MPH and MD school

[tooth decay]

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Does it make any sense for a post bacc student to enroll in an MPH degree program to boost the GPA prior to applying to medical school?

 

[235009]

nope. grad school won't boost your undergrad GPA

 

[tooth decay]

Rewording the question, does it make sense to do well in an MPH program as a way toward admission into medical school?

 

[ChairmanMao]

Rewording the question, does it make sense to do well in an MPH program as a way toward admission into medical school?

Sure, do well in any graduate program (4.0) and it'll enhance your application. Key is that you have to have passion in it and not merely do it to pad your resume.

 

[mezmerized7]

I think some schools may look on that more favorably more than others. It depends on the medical school and how well you do in the MPH program (and perhaps where you did the MPH).

 

[235009]

Rewording the question, does it make sense to do well in an MPH program as a way toward admission into medical school?

it always "makes sense" to do well in any academic endeavor ....but seriously if your undergrad GPA is low getting a 4.0 in an MPH program isn't going to make up for that.

how low are we talking btw? 3.0 or 3.3 or 3.5 territory?

 

[Wiingy]

Does it make any sense for a post bacc student to enroll in an MPH degree program to boost the GPA prior to applying to medical school?

I also have a moderate to low GPA (3.5ish) and will be completing an MPH before med school, if I decide to apply. It will not boost your undergrad GPA, but the more time you spend after undergraduate, the less that your uGPA matters. This is not to say that the schools will forget about it, but with a low uGPA, and upward trend, and excellent master's grades as well as rec letters, you can make a strong argument for personal growth and being in a more mature place. Don't think of an MPH as what you need to boost your GPA - I'm enrolling in one because infectious disease/epi is the type of medicine that I see myself in in the future. If you don't like the field, you won't do well, and you'd take a spot away from someone who wants to make it their career. The MPH is something I would have done after med school as well, I just moved it to before so that the timing works better.

 

[LizzyM]

MPH won't help your uGPA and won't count toward sGPA. The field work generally done in public health school might look good as an EC. The drawback to doing MPH before MD rather than after is that your fund of knowledge is less (you don't have a context in which to place what you've learned) and the time spent in med school may lead to a deterioration of the skills acquired in public health school (you are more likely to immediately use your skills if the MPH is concurrent with or after the MD).

That said, a few dozen (a few hundred??) MPHers get admitted to med school each year.

 

[235009]

The drawback to doing MPH before MD rather than after is that your fund of knowledge is less (you don't have a context in which to place what you've learned) and the time spent in med school may lead to a deterioration of the skills acquired in public health school (you are more likely to immediately use your skills if the MPH is concurrent with or after the MD).

the same can be said for the reverse situation. having an MPH before med school helps you place your medical education in context. i think it could be possible to keep what you've learned in public health sharp throughout medical school ...either over the summers of first and second year or during the epidemiology/biostats classes which many med schools have and which you would inevitably breeze through.

one thing to take into account though is that most public health programs are 1 year long if you do it during/after med school and 2 years if you do it before. so that can be a advantage if you look at it in terms of absolute time but it could be an disadvantage since the 1 year curriculum assumes you have way more background than you actually get in med school and the 2 year curriculum allows you to explore the field outside of class more thoroughly. another drawback to doing the MPH before med school is that you might be able to get into a better public health program after med school than before.

 

[Law2Doc]

Rewording the question, does it make sense to do well in an MPH program as a way toward admission into medical school?

Actually, of the graduate paths you could do to boost admission chances, an MPH is one of the worst paths. This is because med schools regard MPH courses as "soft" sciences, rather than hard ones. As mentioned above, grad GPA doesn't boost undergrad GPA either. Finally, in general, most graduate degrees are basically weighed in as good ECs, rather than academic credentials. It's nice if you have one, but not enough to turn the tides of admission.

People tend to ask about MPH because it seems like an easy way to bolster credentials because it's just one year and not that heady. But for much of the same reasons med schools really don't get excited about this degree. I'm fairly sure I got more mileage with my JD than most people got with their MPHs. Your undergrad and postbac are going to generate the GPA med schools will look at. If you need that extra something on top of that, an SMP is much higher yield. If you are looking at the MPH to bolster med school admission, rather than because you genuinely want to work in public health, I wouldn't bother.

 

[URHere]

As others have said, going through an MPH program really won't increase your admissions chances drastically, because it will not effect your GPA in a way that admissions are concerned with.

However, several of my current classmates came into medical school with MPH degrees under their belts (I know at least 3 who completed the degree last year), and they do have some advantages over the rest of us. Most medical schools teach a substantial amount of epidemiology, and much of that information is covered on the boards. People who have already learned epi in great detail, generally have an easier time with it the second time around, giving them more time to study for other classes, etc. Is it a huge advantage? Probably not, and it certainly won't overhaul a poor application in the eyes of the admissions committees, but it is something. If you want an MPH for yourself then go for it, or apply to MD/MPH programs. Even if it doesn't help you get into to medical school, there's no reason to write it off.

 

[Law2Doc]

As others have said, going through an MPH program really won't increase your admissions chances drastically, because it will not effect your GPA in a way that admissions are concerned with.

However, several of my current classmates came into medical school with MPH degrees under their belts (I know at least 3 who completed the degree last year), and they do have some advantages over the rest of us. Most medical schools teach a substantial amount of epidemiology, and much of that information is covered on the boards. People who have already learned epi in great detail, generally have an easier time with it the second time around, giving them more time to study for other classes, etc. Is it a huge advantage? Probably not, and it certainly won't overhaul a poor application in the eyes of the admissions committees, but it is something. If you want an MPH for yourself then go for it, or apply to MD/MPH programs. Even if it doesn't help you get into to medical school, there's no reason to write it off.

I wouldn't consider it "a substantial amount" -- eg I think my med school spent 2 weeks on epi. And it was perhaps the least complicated thing to pick up for the tests and boards. As I mentioned above, it's a "soft" science. You are better off taking a good stats course if you aren't planning on public health.

 

[235009]

People tend to ask about MPH because it seems like an easy way to bolster credentials because it's just one year and not that heady. But for much of the same reasons med schools really don't get excited about this degree. I'm fairly sure I got more mileage with my JD than most people got with their MPHs.

correction: if you do not have a higher degree (MD or PhD) or significant (2 years or more) full time work experience in the field then the vast majority of MPH programs are 2 years (i think for everything other than health policy, which at my school was 3 semesters long) . you wouldn't be qualified to apply to the one year programs at harvard or JHU and the few one year programs available are not well regarded or are of highly questionable value (dartmouth....to which i was accepted and am now really glad i turned down).

also, i dont think it should surprise anyone that you got more milage out of your JD....in general: any doctorate degree >>> any master's degree

 

[URHere]

I wouldn't consider it "a substantial amount" -- eg I think my med school spent 2 weeks on epi. And it was perhaps the least complicated thing to pick up for the tests and boards. As I mentioned above, it's a "soft" science. You are better off taking a good stats course if you aren't planning on public health.

Our school spent months on epi in our clinical skills course - November-March (one afternoon/week). Perhaps it was more useful at my school than it would have been at yours, but I'm just throwing it out there.