 So has anyone here taken the GREs or the MCATs today? So I think, so what year is everybody? Okay, so you have some time, which is great. Can you do it? Yeah. When did you graduate? Even with my age, but okay. My bachelor's was in 2005. Okay. As long as, like, I think is, for me at least, I think your experience is really great. Because you really know what you want. However, I think that you've also started now, and thinking about your future is also really important. There's a lot of requirements that come along with applying to a PhD program. You have to take the GREs, however, if you're going to take the MD PhD portion, you can just take the MCATs and apply that way. And then you can choose your med school, and they will pay for you to go to med school. Which is really cool. So that's something I actually never even heard about or knew about that could really go to medical support for free and get paid to go. So these programs are in place to allow it to happen. So you should never let that stop you from applying. So we can talk a bit about the program. So how does it work? So you are at the National Institute of Health, which is in the best of Maryland, which is about 20 minutes outside Washington, D.C. And then you're at the University of Oxford, or the University of Cambridge in England, which is really cool. So another nice thing about the program is everyone here will do a really big workshop, which my group funds. So this year, coming up, we'll be at the University of Oxford, and all the students get together, they share their work, they present. You have a really fancy dinner where everyone dresses up and gets to know each other. So it's a really cool, unique experience that you don't get anywhere else. So coming from also with me, I have a bachelor's in bio. I was pre-med. I worked in a lab for four years. It's very hard because when you want to go into the PhD, the majority of the PhD programs are about seven to nine years, which is a very long time. So what's really nice about this program is it's a maximum of four years. So you really get to it, you don't have to take classes, which is also a really nice feature. And you have to choose your projects. So say you're really interested in something, like you're interested in engineering, computer science. You can choose a project between two labs and work together as a team, but you are pretty much your own boss. So it's a cool way that you're managing yourself, but also like learning how to be a really good scientist. It's pretty cool. So there's two other, well, really three other scholarships that you could apply to. So there's eights, Marshall and Rhodes. So what that will allow you to do is have like full funding the entire time, and it's very prestigious. So if you get one of these scholarships, you're pretty much set before applying to any of these programs. So that's something that you would do beforehand. Our students. Right now we have 69 students with 28 MTPHGs. So there's different track levels, which I'll go into in a little bit. So we have like roughly 100 students, which is a nice group. So it's not too small. We feel like, you know, everybody is too much, but it's not too big where you feel like you're going to get lost in the mix. We have about 160 applications come in. We get about 40 interviews, 20 offers, and about 15%. We are trying to broaden that now, but don't let those numbers scare you at all. Honestly, I think if you have that background and you know you feel like you're structured for this, just try to apply. What I've always heard from people too is like, even if you don't think you fit exactly the mold that you think that they want, apply anyway. Give it a shot. What's also really nice about this program is it's a free application. So a lot of the applications, even to Oxford, Cambridge, it's like 50 pounds to apply, which is like 75 bucks. So this is also a really nice way to, you can just try it out and see with not having that financial burden. These applications get really expensive. So usually between August and December you apply to the program. February, you're invited to interview, and then you would start in August. And at that start, you would also come to the workshop, which is usually in July, at either Oxford, Cambridge, or the NIH. And then you get to meet all the current students, get to know the people in the program before actually starting. And the PH is about four to like four and a half years. You defend in September and you graduate. So there's different tracks of med school. So what some people do is they go to med school for two years, and then they do their research for about four years, and then they go back to school for another two. That's usually what the majority of people do. However, you can also do it in different ones. You can go to med school for three years, do your PhD in four, and go back for the final year. Or you can do four and four. So you can break it up that way. It's pretty much, so you would apply to med school, you applied to the program, and then they would meet in the middle to figure out what exactly you feel is best at that time. So we have a really awesome group of alumni, which not a lot of programs actually keep track of where the alumni have won. I am currently working on a database, and I have been in touch with every single alumni that has graduated from the program since 2005. And they have gone on to do practice medicine, have their own practices. They started their own labs in academia. Some have gone on to start their own companies, so industry-related. Six, we have six CEO founders. Just a couple weeks ago, Forbes really sits 30 under 30. One of our guys, Stan Wang, he was listed for his new company, Slingo Biotech. So that's really cool to see, and just having those contacts is also something I feel is very valuable. At the end of the day, it's all about who you know and who you meet, and you want people to believe in you and believe in your research. I think it's great that we have this accessibility that you said, oh, I heard so-and-so graduated the program. Could you provide contact with them? And I would say, sure. Like, I'll give you their email. I'll set you up to chat, meet in person. That's something that a lot of places, they just don't have the time to keep track of everyone that goes through. So a lot