MHA/MPH versus SMP

[wiiturtledove]

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Did anyone ask admissions if they value one over the other? SMPs and postbacs dont seem to be useful after getting into med school. But on the other hand a lot of doctors actually go back to get a MPH/MHA or are dually enrolled. I dont mind doing another year to get a useful master's degree. But if the SMP is more helpful in getting in, I guess I'd have to do the SMP, DO, and then MPH or MHA.

 

[JeetKuneDo]

Did anyone ask admissions if they value one over the other? SMPs and postbacs dont seem to be useful after getting into med school. But on the other hand a lot of doctors actually go back to get a MPH/MHA or are dually enrolled. I dont mind doing another year to get a useful master's degree. But if the SMP is more helpful in getting in, I guess I'd have to do the SMP, DO, and then MPH or MHA.

I think smp's and post baccs are more useful to get into med school, which is the reason people do them. The MPH is probably more useful down the road, but the drawback of that is that if your undergrad gpa is low, there getting good grades in that won't help bring it up.

 

[illegallysmooth]

The MPH does not demonstrate ability to perform well in the basic science curriculum of medical school. If you had a low sGPA, an MPH will not help.

 

[jkmph]

The MPH does not demonstrate ability to perform well in the basic science curriculum of medical school. If you had a low sGPA, an MPH will not help.

Just to correct the above posters, epidemiology (and maybe some other MPH concentrations) courses count towards your overall sGPA.

I dramatically improved my overall sGPA as an MPH-Epi student.

 

[illegallysmooth]

Just to correct the above posters, epidemiology (and maybe some other MPH concentrations) courses count towards your overall sGPA.

I dramatically improved my overall sGPA as an MPH-Epi student.

...they count epi in sGPA?

Either way, what I was trying to say is that if you haven't proven you can do well in bio, chem, biochem, physio, etc, a public health degree is probably not the *best* choice, as a post-bac or SMP will specifically address the problem.

 

[jkmph]

...they count epi in sGPA?

Either way, what I was trying to say is that if you haven't proven you can do well in bio, chem, biochem, physio, etc, a public health degree is probably not the *best* choice, as a post-bac or SMP will specifically address the problem.

Yes, it does.

I guess it depends on how far down the rabbit hole one is in regards to his/her science GPA. I was in a position where a marginal increase coupled with the rest of my application made me competitive. If the OP's sGPA is <2.8-2.9 then I'm inclined to agree that an MPH is not the best way to go if raising sGPA is the primary objective.

 

[Razmatazz]

Ya "epidemiology" is considered a science.

Columbias MPH in epi has courses such as:

Epidemiology II: Design and Conduct of Observational Epidemiologic Studies

and

Nutritional Epidemiology

So both of these would be considered "science" even though the 1st one is more of stats/research related course?

I guess "geology" courses would technically raise your science gpa as well, but when admissions look at your transcript, they will probably prefer upper year science courses.

 

[wiiturtledove]

My cum is 3.0. Sci is 3.2.

 

[jcrewtriathlete]

do the SMP/postbac, ideally a one year MS program (or certificate program). the reason why no one does the SMP after you get into/graduate med school is because SMPs are designed *specifically* to get you into med school - that's it. unless you end up loving the bench research component of some of these programs, and detour into a PhD program 🙂 it's better to get some kind of degree/cert for your efforts, or at least enroll in an "organized" pb curriculum instead of taking one or two classes on your own. the point of these programs is not only to strengthen science background, but to prove to schools that you can hang tough with a full load.

aamc has a bunch of these listed on their website.

it's going to sting more than an MPH program, but there's no better way to bring up your sGPA and prove to an Ad Com that you can handle MS-1 coursework. good luck!