programs are current or recently-graduated undergraduate students. However, some graduate students as well as professionals decide to pursue MD/PhD training and would find this book useful. There are about 1,800-2,000 applicants each year to MD/PhD programs (there are 46 programs within the US) as well as hundreds more students who consider MD/PhD training but decide not to pursue it. Together, this would be the largest potential market. It is quickly growing because this is a golden age for physician scientists, but the lack of resources for potential MD/PhD applicants likely dissuades hundreds more from applying who lack adequate guidance, an issue we aspire to fix. weiterlesen