Is a MPH before med school a good idea?

[medicalchanel]

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Hi everyone,

I'm interested in applying to medical schools in Ontario and doing an MPH in the meantime...would you suggest doing an MPH or an MSc? I'm quite interested in both so at this point, i'm willing to study whichever one will give me the most opportunities for the future and entry into medical school.

These are my thoughts so far:

MPH: might provide opportunities for work if i don't get into medical school
MSc: might give me more opportunities to get into medical school because of research experience

THANKS!

 

[WedgeDawg]

Neither will by themselves really help you get into medical school. You should only do these two things out of personal or professional interest.

 

[NewHorizons]

Hi everyone,

I'm interested in applying to medical schools in Ontario and doing an MPH in the meantime...would you suggest doing an MPH or an MSc? I'm quite interested in both so at this point, i'm willing to study whichever one will give me the most opportunities for the future and entry into medical school.

These are my thoughts so far:

MPH: might provide opportunities for work if i don't get into medical school
MSc: might give me more opportunities to get into medical school because of research experience

THANKS!

For Canada these do help more than in US MD schools, though the reason they help are different.

Thesis based masters for some schools get additional points in the application. Course based masters allow you do to more GPA repair since some schools allow your entire masters to count for one year (provided that you do a lot of courses a semester). In the US these grades do not matter, but in Canada they do.

However, both degrees are meant not for getting into medical school, but as a plan B to pursue other fields of interest. If I didn't get into medicine, I would be content doing biostatistics for a while before thinking about it again. When it comes to finding work and work experience, networking + hard work are what lands you jobs, not the degree.

For more information, please read up on MPH and MSc degrees on premed101, the Canadian version of these forums. I write about their advantages and disadvantages extensively.

Best wishes,