MD/MPH students: when is the best time to pursue an MPH?

[MSI-Scrub]

I'm an incoming first-year medical student.

There are 2 things in particular that I would like to do prior to graduation. First, I want to pursue an MPH (Master of Public Health) in International Public Health ( I am interested in Internal Medicine-Infectious Disease). Second, I want to do this particular clinical research program overseas for med students that can only be done b/w 3rd and 4th year. It lasts 11 mos.

My 4 options as I see it:

1- MPH b/w 2nd and 3rd year (is it a good idea to have this gap b/w basic science and clinical years?)
2- MPH b/w overseas program and 4th year ( too much CONSECUTIVE time away from school?)
3- MPH between 4th year and residency (is it even possible to defer a residency?)
4-MPH after I begin practicing (perhaps part-time?)

Any suggestions about when the best time to take off and do this would be or any other options? By the way, my school does not have a public health school, so I'd have to go elsewhere.

Thanks alot

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[medlaw06]

Hey. My fiancee is in a similar program, but instead of doing the MPH, she did the MPA (Public Administration) since our medical school offers this dual degree also.


She did hers B/W her 2nd and 3rd years. She finished 2nd year and then took her Boards, and then started the MPA that August.

She finished and then came back to do her rotational years straight through.

It worked out really well for her!

Hope this helps!

 

[Sohalia]

Hey,
So I'm at Duke, where the 3rd year is our research year, and I used it to get a 1 yr MPH, then I'm going to take a 3.5 year of straight research. Taking 2 years off like this is done fairly often at Duke and it's not considered that big a deal. (People sometimes take a 2 yr MPH, do what I did, or get an MBA, etc.)

My little sister on the other hand is at Emory and she's doing a 1 yr MPH after her 2nd year (between preclinical and clinical). I've also met UNC students who have gotten 1-2 yr MPHs between their 3rd and 4th years (splitting up their clinical training, like me.)

While getting my MPH I met an ID fellow and a cancer research fellow (post IM residency) who were getting theirs as part of their fellowships. I believe if you do occupational health you can get an MPH during residency.

I think you should plan on doing whatever people from your school normally do. Duke has specific MPH tracks that they recommend for medical students, and it seems like Emory does too. It makes sense to do one of these because your school will know how to register you for your MPH courses, etc. Also be sure that you know how long it *generally* takes to do the track you choose, not just if it's possible to do it in a year. This will make a difference if your study program generally takes 2 years, and you were hoping to have time to take part of the boards or do a continuity clinic.

 

[dlung]

Two additional MPH options are:
1) combined residency program -- often Family/Preventive Medicine.
2) fellowship in research, int'l health, etc etc
Advantages are that you might have clearer goals and objectives for your MPH by the time you're in residency, and they pay for it.


Per your question about taking a year off b/w 2nd-3rd year. Uh, I've actually never met another MD/MPH who did it during med school (I'm the first at my school), so I haven't had the chance to compare experiences.

Several reasons I did it when I did. I figured once I started clinical rotations I wouldn't want to stop, which turned out to be true. My lecture attention span was about 30 minutes by the end of 2nd year (now 20 ), so I figured I'd better get the classwork out of the way. I also had some personal issues that made my 2nd year pretty rough, so although I was capable of continuing, the year break was invaluable.

Regarding the potential disadvantage of being behind once resuming clinical rotations. I can say that I felt pretty dumb at the beginning of third year, but I think everyone else did too (I think I still feel dumb, but maybe now I'm indifferent to it). Anticipating this, I worked at a family practice once a week during that year off, so as far as taking histories and physicals, I'd say I was at least a couple months ahead of most of my peers. But, they caught up pretty fast. Even if you do feel behind, just talk the pants off most med students' weak knowledge of health care policy and reform and you'll feel better about doing the MPH. If you're too nice to do that, when attendings talk about any non-clinical topic your nod will be one of critical evaluation rather than blind absorption (there's an obvious difference).


No easy advice for figuring out where to do your MPH. There are a number of 1-year programs (eg Harvard). But, there are also many 1.5-2 year programs (eg Hopkins, UTSA). I once knew a UCSD med student who took a year off between 3rd-4th to go to Harvard, but lost touch a year before she did it. You just have to look around.

Another important factor to look for is if the program requires a thesis or internship or both. Although it may take longer, you may be able to complete your thesis while you resume med school. Just the opposite, while you may be able to crank out the intership quickly, logistics may interfer with your resumption of rotations. If the school requires both, I doubt you could finish in 1 year. Of the schools I've mentioned, I believe Harvard and Hopkins require a thesis. UTSA requires both. Mine (Medical College of Ohio) required one or the other depending on major.


Well, good luck. Sorry for the long-winded response. Kind of a pain to sort out, huh?

-Derrick

 

[dlung]

oh yeah.

Just remembered that when I was thinking about when to take my year off, I was worried about how that would affect Step 2. I was concerned that if I were to take a year off between 3rd-4th years, I wouldn't have completed all my required rotations, and wouldn't be prepared to take Step 2. What no one could tell me 4 years ago is that you complete everything you really need for Step 2 by the end of 3rd year. Whatever 4th year requirements you have, even if they sound important for that test (eg Neurology in my case), really aren't.

 

[MSI-Scrub]

Your replies really cleared some things up for me. Thanks for the advice you all!

 

[tcomboi78]

I'm in the DO/MPH program at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine in Fort Worth. I'm currently taking a year off between the second and third years of medical school to complete my MPH requirements in Health Policy. At first, I was really concerned about taking a break between didactics and clinical rotations (would I forget everything I learned?) but after talking to students who did the same, its not a big deal. One thing you can do is volunteer at a clinic to keep your pre-clinical skills (history taking, etc) fresh and get some experience before rotations. I'm doing this just to keep 'thinking about medicien' during my year off. At my school, people take a year off between years 2 and 3, but it's between years 3 and 4 at alot of other schools. I like the former because I didn't want to be rusty at the beginning of 4th year, just when I'm tying to rotate at the place I want to do my residency... Just my 2 cents..

 

[DrMom]

The people I've known who were doing DO or MD/MPH basically took an MPH class each semester of med school and then finished up the degree in a year between MS2 and MS3. It really isn't that uncommon for someone to take that year and it doesn't appear to be detrimental.