Ms? Mha? Mph?

[optimisticug]

So I'm considering taking a gap year, just to get my GPA as highest as it possibly can be before applying to med school, and I'm thinking about what I should do during that year. I'm really hoping to go into neurosurgery, so I was wondering should I go ahead and apply for MS programs in neuroscience. Or is there another masters I should consider like an MHA or MPH? Or is there something else I should try to do during that gap year?

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[NickNaylor]

Do a MHA only if you're actually interested in administration. Do a MPH only if you're actually interested in health policy. Do a MS if your interest is more in research.

(sent from my phone)

 

[Sophocles]

Do a MHA only if you're actually interested in administration. Do a MPH only if you're actually interested in health policy. Do a MS if your interest is more in research.

(sent from my phone)

+1

I think that since neurosurgery programs have research years, it would be beneficial for you to do an MS in neuroscience. Perhaps something that you can continue over your med school years and get some pubs from it. The AMA from the neurosurgery resident would probably be a better place to ask though-only a premed here. Good luck

 

[Narmerguy]

So I'm considering taking a gap year, just to get my GPA as highest as it possibly can be before applying to med school, and I'm thinking about what I should do during that year. I'm really hoping to go into neurosurgery, so I was wondering should I go ahead and apply for MS programs in neuroscience. Or is there another masters I should consider like an MHA or MPH? Or is there something else I should try to do during that gap year?

All of these are graduate degrees and will not get your GPA any higher. Moreover, much less attention is paid to graduate school grades so even if you ace your coursework, no one will be particularly impressed.

The degrees themselves will do little to help you. A MS program in neuroscience is more relevant at the residency stage when they may care about research in neuro that you've done or papers/presentations, etc etc. You've got to get into medical school first. The MPH could give you some nice stuff to talk about as far as experience and knowledge with public health or health policy, but again, this isn't going to compensate for weaknesses in your application as there are many people that get these degrees. Similar for MHA (which has even less of a connection to medical school coursework). These shouldn't dissuade someone from pursuing these degrees; if you really like this stuff, you should do the degrees. Just don't do them to make up for weaknesses in your application because they're not really effective for that.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

All of these are graduate degrees and will not get your GPA any higher. Moreover, much less attention is paid to graduate school grades so even if you ace your coursework, no one will be particularly impressed.

The degrees themselves will do little to help you. A MS program in neuroscience is more relevant at the residency stage when they may care about research in neuro that you've done or papers/presentations, etc etc. You've got to get into medical school first. The MPH could give you some nice stuff to talk about as far as experience and knowledge with public health or health policy, but again, this isn't going to compensate for weaknesses in your application as there are many people that get these degrees. Similar for MHA (which has even less of a connection to medical school coursework). These shouldn't dissuade someone from pursuing these degrees; if you really like this stuff, you should do the degrees. Just don't do them to make up for weaknesses in your application because they're not really effective for that.

Will a MHA help you to get in an administrative position regardless if it is a DO or MD?

 

[nychila]

Like Narmerguy said, medical school admissions usually do not heavily weigh graduate school GPA, especially if it is not a hard science, eg. MHA and MPH. Those two degrees will broaden your experiences, but they will not make up for a low undergrad GPA.

 

[Narmerguy]

Will a MHA help you to get in an administrative position regardless if it is a DO or MD?

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Plenty of people (the majority) get administrative positions without any kind of medical degree so it won't make much of a difference if you're a DO vs an MD if that's what you're asking? If you're asking if it will help in general for you to get an administrative position, that largely depends on the hospital but probably it will help get you noticed if nothing else. Other doctors pursue MBA's for a similar purpose and others get involved with administration without any additional degree because they are identified for their leadership potential. Certainly you will learn a lot of useful stuff from these programs as well, but keep in mind that if you get the degree before medical school, you won't really be in a position to use them until at least seven years later.

As someone who was considering these same paths/degrees, I would not recommend paying the money for an MHA unless you are seriously committed to that goal. Many physicians enroll in these MPH/MHA programs after medical school and that's always an option you can take if that interests you.

 

[lazymd]

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[lobo.solo]

Grad school is known for grade inflation. But if you have to do grad to improve your app, do something that you will enjoy learning, which will lead to high grades.

 

[235009]

What if we are actually interested in an MPH, but we also need to improve our undergrad GPA? Would it be wise to take undergrad science courses while completing our MPH?

I emailed a few MPH programs and I was told that graduate students are allowed to take undergrad course but, of course, they won't count towards the MPH degree.

So, do you think that this could be a good plan of action?

most MPH degrees are 2 years with at least 1.5 years of full time coursework ....not really sure where you can fit in science courses and if you can it won't be enough to make a significant dent in your GPA. Also the MPH programs that are 1 year are not worth going to and will definitely not afford you any time to take additional classes on the side.


As for OP ...odds are you're not going to end up into neurosurgery. i know that there's a whole host of people that come to SDN and say they're interested in neurosurgery but they're really just interested in the idea of being a neurosurgeon but are eventually dissuaded by the length of training, culture, hours and end up in another less demanding surgical subspecialty (or decide against surgery altogether). My point is that you shouldn't do an MS in neuro because of your interest in neurosurgery and as someone else mentioned you shouldn't do a master's at all if your goal is to improve your GPA.

