Going from MPH to medical school

[doc3847]

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I am currently reapplying to MD/DO schools this cycle. I am about to take my MCAT to improve my score and I wont have results until after I start my MPH. I had a couple questions on what would be the best thing for me to do in the Fall. So I am in the camp of attending MPH with the end goal of medicine, but not only just to raise GPA a bit but also get research opportunities and return to academia. I have applied and plan on attending an MPH in the Fall. However there is risk in doing that like what if my GPA drops and that MPH is a two year program. My questions are:

1) Will MPH ruin my chances of getting into medical school, specifically will they want me to finish two years before applying to medical school or am I good applying right now?
2) Will MPH help my chances if schools see improvement of GPA, I'm guessing they'll only look at first semester GPA?
3) If I get into med school right away, I would probably drop the MPH but would like to continue it during medical residency, is there a precedence for this or is it school specific?
4) My alternative is to get a job at a hospital but how does that compare to MPH?

 

[pugpy_dawg]

Hi! I have an MPH and am currently applying to medical school. I think, in your situation, I actually would not recommend you do an MPH. MD schools calculate graduate school courses into a separate grad GPA, so an MPH would not improve the GPA you currently have, and adcoms don’t care about grad gpa as much unless it’s an SMP. If you’re looking for GPA repair, I’d recommend a DIY post bacc, which is what I did on the side during my MPH. I did an MPH purely because I was interested in public health, I wouldn’t recommend one for any reason related to getting into med school. You can certainly get opportunities for research as a post bacc student. Good luck!

 

[paimei42]

MPH isnt really going to help you grades wise if you have a weak ugrad GPA.

I suppose you can take a leave of absence 5 years ish and return to it during residency but you'd have to talk with specific residencies. Some programs have requirements that you finish everything within some set time limit which might screw you with that though.

 

[pugpy_dawg]

MPH isnt really going to help you grades wise if you have a weak ugrad GPA.

I suppose you can take a leave of absence 5 years ish and return to it during residency but you'd have to talk with specific residencies. Some programs have requirements that you finish everything within some set time limit which might screw you with that though.

^ yeah my program had an 8 year time limit so you’d want to check on that. Didn’t notice that part.

 

[Sephirakra]

I am currently reapplying to MD/DO schools this cycle. I am about to take my MCAT to improve my score and I wont have results until after I start my MPH. I had a couple questions on what would be the best thing for me to do in the Fall. So I am in the camp of attending MPH with the end goal of medicine, but not only just to raise GPA a bit but also get research opportunities and return to academia. I have applied and plan on attending an MPH in the Fall. However there is risk in doing that like what if my GPA drops and that MPH is a two year program. My questions are:

1) Will MPH ruin my chances of getting into medical school, specifically will they want me to finish two years before applying to medical school or am I good applying right now?
2) Will MPH help my chances if schools see improvement of GPA, I'm guessing they'll only look at first semester GPA?
3) If I get into med school right away, I would probably drop the MPH but would like to continue it during medical residency, is there a precedence for this or is it school specific?
4) My alternative is to get a job at a hospital but how does that compare to MPH?

Get an MPH only if you're interested in population-based health monitoring and intervention. It's not really that useful for getting into medical school, but could be applicable in practice, if that's where your professional goals lie.

Working in a hospital could be useful, depending on what you're doing.

Just my two cents, but I do have an MPH, many years' experience working in hospitals, and am a current medical student.

 

[gyngyn]

DO schools average graduate grades into undergrad. MD's do not.
Many schools look askance at accepting someone in the middle of a previous commitment.

 

[Goro]

I am currently reapplying to MD/DO schools this cycle. I am about to take my MCAT to improve my score and I wont have results until after I start my MPH. I had a couple questions on what would be the best thing for me to do in the Fall. So I am in the camp of attending MPH with the end goal of medicine, but not only just to raise GPA a bit but also get research opportunities and return to academia. I have applied and plan on attending an MPH in the Fall. However there is risk in doing that like what if my GPA drops and that MPH is a two year program. My questions are:

1) Will MPH ruin my chances of getting into medical school, specifically will they want me to finish two years before applying to medical school or am I good applying right now?
2) Will MPH help my chances if schools see improvement of GPA, I'm guessing they'll only look at first semester GPA?
3) If I get into med school right away, I would probably drop the MPH but would like to continue it during medical residency, is there a precedence for this or is it school specific?
4) My alternative is to get a job at a hospital but how does that compare to MPH?

Because of the perceived lack of rigor in MPH programs, the degree will not help. At my DO school routinely reject people from our sister college's MPH program. Most people are in it for what they think is app improvement.

If you bail on your mPH, we worry that you'll do the same thing to med school.

If your GPA is weak or not competitive, read this:
Goro's advice for pre-meds who need reinvention