Computer Science Graduate Interested in Public Health but Clueless

[tn16370]

Hello all,

I am a recent computer science graduate applying to medical school. I'm in my gap year right now, and I just submitted my application last week. I have recently piqued an interest in stacking an MPH on top of my prospective MD/DO degree, assuming I get in. My state doesn't have a formal MD/MPH program, and requires me to apply to the school of public health sometime next Spring (2017), and get accepted. Then, if I'm accepted to a school's MD/DO program, I will be allowed to merge the programs get an MD/MPH or DO/MPH. A couple of schools in my state participate in this process. Having to apply to MPH school alone to get my MD/MPH or DO/MPH that I desire, I have no idea what MPH schools require, etc. All I know of is that they require a GRE score for admissions. Here are some statistics about me, and I would really appreciate it if you can outline the strengths and weaknesses, what I need to do, etc.

GPA: 3.87

Science Coursework (outside of medical school prerequisites): Genetics, Molecular Biology, Virology, Microbiology, Biochemistry I, Biochemistry II

Volunteering: 400 hours at a hospital, 250 hours at a clinic for the uninsured

Research: Did 1 year of virology research, 0 publications, 8 posters
Did 2 years of epidemiology research, modeled diseases, 0 publications 4 posters
Random summer research experience in computational biology at a medical school

Area of interest: Epidemiology (quantitative) or Biostatistics

Current employment: I work as a research assistant at a medical school where I help with clinical research

I took a practice GRE from Kaplan the other week. 159 Reading 167 Math.

What else should I do?

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[Pudu2009]

To find out what MPH programs require, go to the websites of programs you're interested in and find out from their admissions page. Different schools have different requirements. Some want you to have two years work experience (JHU-but the first two years of med school count). Others want you to have a doctorate (Harvard). Some will take you straight out of undergrad (majority).

Your non-premed science courses are not necessary for most programs (I realize this is poorly written but didn't know how else to say it). Most epi programs require basic biology and perhaps Calc 1. Biostats programs generally want more math, but you should be fine with Calc 2 for most programs.

Not going to say anything about your GPA or ECs (research, work, volunteerism) except to say they are excellent. Don't worry about not having publications; most undergrads don't have any.

I'm assuming you took the MCAT already since you said you just submitted your application. Don't worry about taking the GRE; a lot of programs will take MCAT scores. Double-check the programs your interested before you sign up for the test/study more.

 

[tn16370]

To find out what MPH programs require, go to the websites of programs you're interested in and find out from their admissions page. Different schools have different requirements. Some want you to have two years work experience (JHU-but the first two years of med school count). Others want you to have a doctorate (Harvard). Some will take you straight out of undergrad (majority).

Your non-premed science courses are not necessary for most programs (I realize this is poorly written but didn't know how else to say it). Most epi programs require basic biology and perhaps Calc 1. Biostats programs generally want more math, but you should be fine with Calc 2 for most programs.

Not going to say anything about your GPA or ECs (research, work, volunteerism) except to say they are excellent. Don't worry about not having publications; most undergrads don't have any.

I'm assuming you took the MCAT already since you said you just submitted your application. Don't worry about taking the GRE; a lot of programs will take MCAT scores. Double-check the programs your interested before you sign up for the test/study more.

Thank you for your reply! I minored in math. My coursework was:

Cal I-III, Diff EQ, Linear Algebra, Stat Modeling, and Partial Diff EQ. I'll double check with the programs, but for the most part, they shouldn't hold that many reservations against me with that background, right?

 

[Pudu2009]

Thank you for your reply! I minored in math. My coursework was:

Cal I-III, Diff EQ, Linear Algebra, Stat Modeling, and Partial Diff EQ. I'll double check with the programs, but for the most part, they shouldn't hold that many reservations against me with that background, right?

Correct, major doesn't matter for public health. Forgot you said you majored in CS ; you definitely have a strong enough math background for biostats. I think for public health, if your stats are good enough for med school, they're good enough for MPH.