BS vs Accelerated MPH

[GrumpyNeuron]

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I'm currently majoring in Neuroscience (BS) at a Top 20 and just discovered a program that is offered that allows you to graduate in 4 years with an MPH. The catch is you must major in Public Health and cannot double major. I'm very interested in neuroscience but also have an interest in public health and think it would be a good background to come from going into medical school. Is there any inherent advantage, when it comes to MD admissions, to having an advanced degree like an MPH over just a BS?

Basically, should I graduate with an MPH and BS in public health or just a BS in neuroscience?

Thoughts?

 

[palatopharyngeus]

Is there any inherent advantage, when it comes to MD admissions, to having an advanced degree like an MPH over just a BS?

no

 

[bluejay456]

^100% disagree. If you graduate with 2 degrees, a BS and a MPH, in 4 years thats pretty impressive. In the end its up to you. Just know that while having the masters level degree will help, it may be difficult to cram all the course work into 4 years while also going on interviews senior year. Some times its beneficial to spread stuff out.

 

[jamcat]

Just my non-professional thoughts, but I would say major in what you're interested in and don't worry about the MPH. There is PLENTY of time for the MPH, and if you're really interested in public health you can take a year or two before med school to pursue the MPH anyway.

I think we have a problem in this country of trying to shove degrees on people. While you may get a BS and MPH in 4 years, you will certainly NOT have the equivalent education of somebody who spent 4 years on a BS and then 2 on an MPH. It's like those J-term courses that people use to get a 15-week course out of the way in 3 weeks. The total number of hours spent in class may be the same, and the assignments you turn in are the same, but pedagogically you have NOT learned as much as you would have had you taken the course over 15 weeks.

So I think it depends on what you're interested in. If you only care about the degrees, go for the BS/MPH. If you want to learn, do it the right way and don't rush things.

As a non-trad (read: older) pre-med who has hired people professionally, I definitely look past the initials behind somebody's name and look to see what actually went into them. I would see a 4-year BS/MPH as an intense bachelor's degree, probably done at the expense of other life-enriching extracurriculars, not as a full MPH. Take that for whatever it's worth.

 

[palatopharyngeus]

^100% disagree. If you graduate with 2 degrees, a BS and a MPH, in 4 years thats pretty impressive. In the end its up to you. Just know that while having the masters level degree will help, it may be difficult to cram all the course work into 4 years while also going on interviews senior year. Some times its beneficial to spread stuff out.

maybe I should have been more clear...a BS/MPH might offer you a slight advantage over just the BS, but if you were to make a list of all the things that AdComs actually give a **** about, BS/MPH vs regular BS would be #2945 on that list. ex:
1. mcat
2. gpa
3. ECs
4. LORs
5. essays
6. interviews
.....
.....
2945. hmm....these two kids are identical...but one kid has a BS/MPH and the other has just a BS...

to the OP: pick which one you're more interested in between public health and neuroscience. don't do the bs/mph b/c you think itll make you a "better" applicant...when all is said and done, there will be a million other things that adcoms will look at (see above) before paying much attention to how many degrees you have...

 

[jamcat]

Another musing: degrees are no substitute for experience. If you're looking at this mostly to gain an edge in admissions, while I can't speak for adcoms, I would personally find somebody who had been engaged, taken a sincere leadership role, and really accomplished something in an extracurricular activity more attractive than somebody whose extra time was taken up by...studying.

One thing I didn't realize in undergrad was just how much you grow when you're out in the "real world" (and I don't mean that to sound condescending, so sorry if it does). You can cloister yourself off in the library, but in the end that doesn't teach you anything other than theory. My thought would be that applicants with an MPH may be attractive because of what they've *accomplished* while pursuing the MPH, not just by virtue of having the degree. For example, I worked in a developing country for a while, and I would sometimes see MPH students come for a year to do research. I highly doubt your BS/MPH 4-year program would have you doing research abroad for an entire year, but it's the *research* and experience that made their application more compelling, not the fact that they had the MPH, if that makes sense.

 

[cyclopes93]

For most part an MPH is an easy A degree unless you major in something like epidemiology or biostat. Even still, department heads would urge you to pursue an MS instead because it is more rigorous. You may benefit more from what you enjoy doing. You will always have the time to do an MPH and many physicians pursue it after MD because then they know which subject is more relevant.

 

[palatopharyngeus]

...My thought would be that applicants with an MPH may be attractive because of what they've *accomplished* while pursuing the MPH, not just by virtue of having the degree. For example, I worked in a developing country for a while, and I would sometimes see MPH students come for a year to do research. I highly doubt your BS/MPH 4-year program would have you doing research abroad for an entire year, but it's the *research* and experience that made their application more compelling, not the fact that they had the MPH, if that makes sense.

spot on. besides, with cramming a BS/MPH into 4 years, how much time will OP realistically have left over for the MCAT, building ECs, etc.?

OP: unless you're VERY passionate about public health, id say just go with the BS in neuro (which you seem to have enjoyed from the beginning) and work on building a well-rounded application