A unique aspect of the UBC MD/PhD program is that it considers its students to be PhD students throughout the duration of the program. As such, it is to the benefit of the student to have identified a supervisor as early possible. This has the additional advantage of allowing students an early start on their research program, increasing the chance a student will be able to complete a combined MD/PhD degree in 7 years.

Applicants should list potential supervisors at the time of their application. If selected for interview it is expected that applicants will set up virtual meetings with a potential supervisor(s) prior to interviews. The research supervisor proposed by the MD/PhD applicant is one of the criteria we use to rank applicants for admission. As for all graduate students, it is to the applicant’s advantage to demonstrate that they have explored potential supervisors, research environments, and projects and hence to have developed a plan for what research they would like to be doing at UBC. The research supervisor must be eligible to take on graduate students in a Faculty of Medicine-affiliated program at UBC or one of its partner universities, and should hold a current operating grant from CIHR or an equivalent peer-reviewed, federal or provincial granting agency in order to provide an appropriate research environment to support an MD/PhD student. Successful applicants will have ~5 months between accepting an offer for admission and actually beginning the program, during which time they can finalize their decision about supervisor. Of note, it is possible to change supervisor during the first two years of the program.