Masters in medical microbiology before med school

[jfar18]

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I am a college senior considering applying to masters programs before medical school.
My interests are in microbiology and infectious disease, and while I am fairly certain that medical school is eventually the way I want to go, I am not quite ready to stop studying microbiology for 4+ years.
I am particularly interested in applying to medical/clinical microbiology masters programs. There doesn't seem to be many (if any) such programs in the US, but there are several that look interesting in the UK.

My question is: is it worth the money to attend one of these programs (upwards of $40k when all is said and done)? I think the coursework and research would be fantastic, and as the programs are often affiliated with the university's medical school, I could potentially get some insight into another country's medical system.

Any insights?

 

[alpinism]

You do realize that you'll study medical/clinical microbiology in med school? It takes up a huge chunk of M2 year at most schools. You also spend a ton of time learning to apply it on rotations during M3. Not to mention ID rotations during M4. You can do micro research in med school too.

If you want the research experience that's fine, just realize much of the coursework will be redundant with med school.

 

[CarlosDanger]

Don't go into debt for it, but it could be cool if you can get a funded spot. You'll be up to your eyeballs in debt for med school, so no reason to start early. If you're interested in research you could always take a year during med school if your program allows or apply MD/PhD.

If you need a GPA boost, thats a different story I guess