Sharon Welling

The physician-scientist model is a hallmark of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, exemplified by the Medical Scientist Training Program, which celebrates its 50^th anniversary in 2025. The eight-year program provides students with doctoral level training in both medicine and biomedical research.

Sharon Welling is the administrative director of MSTP and has worked at Johns Hopkins for over 42 years. In her role, she is involved in the program’s recruitment and admissions processes, the student experience, and other areas to ensure the program is admitting and training the highest caliber of MD-PhD students. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you share a bit about your journey to becoming the administrative director of the MSTP?

I have been at Johns Hopkins for over 42 years. I started out as a clinical study coordinator back in 1978 and worked in a rented space in Kennedy Krieger and CMSC. I later moved on to medical psychology as a study coordinator before the Wilmer Eye Institute recruited me to run their residency program. I was at Wilmer for 13 years and absolutely loved that job and the residents. One day I got a phone call from Dr. Bob Siliciano, who was our former program director. He said he had heard about me and wanted me to interview for the job for administrative director of the MSTP. I wasn’t even looking at the time but decided to interview. I was offered the position to work with the MSTP in 2003 and the rest is history.

What was the transition to working with the Medical Scientist Training Program like?

When I started, I knew nothing about MD-PhD training. I knew some of my Wilmer Ophthalmology residents had come from this program. I went in with bootstraps on and rolled up my sleeves. Fortunately, I had worked with grants in my previous positions but had never worked on a training grant. In this role, I soon had to prepare our first T32 grant and spent a lot of time reading all the submission guidelines in order to understand how to submit a T32 training grant.

You mentioned that you’ve been with the program since 2003. How has the MSTP changed in the last 21 years since you’ve been in your role?

My first thought is that I’m 21 years older. But to answer your question, not much has really changed. We are still recruiting and admitting premier candidates for our program and competing with the other top-tier programs. When you look at the success rate of our program and our students—what they've done and what they have accomplished —not much has changed. These students are still succeeding—they're fulfilling our mission and changing the way medicine and science are delivered and integrated. One change is that there are more research opportunities for students today.

The MD-PhD program is celebrating its 50^th anniversary next year. What are you looking forward to?

I am hoping to see many of our graduates. We are fortunate that many respond to our yearly request for their progress, and this helps us to follow their accomplishments and successes. One of the benefits of having a program of our size is that if you give me the name of a graduate, I can most often remember their grad program, PI/mentor and where they initially went for residency. Even now, I know where each of our students is at in the training track, who their PI is, and what their plans are. I still have relationships with many of our alumni, and I’m excited and hoping to see many of them return in late May for the Alumni Weekend celebration.

You’ve had a long journey at Hopkins. What is it about the MSTP program that has kept you here for the past 21 years?

I started here at Hopkins part-time when my children were young. It was great because I had a flexible schedule. As my children grew older, I also loved the benefit Johns Hopkins had of tuition remission. I was able to learn and grow from each of my experiences here at Hopkins and that is what has helped me so much in my position as administrative director of the MSTP. When you love your job, you really do not think about the number of years you have been in a position. You think about all the wonderful students you have the opportunity to help, the fantastic faculty you get to work with, and the amazing collaborations with administrators and leadership from across the Hopkins institution. There are new challenges with each new entering class and new challenges and sometimes struggles with the new technological changes that have been introduced over these years, but I continue to grow and challenge myself with all of these experiences. It is so gratifying to see the success of our students over the years.

Can you share a memorable experience or story from your time working with the MD-PhD students or faculty who work with the program?

There are too many to single out one. But I will say that, overall, I think being able to collaborate with not only clinical faculty, but research faculty and deans, the admissions team, and many others at the School of Medicine, has been a highlight for me. Through my role, I have also been able to be a part of the National MD-PhD Program Association composed of all program directors and administrators. We are able to share our experiences, what works for us, and make great friends along the way.

Since many MD-PhD alumni will read this article, especially many who have known you, is there anything you’d like to share with alumni?

I would love to hear from more of our grads. We do send out a yearly email to our alumni to update our database, so I usually hear from some of them at that time. But I really want them to know that they left their mark on Hopkins, in the MSTP, and with the staff who helped them navigate their time here. They should let their light shine and be a leader in whatever area they've chosen but not forget to keep in touch.