of the bigger schools, you just kind of go anyhow. So it's cool that we have that unique relationship with our alumni. And I'm also working on getting them to attend the workshop so that way our current students can actually get to know people who have gotten into the program. So how do you apply? So obviously no one's going to apply right now, but that's okay. It's actually better, I think, for you to understand how it works before you say, like, I'm just going to do it right now. So the application part is you should close at the beginning of December. So you apply with your CV, which actually, if you ever need help, sometimes you can reach out to us and we can help you with your CV and how to make it look really good. You have to apply with the GREs, so the MCATs. The GREs is just the typical how you apply to grad school. You take that test. Now, if you took the MCAT and you're thinking about med school, you can also apply through using the MCAT. You get usually about two to three letters of recommendation. So if you do any research now, you can have your part mentor write your letter of recommendation, some of that you took a class with. Usually, like a teacher, you don't want like your sister or your mom to write you over there, but definitely someone that can show that your strength in science is there. So how would you look to potential mentors at that age and mentors in the UK? Or would you just like following people up? Yeah, so we would help with that pretty much. You know, that's decided about after we got into the program, but usually we have an idea about who you're interested in. And he said, I'm interested in HIV. Then you would look up to see what people were doing when we started HIV. And we kind of go from there. But we would actually also help you to meet them during that time before you actually start. So you usually hear back around March and April. That's when you decide what you keep to your program is best for you. And we would then do a call back. So we'd invite you back to the NIH to meet people, to get to know the labs, and do it that way. So other PhD programs, you'd have to do a rotation. So usually it's a year or two of classes. And then you do three to four rotations with different mentors. We eliminate that to graduate you in four years. So you kind of have to have an idea of what research you're interested in. And then you would choose your mentors. But everyone's there now to help you realize that. I personally think it's great. Especially when you know what you want to do. Because you want to take those classes. Who wants to take classes for two years? Not me. Some more information. So you can visit our website about Dr. Opscam or the NIH-MDPH portion. What's a CV? CV is your resume. Oh, okay. I know the first time I heard of CV. I know it's like... Curriculum vitae. So you're saying resume? Yeah, so usually in your resume what you do is you talk about useful, if you did any research or type of research you're interested in, if you worked in a lab before, what kind of work were you doing, any kind of extracurricular activities, that kind of stuff. It goes into your CV. Okay, so just going to go through the people. So Alan Sheer, he is the scientific director. So he's pretty much like head of the program. Elaine Oshinger. So she is the director of admissions for all of the NPHs. So pretty much all of the applications that come into the program will go through her. Craig Blackstone. He is the director of the MD-PhD portion of the program. So he would be that person that you would go to talk about doing the MD and the PhD together. So everyone is super nice, also which is great. And Katie. So Katie is the managing director of OxCAM. She is wonderful. She just started in September and has already done such great work before they would honestly never really go out and recruit, but she's been very much on top of getting new students, getting really great scientists. And it's actually nice to have someone who is in charge of everything who is really there for you. So she really cares about the students and every month pretty much we plan to do that with the students to get them together, to get to know each other. So they go to baseball games and hockey games and we've gone to a museum before and they're doing gingerbread housemaking because there's a context. So we try to organize also fun things because we understand it's also really good for doing a PhD and it's stressful. So we want everyone to have a really good experience. So that's something Katie and I will count together. So these are just executive committees. So they all need to discuss this process, this honesty. Okay, so future things for next year. You can mark your calendars. They'll have different career fairs and I hope to actually come back next year maybe earlier on so that way when you're ready to apply we can pretty much work on it together. Honestly, it is confusing. I didn't have family that were scientists so I didn't really know how it worked. So it's nice when you're able to like talk to someone about the process you know, figure it out because it's confusing. And I know your teachers can help you as well but if you have any help, that's why we're here. So here's just some examples. So Trey had two different labs, one in the US and one in the UK. One did not develop their mechanisms of fibrosis and opair disease while they were on work on stem cells. So his product might build those labs for his PhD thesis. And that is it. Thank you. Question. Yeah, of course. I don't have any business cards on me and I have none. So maybe I can put it up here? Yeah. And it will... Oh. It will do the same. Where do I see that? Next to Bob. There? Here, yeah, right here. Can you see that, okay? I want you to give them their knowledge. I had recently started to start at the end of June. Yeah, so it's new for me too. It's kind of nice. It's so small. Yeah, it's so small. I'm sorry. Let's do like 70. Where is the phone? Home. I'm sorry, this is like... All the way to the top to the left. They changed it. This is the file. Home. Home to you. Yeah. Yeah. That's bigger. Yeah. Like that? Yeah. Thank you. It still looks pretty small. So that's J. A-J-A. When everyone says... When they email me, I'm like, it's Alex. I put my mail address because my old email address when I wrote the