How difficult is MPH workload?

[peaceloveandmedicine]

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I'm an undergraduate student preparing to apply to an accelerated mph program. I want to use my time in grad school to improve my gpa and study for my MCAT before applying to medical school. I'll be doing my degree in Behavioral and Community Health, and I was wondering if in comparison to a premed undergraduate courseload if an mph is as demanding.

 

[LookForZebras]

From my experience, the workload is very manageable and your plan for simultaneous MCAT studying would work fine. To some extent, you can control how difficult your workload is by carefully selecting your elective courses. Also, the non-course aspects an MPH program can be as light or hefty as you make them. For example, attending special lectures or talks, your involvement in student groups, volunteering opportunities, and research activities. You might decide to be really picky in choosing which of these you participate in - at least at first, while you're getting into a groove of balancing coursework and studying.

 

[wwmmkk]

This really depends on your undergrad experience and where you end up for your MPH.

My view on MPH programs is that you get out of it what you put into it. If you want to keep your experience light, choose easier electives, the "lower" track option of requirements like biostatistics, and pick a more basic internship/thesis project. You should have time to study for the MCAT and will likely graduate with a high GPA.

I am doing the exact opposite of all that and find my MPH workload to be more interesting, more time consuming, and a different type of rigorous than my undergrad workload. I went to a top liberal arts school frequently described as "grueling" and fulfilled most pre-med requirements as part of my biology and education degrees (though I stopped chemistry at Organic I).

 

[Teets4Tots]

This really depends on your undergrad experience and where you end up for your MPH.

My view on MPH programs is that you get out of it what you put into it. If you want to keep your experience light, choose easier electives, the "lower" track option of requirements like biostatistics, and pick a more basic internship/thesis project. You should have time to study for the MCAT and will likely graduate with a high GPA.

I am doing the exact opposite of all that and find my MPH workload to be more interesting, more time consuming, and a different type of rigorous than my undergrad workload. I went to a top liberal arts school frequently described as "grueling" and fulfilled most pre-med requirements as part of my biology and education degrees (though I stopped chemistry at Organic I).

Love hearing about your experience! Although off topic from the original question in the post, I was wondering what your opinion on having a part-time job during a MPH (especially the first year) is. I have worked for a department store for the past 2 years during undergrad and have the opportunity to transfer for school or even look for a new job, but I'm worried about taking on too much from the beginning. I'm looking to be really involved similarly to you and have also accepted a position on the school's student council so I really don't want to limit my opportunities with additional commitments outside of school. Any advice is appreciated!!

 

[wwmmkk]

Love hearing about your experience! Although off topic from the original question in the post, I was wondering what your opinion on having a part-time job during a MPH (especially the first year) is. I have worked for a department store for the past 2 years during undergrad and have the opportunity to transfer for school or even look for a new job, but I'm worried about taking on too much from the beginning. I'm looking to be really involved similarly to you and have also accepted a position on the school's student council so I really don't want to limit my opportunities with additional commitments outside of school. Any advice is appreciated!!

I think this depends on this timing of your course requirements. I did not work my first semester because I had a ~15 hr/week (unfortunately unpaid) internship at the health department and thought that having an outside job as well would've been overwhelming. Most people in my program did not have an internship first semester, though, and I think plenty of people found balancing course requirements + a 12-15 hour/week job doable. Second semester, I continued my internship at 10 hr/week and had a paid research position at 10 hr/week, which was manageable throughout the semester and too much at the end of the semester when the expectations for everything picked up.

If you need the money, I'd suggest keeping your department store job for the first semester and then look for public health related part time work like paid internships, research positions, etc. for the second semester. If you have a bit of a safety net built up, it might be fine to not work for September/October to get your footing and make some connections to start public health related part time work sooner, by the end of the first semester. I'd also recommend asking staff at your program what other students do.

 

[751866]

This really depends on your undergrad experience and where you end up for your MPH.

MyAll Forums view on MPH programs is that you get out of it what you put into it. If you want to keep your experience light, choose easier electives, the "lower" track option of requirements like biostatistics, and pick a more basic internship/thesis project. You should have time to study for the MCAT and will likely graduate with a high GPA.

I am doing the exact opposite of all that and find my MPH workload to be more interesting, more time consuming, and a different type of rigorous than my undergrad workload. I went to a top liberal arts school frequently described as "grueling" and fulfilled most pre-med requirements as part of my biology and education degrees (though I stopped chemistry at Organic I).

Do you mean to take more biostats courses if you want an easier path? At any good program this won't be the case. Usually, MPH, MSPH, epidemiology programs get the watered-down stats courses, unless you're at a good program.

 

[wwmmkk]

Do you mean to take more biostats courses if you want an easier path? At any good program this won't be the case. Usually, MPH, MSPH, epidemiology programs get the watered-down stats courses, unless you're at a good program.

No, that's exactly the opposite of what I mean. At least one biostatistics course is a requirement in any CEPH accredited MPH program. Many schools offer at least two options for fulfilling this requirement: one aimed at MPH students concentrating in biostatistics or epidemiology [which may also be offered to PhD or MS students] and one aimed at MPH students in other concentrations [which, at my school, was also the recommended option for people doing MD/MPH or non-STEM PhD/MPH]. The latter is usually easier than the former. I'm telling this person to take the less rigorous biostats option and, if possible, the less rigorous options to fulfill the other MPH requirements as well.

