Medical Scientist Training Program

The Medical College of Wisconsin (MCW), a free-standing, private medical school in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, has supported MD-PhD training since 1982 with 75 students currently enrolled in this training program. Our leadership team has over 50 years of association with the program with each member leading a component of the program and includes a medical educator with experience in T32 program evaluation. Our program mission is to prepare exceptional students for careers as physician-scientists. To accomplish this, we provide a research training experience to conduct hypothesis-driven research in the biological and social sciences and medical education to impart fundamental skills to practice evidence-based medicine. Our matriculants are chosen from a large applicant pool of undergraduates, recent graduates, and current MCW medical students through an evaluation that includes research experiences in conducting hypothesis-driven research and possessing strong communication and interpersonal skills. Approximately half of our matriculants have quantitative undergraduate degrees in chemistry, biochemistry, physics, mathematics, computer science and engineering. MCW-MSTP students have professional training experiences which are stage-specific that include opportunities for vertical integration, committee, leadership, and peer-mentoring for professional development in team-based and active learning sessions. Formal efforts facilitate programmatic transitions between graduate and medical training, including participation in clinical clerkship “bootcamp”, senior trainee facilitated Morning Report, and ongoing clinical exposure during graduate training to maintain competencies. Common activities for MSTP students include annual completion of an Individual Development Plan for self-assessment of progress at one-on-one meetings with the Program Director, an annual Retreat that includes mentoring towards MD-PhD careers outside academia, participation in a national MD-PhD student conference, and luncheons with physician scientists and MSTP alumni. Other professional development activities include a monthly Research in Progress seminar series, twice a year refresher Responsible Conduct in Research sessions and Enhancing Reproducibility workshops, participation in a Mechanism’s of Humans Disease medical school enrichment course and a 2-credit graduate school Individual Fellowship Writing course that also comprises the student’s mentor-approved dissertation outline and proposal. Over the past 10 years, our alumni have had strong publication outcomes for first-author publications with their mentor, success for F30/F31 funding, and matching into research-oriented residency programs, while graduating from our MSTP in 8.0 years.