Master's degree before medical school?

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nckorfor

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Hi all,

I have two gap years and am considering getting and MBA in Healthcare, an MPH, or and MHA before I go to medical school. This is not necessarily to boost my application but to have more opportunity and leadership positions farther down the line. Which of the three would be best to pursue if any of the three or maybe a combination of the three (e.g. MPH/MBA dual)? Would it be worth getting these degrees online instead of in-person (not for med school but later on) at all?

And a side note I hope to work full time in a healthcare setting while I pursue this degree to get the clinical hours and show commitment, so it is not a question of doing the master instead of something else. On that vein, what would be best way to spend the gap years if I am doing an online masters in the background? Might be ambitious but hoping I can pull it off and that it will be worth it. Appreciate any guidance, opinion, and advice.

Thanks a lot.

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I have two gap years and am considering getting and MBA in Healthcare, an MPH, or and MHA before I go to medical school. This is not necessarily to boost my application but to have more opportunity and leadership positions farther down the line. Which of the three would be best to pursue if any of the three or maybe a combination of the three (e.g. MPH/MBA dual)? Would it be worth getting these degrees online instead of in-person (not for med school but later on) at all?

And a side note I hope to work full time in a healthcare setting while I pursue this degree to get the clinical hours and show commitment, so it is not a question of doing the master instead of something else. On that vein, what would be best way to spend the gap years if I am doing an online masters in the background? Might be ambitious but hoping I can pull it off and that it will be worth it. Appreciate any guidance, opinion, and advice.
What are your career goals and how will each of these degrees contribute to your reaching this goal? A MBA with a concentration in healthcare, MPH and MHA are all geared towards different things (though there is some overlap). Prior to pursuing an advanced degree, you should have a clear idea of what you're going to do with it (beyond something nebulous like having 'more opportunity down the line'); otherwise, you may be wasting your effort, money, and time just to pursue three extra letters after your name.

Other considerations:
- If you do choose to pursue an advanced degree while working, be careful to not overload your schedule. If you are in school, your academics should take priority. A poor performance in a Masters program is not a good look.
- There are many combined dual degree programs (MD/MBA, MD/MPH, MD/MHA + their DO equivalents) that may be of interest to you. You may also choose to take a gap year during medical school or residency to pursue these other advanced degrees. Completing your second degree at a later time may be more advantageous to your career as you will have more clinical experience under your belt and a better idea of where you want to end up, thus tailoring your Masters experience.
- Part (and some may even argue most) of the value of these advanced degrees is the networking opportunities they provide. Will an online Masters program allow you to make these same connections with your fellow students, speakers and teachers? I do not know the answer to this. Personally, if given the option, I would wait to have an in-person experience, but YMMV. Just my thoughts.
 
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To answer your two questions:

1) From personal experience of meeting physicians with MD/MBA and MD/MPH degrees: I believe an MBA would get you farther in terms of leadership experiences and job promotions in a healthcare setting like a hospital or private practice. I do not believe an MPH would be very valuable unless you really would like to get involved in community and public health-type medicine, but that's just my own opinion. I know two MD/MBA physicians. One of them works for a big hospital, and he has told me that getting his MBA was the best decision he made because it allowed him to understand the business side of medicine better and he was able to get promoted to higher positions on the administrative side. An MBA is a very respectable degree in the healthcare industry and broader society. If you want to propel your career, I would say to pursue your MBA. I am unsure about comparing an MPH or MHA though.

2) Getting the degree online would be fine. Our society is definitely more accepting of online degrees, and I do not believe anyone would look down on you for getting an online MBA versus an in-person MBA. At the end of the day, you just put that you have an MBA on your resume. There is no classification on your resume that would say "online".
 
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What are your career goals and how will each of these degrees contribute to your reaching this goal? A MBA with a concentration in healthcare, MPH and MHA are all geared towards different things (though there is some overlap). Prior to pursuing an advanced degree, you should have a clear idea of what you're going to do with it (beyond something nebulous like having 'more opportunity down the line'); otherwise, you may be wasting your effort, money, and time just to pursue three extra letters after your name.

Other considerations:
- If you do choose to pursue an advanced degree while working, be careful to not overload your schedule. If you are in school, your academics should take priority. A poor performance in a Masters program is not a good look.
- There are many combined dual degree programs (MD/MBA, MD/MPH, MD/MHA + their DO equivalents) that may be of interest to you. You may also choose to take a gap year during medical school or residency to pursue these other advanced degrees. Completing your second degree at a later time may be more advantageous to your career as you will have more clinical experience under your belt and a better idea of where you want to end up, thus tailoring your Masters experience.
- Part (and some may even argue most) of the value of these advanced degrees is the networking opportunities they provide. Will an online Masters program allow you to make these same connections with your fellow students, speakers and teachers? I do not know the answer to this. Personally, if given the option, I would wait to have an in-person experience, but YMMV. Just my thoughts.
thank you
 
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To answer your two questions:

1) From personal experience of meeting physicians with MD/MBA and MD/MPH degrees: I believe an MBA would get you farther in terms of leadership experiences and job promotions in a healthcare setting like a hospital or private practice. I do not believe an MPH would be very valuable unless you really would like to get involved in community and public health-type medicine, but that's just my own opinion. I know two MD/MBA physicians. One of them works for a big hospital, and he has told me that getting his MBA was the best decision he made because it allowed him to understand the business side of medicine better and he was able to get promoted to higher positions on the administrative side. An MBA is a very respectable degree in the healthcare industry and broader society. If you want to propel your career, I would say to pursue your MBA. I am unsure about comparing an MPH or MHA though.

2) Getting the degree online would be fine. Our society is definitely more accepting of online degrees, and I do not believe anyone would look down on you for getting an online MBA versus an in-person MBA. At the end of the day, you just put that you have an MBA on your resume. There is no classification on your resume that would say "online".
thank you
 
If it turns out full-time work is too much for you, consider part-time work. If your EFC is 4000 or less, check out your school's work-study program. If my understand of work-study is correct, you work, but the employer doesn't pay you, the government does. So to a clinic, you're basically a volunteer because they aren't paying you. They just sign a time sheet for the government to pay you. This is will be good, especially if you want to work for a clinic that doesn't hire part-timers because who are they to say no to someone wants experience that they're not paying?
 
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