 

[751866]

No, that's exactly the opposite of what I mean. At least one biostatistics course is a requirement in any CEPH accredited MPH program. Many schools offer at least two options for fulfilling this requirement: one aimed at MPH students concentrating in biostatistics or epidemiology [which may also be offered to PhD or MS students] and one aimed at MPH students in other concentrations [which, at my school, was also the recommended option for people doing MD/MPH or non-STEM PhD/MPH]. The latter is usually easier than the former. I'm telling this person to take the less rigorous biostats option and, if possible, the less rigorous options to fulfill the other MPH requirements as well.

Understood! I agree with you that schools usually delineate a watered-down version for students not in an actual biostats degree program (MS or PhD), but I recommend taking the more rigorous version if you want to be able to use the skills more confidently. It is often the case the wimpy version is taught by someone with an MPH or DrPH/epi rather than an actual statistician (PhD biostatistics/statistics) since they reserve the firepower for people in a true stats degree. This often leads to incorrect explanations and applications. I can't tell you how many nonstatisticians (non MS/PhD in statistics/biostats) tell people that non normal data need nonparametric tests or that formal normality hypothesis tests are the best way to see if a normality assumptions is reasonable. The other laughable offense is that these same people also claim that nonparametric refers to a data type, which is grossly incorrect.

If the OP wants a light workload and doesn't want a good background in biostats, take the watered down version and minimize the number taken. However, if OP plans to use any of this, probably better suited to take more of them and the ones for MS/PhD biostats/stats students. Only at very top biostats programs is the coursework for MPH people good enough, usually because they actually have a PhD in stats/biostats teaching those courses.

 

[chantik]

Based on the way you phrased this, it sounds like you are doing a MPH mainly so that it will help your chances of getting into a medical program.

If that's the case, I'd strongly reconsider whether a MPH is in fact the best approach. Sure, you can study for MCATs, but the MPH is a time and most likely, $$ commitment. Do you really want to spend a year in a program you're not vested in just to potentially get into a med program? IMO you'd be better off getting some clinical rotation/shadowing experiences and just studying rigorously for your MCATs. I know people who have done a MPH just to get into med school and this hasn't really helped-especially because they aren't getting clinical experience.

If you are interested in a MPH because you want it to elevate your medical practice, than that is a different story. But don't get a degree because you think it 'looks' good.

 

[wwmmkk]

Based on the way you phrased this, it sounds like you are doing a MPH mainly so that it will help your chances of getting into a medical program.

If that's the case, I'd strongly reconsider whether a MPH is in fact the best approach. Sure, you can study for MCATs, but the MPH is a time and most likely, $$ commitment. Do you really want to spend a year in a program you're not vested in just to potentially get into a med program? IMO you'd be better off getting some clinical rotation/shadowing experiences and just studying rigorously for your MCATs. I know people who have done a MPH just to get into med school and this hasn't really helped-especially because they aren't getting clinical experience.

If you are interested in a MPH because you want it to elevate your medical practice, than that is a different story. But don't get a degree because you think it 'looks' good.

Couldn't agree with this more. I don't think MPH programs really improve anyone's chances at med school... they don't necessarily detract, but there are plenty of better ways to improve if that's your only goal. Most people who I have talked to in my program with med school goals (a) halfway through are no longer interested in pursuing med school and will work in public health after graduation, (b) aren't doing great in the program because they don't actually care about the content, or (c) had a very clear reason why an ultimate MD/MPH was necessary for their career.

 

[Dwan]

Couldn't agree with this more. I don't think MPH programs really improve anyone's chances at med school... they don't necessarily detract, but there are plenty of better ways to improve if that's your only goal. Most people who I have talked to in my program with med school goals (a) halfway through are no longer interested in pursuing med school and will work in public health after graduation, (b) aren't doing great in the program because they don't actually care about the content, or (c) had a very clear reason why an ultimate MD/MPH was necessary for their career.

Plus if you go into an MPH planning to take easy classes so you have time to study MCAT and do applications, it's questionable why even pay for the degree when you won't get anything out of it. Medical schools don't care about the classes you take, but rather what you have done with the MPH degree.

 

[peaceloveandmedicine]

The mph isn’t too increase my chances for medical school but med school is the end goal. I want to do it so I can learn how to better serve underserved populations because most medical schools don’t have time to teach you that.
At the end of the day, my goal is to be a clinician so I want to make sure I have everything in order for that above all else.

 

[MorbidLeeO’bese]

The mph isn’t too increase my chances for medical school but med school is the end goal. I want to do it so I can learn how to better serve underserved populations because most medical schools don’t have time to teach you that.
At the end of the day, my goal is to be a clinician so I want to make sure I have everything in order for that above all else.

I was trying to upvote your post, but realized this wasn't reddit.

Yup, all too often, I think people miss the point of wanting to do both an MPH and MD. There are plenty of people in the MPH program I've gotten into that are medical students who are doing a dual program. Some people will jump to the conclusion that you're getting an MPH to help your chances into medical school.

Why would they want to get an MPH while they're getting their MD? Because they plan on doing something with both.

At the end of the day, if you have the capacity and desire to do both, find the best way to approach it...which is exactly what you're doing.

 

[Dwan]

I was trying to upvote your post, but realized this wasn't reddit.

Yup, all too often, I think people miss the point of wanting to do both an MPH and MD. There are plenty of people in the MPH program I've gotten into that are medical students who are doing a dual program. Some people will jump to the conclusion that you're getting an MPH to help your chances into medical school.

Why would they want to get an MPH while they're getting their MD? Because they plan on doing something with both.

At the end of the day, if you have the capacity and desire to do both, find the best way to approach it...which is exactly what you're doing.

Medical students doing the dual degree are dedicating full time to the MPH and related activities and are better able to orient their degree to their actual specialty and career (most commonly this is done after the M3 clinical years). A good amount come with funding from their schools. The situation here is very different.