 

[lazymd]

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[mokhoras]

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[235009]

I'm not a science major so it won't take a lot to boost my sGPA. I calculated that at least 6 courses will get me to where I want to be. If I attend the Fall/Winter/Spring and take one science course per semester, that will give me the 6 courses I need while completing the MPH program. Also, most of the 2-year MPH programs that I have looked into give you the option of not taking a full-load.

Any thoughts?

i think you should just do a year of post-bacc and forget the grad degree...doesn't sound like you're actually interested in it. if it's the undergrad classes you're interested in then there's no reason to pay more in tuition for the grad degree.

 

[lazymd]

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[Narmerguy]

I'm not a science major so it won't take a lot to boost my sGPA. I calculated that at least 6 courses will get me to where I want to be. If I attend the Fall/Winter/Spring and take one science course per semester, that will give me the 6 courses I need while completing the MPH program. Also, most of the 2-year MPH programs that I have looked into give you the option of not taking a full-load.

Any thoughts?

Sure if you think you can do it, go for it. MPH is a cool degree that teaches you a lot of valuable stuff if you have an interest in public health/biostats. 1 undergraduate science course per semester should be fine if you can avoid taking a full-load in your grad program. If you still take a full load, I think it's difficult to know if you could balance a science course as well without knowing your specific program and the specific science course/institution. Keep in mind that if your goal is to raise your BCPM, you can't just shoot for a B in this science course, you really need to do well in it.

 

[lazymd]

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[xXIDaShizIXx]

I'm not sure I understand what you're asking. Plenty of people (the majority) get administrative positions without any kind of medical degree so it won't make much of a difference if you're a DO vs an MD if that's what you're asking? If you're asking if it will help in general for you to get an administrative position, that largely depends on the hospital but probably it will help get you noticed if nothing else. Other doctors pursue MBA's for a similar purpose and others get involved with administration without any additional degree because they are identified for their leadership potential. Certainly you will learn a lot of useful stuff from these programs as well, but keep in mind that if you get the degree before medical school, you won't really be in a position to use them until at least seven years later.

As someone who was considering these same paths/degrees, I would not recommend paying the money for an MHA unless you are seriously committed to that goal. Many physicians enroll in these MPH/MHA programs after medical school and that's always an option you can take if that interests you.

Yes I was asking if it was a good idea to pursue a MHA during medical school (MD or DO).

 

[Narmerguy]

Yes I was asking if it was a good idea to pursue a MHA during medical school (MD or DO).

It's harder to do during medical school. A lot of schools have dual MD/MPH and even some let you do MD/MS but fewer have programs set up to provide a dual MD/MHA. You can always take a year off to get the degree on your own, though I don't know if that's a really good use of your time when you could simply to do it before or after medical school.

Just to remind people that SDN actually has a forum dedicated for people interested in these sorts of careers: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=94

Usually these tend to be people that are not interested in being physicians though so keep that in mind.

 

[HSUReddie]

most MPH degrees are 2 years with at least 1.5 years of full time coursework ....not really sure where you can fit in science courses and if you can it won't be enough to make a significant dent in your GPA. Also the MPH programs that are 1 year are not worth going to and will definitely not afford you any time to take additional classes on the side.

Disagree completely. There are definitely some MPH degrees out there with 40+ hours that can be completed in a year - if you can put in the time to do it - that are completely worth a person's time if they have an interest in their concentration.

I'm not a science major so it won't take a lot to boost my sGPA. I calculated that at least 6 courses will get me to where I want to be. If I attend the Fall/Winter/Spring and take one science course per semester, that will give me the 6 courses I need while completing the MPH program. Also, most of the 2-year MPH programs that I have looked into give you the option of not taking a full-load.

Any thoughts?

I'm doing an MSPH in Tropical Medicine right now. I have 17 credit hours this semester - and the majority of them are hard science. I believe full-time at most grad schools is considered to be 9 hours. I think it would be completely doable to come in just at full time with 9 hours and take an extra undergrad science class. I think one other option would be if you pursue a normal 2 year MPH degree, do all of your grad courses in the fall/spring when they are offered, and then save your summers for those undergrad courses.

If you're interested in it, I say go for it. There are a lot of interesting concentrations within public health - it's not all just public policy - and I think there's really a niche for all sorts of people, which is one of the reasons I love it.

 

[xXIDaShizIXx]

It's harder to do during medical school. A lot of schools have dual MD/MPH and even some let you do MD/MS but fewer have programs set up to provide a dual MD/MHA. You can always take a year off to get the degree on your own, though I don't know if that's a really good use of your time when you could simply to do it before or after medical school.

Just to remind people that SDN actually has a forum dedicated for people interested in these sorts of careers: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/forumdisplay.php?f=94

Usually these tend to be people that are not interested in being physicians though so keep that in mind.

True, but thanks for the help!

 

[lazymd]

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