postcard, it was A-A. at tshl.edu. And they would always auto correct only one A. So I figured if I put J in there it would be a little bit easier but then everyone just calls me Kaja. That's a nice name to go. That's it. It goes without the name. I did. I love good. I don't mind. Someone says it to me. Oh yeah. I'm Alex. So any questions that you have? What's your position in this program? So because we work with the government, any funds that go through need to be through an outside source. So I work for a nonprofit that supports the Ph.D. program. So I pretty much cover all the costs. So like the workshop I was telling you about, we fund that. All the fundings that happen, we fund that for recruitment. There's dinners and stuff, so we help out with that. So really cool for this year. We're going downtown D.C. I booked a restaurant. We have a whole place. It's going to be a lot of fun. So pretty much anything that the government can't fund, that's really stepping in. So this cycle is a little late. I don't know what others want from myself. So once I finish taking the exam that's required for the application, is there a certain timeline that I need to, in order to apply? Yes. So I usually say, start thinking of August. I would try to get everything done prior to August, if you could. So if you say you're graduating and you want to take a little time off before finishing the classes, graduating and then applying to the program, it's take the MCATs and juries in June. So if you want to take it again in July or August, you are equal to. And then it's say by October you should kind of have all of your stuff together. Applications, usually the deadlines are beginning of December. Once in a while you get a few that are like November 30th. So that's really what you just have to keep in mind with the deadlines. So maybe you apply before that or you have to wait until then. No, no, no. Usually the application portal is open a month or two in advance. Okay. So I believe beginning of October. That's usually when the first open. But pretty much if you have all your stuff ready to go, the applications go pretty quickly. Just filling out your name, address, letters of recommendation. I would say August, September start asking because people take forever. I know from experience. Better to have them ahead of time. You can't submit your letters of recommendation. They will need to. So you just want to keep on top of what people are saying. Hey, you know, I just want to make sure that you send it. Make sure you got them from people that will talk badly about you as well. You just want to make sure that that's not what you got to do. So if you do research, I recommend trying to do some research while you're here. I know there's a research program. Right? We have a right to start. Yes. So if you can do some research, that's a great way for you to get to know somebody that might have really the recommendation letter. Any other questions? We did about, after you graduated, do you join the group? So I worked as a lab technician first, which I think is helpful. It's not required by any means. I have a few friends that did a similar path to me where they worked for a little bit and then went on to grad school. It's pretty much up to you. If you feel that your research during undergrad was not strong enough or you just were unsure of what field you want to go into, what your interests were, I would recommend working for one to two years. I say that because it's really easy to just stay on. So just kind of think about now what kind of research you're interested in, whether it be infectious disease, the neuroscience or cancer. Like, I was a cancer biologist. So my focus was on prostate cancer, but metaside prostate cancer was my main focus. But lung cancer that occurred after the prostate cancer was right there. So just kind of figure out what you're interested in. Now's a great time to start. Especially because we're going to have to find either next year or the year after. So just seeing who is there. Who would you want to work for? At either the NIH or Oxford or Cambridge. What kind of science interests you? What makes you excited? Because you really have to be dedicated to it. And you don't want to be in something that you're not interested in. You want to work what you do. We were actually talking before about the best kind of jobs, the ones that you wake up every day and you're the same at footwork. So that's definitely... So you separate it. So what you can do is you can go to med school for two years. So you do like your classes and then you do the PhD. And then you do like your rotations in the hospital. So your school part is pretty much done before you start your PhD. Or you can do PhD in med school. So you're not doing the both of this at the same time? I don't think so. You would not have enough time to do it. You wouldn't sleep. You would need to be a robot. Because I would say an average day in the lab is... It could be flexible depending on what you're working on. But there's sometimes that your experiments run overnight. Depends on what you're working on. So going to med school and doing the PhD at the exact same time, it's impossible. I think you would also be really unhappy and have no money. So that's... It's not okay now, but when you're doing it, it's too much. So to submit it to the PhD process, the traditional PhD process, you come in, you have confidence in exams, you know, you go over the exams, and then finally you make your thesis. How does this work in the two years? You just really just go into the lab and start working. You go right into the lab to start working. And you really just focus on the thesis. You just do research, yeah. Which I really like because I hate tests. So you don't have to write like a... You also write your thesis, but you don't have to have like a written exam. So like friends of mine that are doing their PhDs and traditional PhD programs, they have classes for two years. You're not getting to the bench, two years. Yeah. So it's a unique experience because you are going in right to the bench. So in terms of students who come in, what sort of break-ins I think are their master's students who are more undergraduate students? Intimix. I have to say, it really is. We've had people that have done masters. We've had people that have worked as a