is there a point in doing an MPH?

[CaliDreamer]

hi
im currently an undergrad with a double major in psych/english, and decided to go pre-med fairly late in my undergrad career. i have about a yr until i graduate and then i plan on doing my premed reqs at a post bacc program (currently looking at some state school programs, most of which are around 2 yrs). i havent taken any med prereqs yet so i have a clean slate as far as that is concerned, which i think is good for now. i plan on doing well in my post bacc coursework and MCAT, but i still dont think that will make me a competitive applicant for california med schools. im looking into MPH programs as well now. so here are my questions.

1) just like the title of this post: is there any point in getting an MPH? i am truly interested in public health as a discipline and would love to work in it, but am mainly looking at MPH programs as a way of showing med schools that i am truly interested in health issues. do med school admissions committees generable look favorably on MPH candidates or are they a dime a dozen who dont get any extra recognition?

2) instead of an MPH, is it more sensible to do an SMP or masters in a bio discipline? the impression i get is that medical schools want to see applicants who have done well in coursework that is very similar to that of a med school. would it be more practical, then, to enroll and do well in a program that actually incorporates med-type classes? (ie cell bio, pharmacology, immunology, physiology, anatomy, endocinology, microbio, human development, nutrition)

3) another option i was looking at was a masters/PhD in something more career-focused, like clinical psychology. if i plan on going into psychiatry within the medical field (which i am), do you think this would be better?

4) or, is it just best to stick to the post bacc and see where that takes me? reading posts on this forum, i dont think a post bacc will be enough to get me into a cali med school. then again, i could be wrong.

im just so confused; medicine is something that really attracts me. i have strong interests in psychology, public health, and writing, which i hope would make me look unique to an admissions committee.

at the end of the day i know i have to be flexible and that everyone cant go to med school in california. im willing to attend any medical school, really. but i figure i should at least try for the best rather than giving up before starting.

any input would be greatly appreciated, bc im totally lost and have no idea what to do!!

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[sunset823]

1) just like the title of this post: is there any point in getting an MPH? i am truly interested in public health as a discipline and would love to work in it, but am mainly looking at MPH programs as a way of showing med schools that i am truly interested in health issues. do med school admissions committees generable look favorably on MPH candidates or are they a dime a dozen who dont get any extra recognition?

Although I am pursuing a public policy degree myself, I don't think an MPH is really that useful - it is very common to pair an MD with MPH, and they really are getting to be a dime a dozen now, a few people at Harvard SPH have found it hard to get jobs; furthermore, if you are really interested in the issue, you can also pursue the degree once you are already in med school, and it would give you a better perspective if you want to work as a public health physician

2) instead of an MPH, is it more sensible to do an SMP or masters in a bio discipline? the impression i get is that medical schools want to see applicants who have done well in coursework that is very similar to that of a med school. would it be more practical, then, to enroll and do well in a program that actually incorporates med-type classes? (ie cell bio, pharmacology, immunology, physiology, anatomy, endocinology, microbio, human development, nutrition)

An SMP is useful; a masters in bio is not - the difference is that in an SMP you will be with other med school students taking med school classes, so it will really prove your ability to handle the material, while any masters degree is really just an extension of bachelors with more research (in order to get any competitive research positions these days, I believe most people want to see a PhD, so a masters in bio isn't much use on its own) and also, importantly, SMP counts toward undergrad GPA, while masters doesn't

3) another option i was looking at was a masters/PhD in something more career-focused, like clinical psychology. if i plan on going into psychiatry within the medical field (which i am), do you think this would be better?

Don't plan what specialty you are going to do just yet; while it sounds like you are passionate about psych, it is important to keep an open mind, plus another degree will be lost time; it might be better just to get a job doing psychiatry research, make sure you really like the field and get some clinical experience in the process

4) or, is it just best to stick to the post bacc and see where that takes me? reading posts on this forum, i dont think a post bacc will be enough to get me into a cali med school. then again, i could be wrong.

A post bac is a start; the thing with SMPs is that they are meant for people who already have the prereqs and just need to improve GPA; if you do the post-bac and do well, then you should be fine for any schools, cali included

im just so confused; medicine is something that really attracts me. i have strong interests in psychology, public health, and writing, which i hope would make me look unique to an admissions committee.

at the end of the day i know i have to be flexible and that everyone cant go to med school in california. im willing to attend any medical school, really. but i figure i should at least try for the best rather than giving up before starting.

any input would be greatly appreciated, bc im totally lost and have no idea what to do!!

I have really similar interest to you (public health, social sciences, writing, etc.) and I decided a policy degree made sense for me since I want to establish my interest in this area as part of my career - but there are many paths to do this, and since you are just starting out, I would recommend just doing a post bac first and seeing how you like it; while medicine sounds exciting, it isn't easy, and you really need to know what you are getting into...anyhow, good luck!

 

[njbmd]

The only reason to obtain a Masters of Public Health is that the degree and its subject matter is of interest to you. This is NOT a degree to obtain for enhancement of your medical school application for many reasons.

First, if you are not genuinely interested in the subject matter of an MPH, you won't do as well in the coursework and thus your GPA will suffer. A mediocre graduate GPA can be a "kiss of death" for application to medical school.

