MD and MPH

[flowerintherain]

Hi,

I have been reading about MDs and/or medical students who decide to pursue a MPH degree sometime during their academic career. May I know why people make such decisions? Feel free to pm me too!

Thank you!

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[tulane06]

I am an MD/MPH student. I do not plan to have a career in public health, but I decided to go for the MPH because it gives you exposure to epidemiology, biostats and aspects of infectious disease that you won't get in medical school classes.

 

[vahe99]

I'm currently an MPH student applying to medical school. I'll have my masters in exactly one year (it's a two year program at Cal State Northridge). The MOST important things you get out of an MPH are cultural senstivity/tailoring, dealing with people on a one-on-one ("human") basis and trying to instill primary/secondary/tertiary preventions in your patient population. That's how I feel at least, and my sentiment is echoed by the fact that there are some med schools who now incorporate the culturally relevant classes into their curriculum.

 

[GBFKicks]

I am an MD/MPH student. I do not plan to have a career in public health, but I decided to go for the MPH because it gives you exposure to epidemiology, biostats and aspects of infectious disease that you won't get in medical school classes.

I agree with what was said above. I'm also a student in the MD/MPH program and decided to do my MPH before starting medical school. Although I have not done my clinical years of med school, I feel that while medical school begins to teach you how to be successful in a career in medicine (residency is really where this happens), I wanted to do a MPH to become more of a health care practitioner/professional (not just a physician). My track during my MPH work was community health science, and the community outreach, health education, and program planning/evaluation experience that I got from my MPH is just not touched in medical school.

 

[dishsultan]

Just as the two people above, I am also an MPH student at the U of Texas School of Public Health trying to get into medical school after finishing my thesis.

I decided to do my MPH before medical school because I wanted to approach medicine from a preventative aspect, rather than an acute, reactionary one. I am very happy that I have walked this path, rather than going to med school first and being "programmed" by them first.

 

[cbt81]

Hi,
I too am an MD/ MPH student. I chose to do this additional work so that I could get exposure to things that you dont learn in medical school, but are a great deal of what you deal with when in practice. I have learned about insurance, HMOs, the current state of healthcare in the US and around the world, health policy ect...
I dont know about other people, but in our program you finish both degrees in four years-- which can be stressfull at times, but overall is not too bad.
Also, with all the time you spend looking at anatomy or pathology books, these classes can be a nice break from the hard sciences and keep you in touch with people outside of medical school--which is very nice.

 

[Jannat]

Hello,

I applied to medical school this past year but did not get in anywhere. I applied to some MPH programs at the last minute and was accepted.

My UC Berkeley GPA and my MCAT are not great, though I do have a lot of activities, leadership roles, etc.

Since the MPH program is two years, I will be re-applying in a year for Fall 2009. Aside from the basics of maintaining good grades, I was wondering if those of you who are already in MPH programs could give me some ideas of what else I can do to maximize my chances of getting into a medical school this time around.

Thanks!

 

[cbt81]

Hello,

I applied to medical school this past year but did not get in anywhere. I applied to some MPH programs at the last minute and was accepted.

My UC Berkeley GPA and my MCAT are not great, though I do have a lot of activities, leadership roles, etc.

Since the MPH program is two years, I will be re-applying in a year for Fall 2009. Aside from the basics of maintaining good grades, I was wondering if those of you who are already in MPH programs could give me some ideas of what else I can do to maximize my chances of getting into a medical school this time around.

Thanks!

I would contact a few of the medical schools that you are really interested in and ask them if soemone could reveiw your file and tell you what they would like to see.
I dont know if your work in an MPH program would make you a stronger candidate, unless you had a really strong application, and like many, were just unlucky. If thats the case, then showing committment to the field despite rejection may be a strength.
If your MCAT wasnt that great- take it over, if you grades were just okay-- take higher level science classes. Public health research will always help you, but to make yourself a stronger candidate you might want to focus on other "hard science" areas.
good luck to you!!

 

[Jannat]

I would contact a few of the medical schools that you are really interested in and ask them if soemone could reveiw your file and tell you what they would like to see.
I dont know if your work in an MPH program would make you a stronger candidate, unless you had a really strong application, and like many, were just unlucky. If thats the case, then showing committment to the field despite rejection may be a strength.
If your MCAT wasnt that great- take it over, if you grades were just okay-- take higher level science classes. Public health research will always help you, but to make yourself a stronger candidate you might want to focus on other "hard science" areas.
good luck to you!!

Those are some really good ideas, thanks a lot!

 

[medcluv]

Just as the two people above, I am also an MPH student at the U of Texas School of Public Health trying to get into medical school after finishing my thesis.

I decided to do my MPH before medical school because I wanted to approach medicine from a preventative aspect, rather than an acute, reactionary one. I am very happy that I have walked this path, rather than going to med school first and being "programmed" by them first.

I concur with your post and the two you referred to because it is very encouraging as I am about to start my MPH program and looking forward to applying to med school. To all posters, thank you for your inputs and best to you in your endeavors!!