Is organic chemistry needed for MPH?

[Chameleonchick]

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I have looked at a few programs and organic chemistry is a pre-req. How common is this?

 

[enox0485]

I have looked at a few programs and organic chemistry is a pre-req. How common is this?

Which programs are you looking at? This doesn't seem particularly common at all. Are you perhaps pursuing molecular epidemiology? If you want to leave the door open to medical school in the future it might be a good idea but otherwise I don't see the value in taking o-chem as a prerequisite for an MPH.

 

[Mpswans1]

I had the same question when I was in my final year of undergrad- the only program I saw to require it was Environmental Epi at a a FEW universities, and even then it was only a semester- and only suggested, and not required. However, if you want to go to med school afterwards, you'll need a whole year🙂 My undergrad degree required a semester, so I did take it, but it wasn't required for the MPH programs I looked into (I'll be going to Columbia as an Epi, infectious disease concentration next year).

 

[Vayu]

This would only make sense in a program in environmental and occupational health or a global health program with laboratory benchwork.. I had no use for it in health education and it was not required.

 

[kutmasta]

I think 2 semesters of ochem are required for the environmental health at Pitt as well. I don't see why any other concentration would require ochem, so perhaps it is limited to just environmental/occupational health.

 

[what987]

I think Yale required more sciences for all concentrations than the other schools.

It still blows my mind that they required college-level physics for the policy degree. Ridiculous.