lab tech. We have also had freshmen that have undergone a lot of post-bacs. I've noticed that. I've never heard about a post-bac when I've been to a lab. I'm sorry, I was a little late, but I'm curious to know the deadline to apply. So it's December 3rd. Did you take the GRIs? I didn't. So that's my follow-up question. Do you guys do applied GRIs? Yeah. I would say if there is a way to apply without using it, you may be able to. Okay. Why do you think most schools are facing the GRIs? I know. I know most schools require GRIs. So actually, if you apply to Oxford and Cambridge directly, you don't need the GRIs. But we can talk after this. I'll tell you everything. Any other questions? Do you need a master's to go to a PhD or a medical school? Which is really nice. Yeah. So for example, usually in the UK, they do a master's because that's where your classes are. So in the US PhD, the classes are part of the PhD. Here, you don't have to do either. So you don't have those extra classes. Just run in the lab. Nice. Any other questions? Any other students? How will the master look like if this is related to business or something? Yeah. But in that case, it's not. Thank you. I mean, you could go into business. We had a lot of... So one of the alumni that I am in touch with, he works at McKinsey right now, doing like healthcare and consulting. And there's a break between the PhD and MD. So that's kind of a cool experience. You can do a lot with PhD. That's something that I felt like I didn't... I wasn't really told when I was in college was that there's so many different outlets that you can go into. So you can even be somebody like me where you did the lab work and then now you're working for the program. So you just got to figure out what you like. I personally like talking to people. I love the bench work, but I think I'm better at like dealing with people and talking to people about science because that's what I love to do. So there's so many different things that you can go into. I think my biggest recommendation is just take one... Take one for the class. Just do it for me. Because I wish I did. Because there's so much that you can do. I know we shouldn't be driven by financial stuff, but like I have a friend for example. She got a job like that. Literally she applied. They called me the next day for a letter of recommendation and the day after they called me they hired her because they didn't have anybody to do the job. Yeah. And she calls me and goes, She's like, did you think they're really going to hire me? And I was like, honestly I've never seen this process go so quickly, but... They don't have scientists that can code. I would think that's cool. I don't code. That's really good. You, honestly I would... Do you have any masters? I have a master's... In computer science. I was a master's of application, my job mainly then. And I was development, I was job development. I wanted what development was. I wanted it like... Yeah. So you can do a... Biodiversity. Let me think of the name. Biomechanics degree. How are you interested in that? That's what my friend has. Do you need this program? No. She did it the right way. Yeah. Did you show up? I'm not representing the program. I'm just a friend. I'm working in the mental department. So she, for example, my friend, minimum salary is really strange. 70 days becomes a year. It's going to be just good. Her new job is like 150. I don't know. I'm saying that's like minimum salary. It's like... But so she is like helping build like a biobank. So she analyzed all human samples that go up in Boston. I'd say in Harvard. Did she major in programming or she just took a class? No, so she did a master's in biobank. Something to think about. She was thinking about programming. She is someone who did programming a lot of times. Biomanic surgery. Okay. Say after graduating, I joined this program in two years. Did it work for me? Or did it last for all four years and then? No, they paid for the medical school portion. So when you were in college, when they were in the doctoral part, they paid for your income and stuff, for your living expenses and everything. Then they gave up. I didn't buy anything. Oh, cost of living. Yeah, so it's not like a lot. But it's like cost of living. Yeah, like you can afford to live. You're not like go shopping on the debts. In your own way. Exactly. You're shopping at prep work. Wait, I thought that ended already. I heard you so much. Of course. But why don't you either think, just look at the biomanic surgery. I'm just thinking of just time. It just may be a good idea. And I know from a friend's point of view that surgery is a good job. What is your end goal? Okay. But how do you see it? Oh, like designing. Then I think this is a good idea. Yeah. And this would be cool. In a shorter amount of time. Artificial intelligence. I believe so. I would look into it. I can just go on the website. There's a lot of clubs. Do you know from a friend? Cornell just developed a new AI building. Here in the city. All artificial households. I don't want to open yet. Is it going to be open to public? For the research? No. So how should we think? Two more questions. Because there was a class there. And I want to wrap it up. We can talk to you. Yes, we can talk to you. We can grab some food. We can ask more as you can. What do you do for a living? I'm not eating. Oh, very good. Thank you. Oh, yeah? Easy for you. Oh my God. I personally have to take a photo too. For our program Save. And I never take a photo. Every time we have a picture. You can put the sign for the age sign. Maybe you guys should come down. You guys can stand there. And be nice for us. Yeah, this one too. Oh, we're going up. And if you want to take a photo. You can go back in. I think you stand in. I'll take the photo. It's two of them. Don't worry. You stand in there and I'll take a photo of them. Smile. Smile and dance. And so I'm cooking you a group of future Oxford NIA stars, right? Yeah. So say Oxford NIA stars. Oxford NIA stars. Oxford NIA stars. What? Very excellent to get one morning. So, us camp. Trying to be sure that I get the floor as responsible as possible. Okay, very well. Thank you. Nature women is science. That's exactly what I was thinking. So this is for you. That's exactly what I was thinking. Thank you. If you have a few more of these.