MPH and Med School

[fawad25]

I really want to do my masters in public health and then want to apply to medical school. I was wondering if anyone else is in this situation? If so does anyone know the acceptance rate of those who do get a masters prior to applying to med school?? Any help would be greatly appreciated.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[julie29524]

Thats exactly what I did. During my interview, we got into a huge discussion about crisis management and health administration ( concerning Katrina, I am from Houston). It was great! I had a lot of insight and ideas from PH classes because my professer was the Director at City of Houston Health and Human Services. At the end, my interviewer said he was pleasantly surprised by my knowledge of such issues, because it is important for physicians to know more than medicine. I got my acceptance letter shortly after.

I doubt that there is statistics that the schools give out about this issue, but I am absolutely certain that its an advantage. I think you should go for it, and do a kick-ass job with your masters, make a 4.0, work with a professor, get something published, etc. etc. That way, you'll definately be noticed, and have so much more experience to talk about during the interview than a straight out of college student.

Also another thing, in my MPH classes, at least 1/3 are physicians. A lot of fellowships require the physicians to get a MPH. So if you get this done now, then when its time for your fellowship, you can just skip it and do other stuff, which is kinda nice.

Good Luck.

 

[kittyn]

Thats exactly what I did. During my interview, we got into a huge discussion about crisis management and health administration ( concerning Katrina, I am from Houston). It was great! I had a lot of insight and ideas from PH classes because my professer was the Director at City of Houston Health and Human Services. At the end, my interviewer said he was pleasantly surprised by my knowledge of such issues, because it is important for physicians to know more than medicine. I got my acceptance letter shortly after.

I doubt that there is statistics that the schools give out about this issue, but I am absolutely certain that its an advantage. I think you should go for it, and do a kick-ass job with your masters, make a 4.0, work with a professor, get something published, etc. etc. That way, you'll definately be noticed, and have so much more experience to talk about during the interview than a straight out of college student.

Also another thing, in my MPH classes, at least 1/3 are physicians. A lot of fellowships require the physicians to get a MPH. So if you get this done now, then when its time for your fellowship, you can just skip it and do other stuff, which is kinda nice.

Good Luck.

Do you know any good graduate schools in Texas that offers MPH? How competitive is it when it comes to being accepted to any graduate schools in Texas that offers MPH?

By the way, here is a quick info on me: As an undergrad at UH, I just declared Health as my major while trying to understand what I can do with this degree and trying to understand more about the Health field.

 

[zim]

Thats exactly what I did. During my interview, we got into a huge discussion about crisis management and health administration ( concerning Katrina, I am from Houston). It was great! I had a lot of insight and ideas from PH classes because my professer was the Director at City of Houston Health and Human Services. At the end, my interviewer said he was pleasantly surprised by my knowledge of such issues, because it is important for physicians to know more than medicine. I got my acceptance letter shortly after.

I doubt that there is statistics that the schools give out about this issue, but I am absolutely certain that its an advantage. I think you should go for it, and do a kick-ass job with your masters, make a 4.0, work with a professor, get something published, etc. etc. That way, you'll definately be noticed, and have so much more experience to talk about during the interview than a straight out of college student.

Also another thing, in my MPH classes, at least 1/3 are physicians. A lot of fellowships require the physicians to get a MPH. So if you get this done now, then when its time for your fellowship, you can just skip it and do other stuff, which is kinda nice.

Good Luck.

I'm trying to decide between an MPH program or a special masters program. The MPH would of course be useful, but the special masters program is designed to get you into medical school the following year. In your opinion would getting an MPH be better or doing the masters program because I do want to go to med school afterwards? I'd really appreciate any advice from anyone who has any to give.

 

[SmartAlek]

Do you know any good graduate schools in Texas that offers MPH? How competitive is it when it comes to being accepted to any graduate schools in Texas that offers MPH?

By the way, here is a quick info on me: As an undergrad at UH, I just declared Health as my major while trying to understand what I can do with this degree and trying to understand more about the Health field.

I'm not sure of the current rankings, but when I was applying (for Fall 2005), UT-Houston's school of public health was ranked number 12 nationally. With a major in health you may be interested in the MPH with a concentration in BSHE (Behavioral Sciences and Health Education) which is a program at all Public Health Schools (if I'm not mistaken). However you are not limited to this and may be interested in other areas of public health.

 

[SmartAlek]

I'm trying to decide between an MPH program or a special masters program. The MPH would of course be useful, but the special masters program is designed to get you into medical school the following year. In your opinion would getting an MPH be better or doing the masters program because I do want to go to med school afterwards? I'd really appreciate any advice from anyone who has any to give.

Hmmm....from what I understand a special Master's is designed to help you out in med school apps if you need help boosting your undergraduate record, right? I guess it all boils down to what you need. If you are going after the Master's with hopes of boosting your record then maybe the special masters is the route for you. however, i also believe that an MPH can only help and not hurt your app. So either choice is a good choice.

 

[kittyn]

I'm not sure of the current rankings, but when I was applying (for Fall 2005), UT-Houston's school of public health was ranked number 12 nationally. With a major in health you may be interested in the MPH with a concentration in BSHE (Behavioral Sciences and Health Education) which is a program at all Public Health Schools (if I'm not mistaken). However you are not limited to this and may be interested in other areas of public health.

Did you get accepted to UT Houston? Was it easy/difficult for you to get accepted into that school?

 

[SmartAlek]

Did you get accepted to UT Houston? Was it easy/difficult for you to get accepted into that school?

Yep I was accepted to UT-Houston but ended up attending another school. I dont know that it was necessarily difficult; I just applied. I tool the GRE, filled out the app w/ essay sent in 2 letters of rec and that was about it.

