A bit confused

[phunkeyfantom]

I'm new to the MPH as well as med school game. After carefully considering the possibilities, I recently decided that I wanted to try and attempt to get an MPH degree.My question is, are there any specific prerequisites that a person has to take in order to be considered eligible to apply for the MPH? I'm an anthropology major with only freshman level biology courses taken as well as one semester of general chemistry.

Secondly, the program that I'm looking to apply to is the MPH program offered at Seoul National University in Korea. I chose the program in Korea mainly because its top notch with very good professors, and because of the cost. A years tuition for an MPH totals about $3,200 U.S. dollars. Does anyone on this forum have experience with applying to a foreign grad school? How was the process, and when attempting to get work in the MPH field, did potential employers look down upon you obtaining your degree from a school not situated in the U.S.?

Any advise from all would be greatly appreciated.

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[namazu]

I'll address your first question, since I don't know much about applying to grad schools outside Anglophone North America.

In general, the prerequisites for MPH programs tend to be somewhat flexible because MPH studies are fairly interdisciplinary. While many of your classmates may be biology or other natural science majors, there will probably also be plenty of social scientists, too. (I, too, was an anthro major back in the day.)

Depending on what type of MPH you want to pursue, there may be more emphasis put on particular preparation. For a general MPH (and epidemiology), many backgrounds with at least some evidence of competence in biology and quantitative skills will suffice. For environmental health, they may want to see more chemistry, physics, etc. For biostatistics, you will probably need a strong mathematics background.

Your best bet is to check with the program to see if there are things they absolutely require or things they recommend. You may also get a feel for how flexible they are - some programs will admit you without one or more "prerequisite" courses if you are otherwise a very strong candidate, have experience or test scores that suggest competence, or if you can make up those courses before you enroll or during your first terms at the school.

I don't know if you were planning to apply this fall or begin classes this fall. If you have some extra time before you enroll, you might consider taking a course or two to bolster your application if it's missing any prerequisites. Alternatively, you might try to get a job or internship in the U.S. to gain additional experience and make some stateside connections.

Good luck.