Second, if you are attempting to do "undergraduate GPA damage control" taking post-bacc courses are a better option. These courses will increase your GPA, provided you do well in them, and thus will help your medical school application if that is what you need.

Third, another credential enhancing option would be to do a Special Masters in Physiology as this type of program is geared toward individuals who need to "prove" themselves in terms of medical school admission. The downside of these programs are that they can be quite expensive. The AMCAS website has a section that lists the institutions that offer these degrees.

Finally, if you anticipate a career that requires an MPH then pursue it if that is your interest but don't pursue an MPH (or any other graduate degree) in an effort to "look good to an admissions committee".

 

[RxnMan]

1) just like the title of this post: is there any point in getting an MPH? i am truly interested in public health as a discipline and would love to work in it,...

If it's what you want to do, or if you think it'll help you in your career - e.g. you like epidemiology and want to write studies as well as be a doc. However...

...but am mainly looking at MPH programs as a way of showing med schools that i am truly interested in health issues. do med school admissions committees generable look favorably on MPH candidates or are they a dime a dozen who dont get any extra recognition?

No, you'll find here and elsewhere that getting grad degrees don't help you as much as doing a post-bacc or SMP. Grading in grad school, and the rigor of grad school is too variable for ADCOMs to make any comparisons between candidates.

3) another option i was looking at was a masters/PhD in something more career-focused, like clinical psychology. if i plan on going into psychiatry within the medical field (which i am), do you think this would be better?

This is on the order of above. Any grad degree (MBA, PhD, MS, etc) won't help you much.

 

[CaliDreamer]

*bump*

thanks for all your comments. i can understand all the points made here; an MPH is great but doesn't indicate anything about doing well in medical school courses.

for the record, though, i am truly interested in public health and am even considering interning in the field. if i were to do an MPH, it wouldnt be just to impress an adcom. that would be a plus, but id mainly be doing it for my own interest. however, if people here are saying that an MPH wont help at all and that it would be better to do it during/after an MD program, then ill take the advice.

it looks like the best thing to do then (if i need to do anything in addition to post bacc) is an SMP program.

im new to the forum and have been reading posts for a few days. im truly impressed with some of the stories ive read here, from people who have practically gone to the moon and back trying to get into medical school. on one hand its inspiring but on the other its very intimidating to someone like me who still has really only touched the tip of the iceberg. not only is it a huge commitment, but there are thousands of people willing to go through it for even a chance at becoming a doctor. someone said on here that being pre-med is a marathon, not a sprint. so true. keep it up, and i have faith that everyone will get what they deserve

 

[HrvatskiDoktor]

*bump*

thanks for all your comments. i can understand all the points made here; an MPH is great but doesn't indicate anything about doing well in medical school courses.

for the record, though, i am truly interested in public health and am even considering interning in the field. if i were to do an MPH, it wouldnt be just to impress an adcom. that would be a plus, but id mainly be doing it for my own interest. however, if people here are saying that an MPH wont help at all and that it would be better to do it during/after an MD program, then ill take the advice.

it looks like the best thing to do then (if i need to do anything in addition to post bacc) is an SMP program.

im new to the forum and have been reading posts for a few days. im truly impressed with some of the stories ive read here, from people who have practically gone to the moon and back trying to get into medical school. on one hand its inspiring but on the other its very intimidating to someone like me who still has really only touched the tip of the iceberg. not only is it a huge commitment, but there are thousands of people willing to go through it for even a chance at becoming a doctor. someone said on here that being pre-med is a marathon, not a sprint. so true. keep it up, and i have faith that everyone will get what they deserve

I just wanted to add to this discussion. I am just finishing an MPH in Maternal and Child Health/Epidemiology. There are so many reasons why I am glad that I did the two year program before medical school. There are so many things that you learn in the process, not just the classes, that will help make me a better doctor. I had many friends who were just finishing their MD's and doing the MPH in one year, and all they get are the hard Epi/Biostat's type of classes to help with research.

What you really need to do is to look at the different types of MPH degrees, decide what you want to use the MPH for and go from there.

I did have one admission's office tell me, "We like to try to get to students before they go for the MPH because it is not hard science." To which I replied with why I wanted to do the MPH first and she agreed with all of my points.

Sorry if this seems scattered or jumpy. I'm on a lunch break from work and trying to finish up really quickly. You can send me a private message if you have more MPH questions.

HD

 

[zeff]

CaliDreamer,
An MPH is designed to be a terminal professional degree, not a means to an end. If you are interested in public health, you should find a job in the field and try this for a couple of years--I believe admissions committees look more favorably on what you have done in public health than in what you have studied.
I did an MPH before I decided to go to med school, and I also worked for awhile both before and after the MPH in health policy fields, and I can tell you that during interviews, no one was interested in my MPH work (except to ask if I knew so-and-so at the school of public health where I went). Instead, they all wanted to hear about my work experiences and achievements.

I would advise you to hold off on picking up an extra degree just to get into med school unless you absolutely have no choice (i.e. a 2.5 gpa or soemthing).