The MD/PhD Program: Supporting Physician-Scientists
Increasing scholarship funding and stipend support for MD/PhD students is a key priority of Alpert Medical School. Like most other doctoral students in the sciences, Brown MD/PhD students receive financial support that offers full tuition remission and a stipend during the PhD portion of the program, which involves three to five years of laboratory research.
Additionally, in the third and fourth years of medical school, MD/PhD students typically receive full tuition scholarships from the Medical School. However, during the first two years of medical school, MD/PhD students—like other Brown medical students—receive need-based financial aid only. In contrast, peer institutions offer students remission for all or a significant portion of the MD degree tuition, plus stipend.
The average educational debt for MD/PhD graduates is $64,870 (for the medical school years). For applicants considering the long and grueling path to the MD/PhD, this figure is most certainly a deterrent. Further, those who do obtain the degree are more likely to pursue clinical medicine instead of research—where they are most needed, but where the pay scale is lower—with this high level of debt. The lack of robust scholarship funding has had an even larger impact on the program. Many of the best medical schools have established MD/PhD programs that attract top students, faculty, and external funding. Due to its financial limitations, the MD/PhD program at Brown only considers applications from students in Brown's Program in Liberal Medical Education or in the first or second year at Alpert Medical School. Creating a MD/PhD scholarship fund will enable Alpert Medical School to form a full and robust MD/PhD program and to attract the very best and brightest—from both in and outside the School. With a full MD/PhD program, Brown will have more impact on medical research and education, and a higher national profile.
The ability to provide full support to Brown's MD/PhD students is also a key step in securing federal support for the program. The National Institutes of Health requires universities to fully fund a cohort of MD/PhD students to be considered for inclusion in its prestigious Medical Science Training Program (MSTP). This program, in turn, provides significant funding and support, as well as national recognition. An endowment of $10 million would create a fund that would fully support these three MD/PhD students annually, and would grow beyond itself by enabling Brown to be considered for MSTP status. (See Naming the MD/PhD Program, below, for more.)
Finally, as a University renowned for its innovation and collaboration in research—and for its high-caliber student body—Brown can play a critical role in mitigating the increasing shortage of physician-scientists. Supporting Brown's program will enable a perpetual stream of critically needed, gifted MD/PhD professionals.