 

[cyperalz]

HI Kittyn,

If you have at least a 3.2/ GRE scores over 1100/ a great CV where you detail all of your work experience/ and tie in your interests will particular UT faculty, you shouldn't have a problem getting admission.

Also, there's a great loophole into UT: Apply to their certification program-- there's spring,summer, and fall admission and it's open to ANYONE. Also, since it's courses can be applied to an MPH (if you were to decide to pursue MPH there) it's like getting a head start to the MPH! And, if you excel in those courses (A's, B+s) then you're in!

I first applied to their certification program, made an A in the class, and did exactly what SmartAlex did and got a letter of admission 4 weeks later.

If you need any help, let me know.

Did you get accepted to UT Houston? Was it easy/difficult for you to get accepted into that school?

 

[julie29524]

Hi zim

I think either way will get you to med school if you work hard. So just get a piece of paper and write down the Pros and Cons of the 2 choices, don't forget to ask yourself: what do you really want?

here is what I know:
MPH programs ( those of Texas at least, research on out of state schools) not designed to be done in a year, the dean will laugh in your face. Special masters program that prepare you for med schools might be designed for a year, like those anatomy physiology masters that teach you to be TAs for 1st year med students. Time is always an issue for consideration, right?

Do you plan to be a physician who is involved in public health in the future? like physicians on advisery boards, city council, CDC, WHO, do any clinical research etc. etc. If you are, a MPH is inevitable, so might as well get it over with. Also, if you want to open up your own practice or manage a department someday, a MBA in Health Organization Management is useful.

So gather information and think about your goals before making the decision. But whatever you choose, do a kickass job at it.

good luck.

I'm trying to decide between an MPH program or a special masters program. The MPH would of course be useful, but the special masters program is designed to get you into medical school the following year. In your opinion would getting an MPH be better or doing the masters program because I do want to go to med school afterwards? I'd really appreciate any advice from anyone who has any to give.

 

[julie29524]

Hi kittyn

I think only two schools in Texas offers MPH, Houston and North Texas:
http://www.sph.uth.tmc.edu/
http://www.unt.edu/bmed/masters.htm

But Houston is Weird, it has satellite campuses in Austin, Brownsville, El Paso, and San Antonio, so some classes are ITV classes, one professor and 5 campuses, completely interactive, its kinda fun. So technically, you can get a degree from UTHSC HOUSTON-SPH and never set foot in Houston, lol.

Admission is not hard at all, 50% acceptance rate. I had a professor who was on the admissions committee, and one day we were chatting, and he tells me that their job is basically weed out people that doesn't care for public health, like some international applicants that only want to use this school as a bridge to pursue other interest ( to come to US on a VISA needs a job offer or acceptance letter, and acceptance letter is a lot easier ). They have to separate those international applicants from the ones that actually want to pursue global health for the good of their country. Since you are already in US, you are obviously not doing it for any reason other than wanting to study Public Health, so it wont be a problem.

Note: Yes, UTH has non-degree acceptance that lets you take classes without having a GRE score, but the max is 3 classes, so get your timeline straight.

There is all kinds of jobs the MPHs do. There are 5 divisions, and the popular careers of Epidemiology are research ( clinical trials, coordinate studies, publishing papers), work for the government ( track infections and disease rates, CDC, World Health Organization), work in hospitals ( infection control) etc.etc. I wish I knew more about the other 4 divisions.

Do you know any good graduate schools in Texas that offers MPH? How competitive is it when it comes to being accepted to any graduate schools in Texas that offers MPH?

By the way, here is a quick info on me: As an undergrad at UH, I just declared Health as my major while trying to understand what I can do with this degree and trying to understand more about the Health field.

 

[minerva7]

Hi zim

I think either way will get you to med school if you work hard. So just get a piece of paper and write down the Pros and Cons of the 2 choices, don't forget to ask yourself: what do you really want?

here is what I know:
MPH programs ( those of Texas at least, research on out of state schools) not designed to be done in a year, the dean will laugh in your face. Special masters program that prepare you for med schools might be designed for a year, like those anatomy physiology masters that teach you to be TAs for 1st year med students. Time is always an issue for consideration, right?

Do you plan to be a physician who is involved in public health in the future? like physicians on advisery boards, city council, CDC, WHO, do any clinical research etc. etc. If you are, a MPH is inevitable, so might as well get it over with. Also, if you want to open up your own practice or manage a department someday, a MBA in Health Organization Management is useful.

So gather information and think about your goals before making the decision. But whatever you choose, do a kickass job at it.

good luck.

I am actually in a similar boat. I am really interested in surgery. I think that a special masters would help me become a more competitive candidate for medical school. My gpa and scores were good, but not the best, and I had clinical experience. However, I had limited research experience. I'm not sure whether an MPH or a special masters might be more beneficial in strengthening my profile. Does anyone know?

 

[chula505]

I'm doing the same thing (MPH first and then MD, hopefully), although I'm at Emory right now. I just started applying to schools right now for the coming cycle. I don't know how it is going to help but so far, I think it's helped me answer some of the secondary questions about what I want to do in the future. Before going to Emory, I knew I wanted to be a public health doctor but I wasn't really aware of how many different options that leaves open. You can do research in public health through the CDC, you can work for the states in community health, you can work as a hosptial epidemiologist and there's even more! I also don't have the strongest background. I don't think the MPH necessarily fixes bad GPAs or MCAT scores or whatever, but I do think that if public health is something you are passionate about, it will show your committment.

 

[Meeoni]

Hi ,

I was wondering what I could do to increase my chances of getting into the Epidemiology Program at one of UT Houston schools of Health Science or any school at that.

Here a quick bio:

Classificiation: Senior
Major: Biology
GPA: 3.43
Activities: Secretary of a club

Thank You