Just More Schooling?

[odango]

From what I understand you take a SMP if you have low GPA.

But what I don't understand is what a MPH stands for or why you would do it.

Also, when would you just do a Masters Program? Is this the same or different as a Post-Bacc?

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[Perrotfish]

From what I understand you take a SMP if you have low GPA.

Generally a 2.8 - 3.3 (my guestimate range) and a high MCAT goes to an SMP

But what I don't understand is what a MPH stands for or why you would do it.

MPH is a masters in public health. Slight boost for medical school admissions, slightly larger boost for your residency apps 4 years down the line, and a very big boost for an Infectious Diseases fellowship or certain positions in academic medicine. If you just barely missed getting in to medical school (for example you had a 3.7 and a 31 but applied in december) a 1 year MPH program can be a good way to avoid wasting that extra year, and maybe slightly improve the quality of school you end up going to.

Also, when would you just do a Masters Program? Is this the same or different as a Post-Bacc?

Post-bac is just more undergrad classes, to raise your GPA. If you have a 3.3 (again, very rough estimate) or above this is probably your fastest way to medical school. Masters programs are graduate level work and, at least from what people have reported on SDN, don't have a lot of utility in terms of getting you into medical school. Very good for raising your salary if you don't go to medical school, though.

 

[odango]

Do you think that obtaining a regular Masters in any field (Biology, Chemistry, Physics) is any more difficult than the undergraduate courses that you took (pre-med curriculum classes)?

 

[Instatewaiter]

Usually masters classes are a much larger volume of information coming at you in a shorter period of time.

On SDN people always cut down grad classes as having grade inflation but that is not really the case. In grad school everyone is there to work and has gotten over their immature-not-going-to-do-work phase so instead of having a bunch of slackers like you would in regular college, they have all been weeded out.

While I did better in grad school than in college, I though it was more difficult.