MPH at Harvard

I was thinking about applying too, but I think they specify "advanced degrees" to be those beyond a bachelor's. So, boo for me. I'm not applying.

 

No, you're not qualified. However, take a look into their excellent M.S. programs in public health.

 

you're not qualified for any of their one year master's program. they do have 2 year master of science programs that you could apply to. if you want to know more about hsph, feel free to pm me.
they mean md, msn, etc... when they say advanced degree. the majority of the 1 year mph students are doctors.

 

Hi!
Although, I'm not in the Harvard M.P.H. program, I applied there last year and can tell you what I learned. First, to get the M.P.H., you need at least master's degree first. The other masters programs (which don't need a previous master's degree to apply) are first class, though. If you decide to apply, the most popular major is health and social behavior (by far - you have to be extremely qualified to get into it) I went up there for an open house, and they were very snotty- pretty much everyone i talked to walked out of there feeling stupid and out of place. There were people who had masters degrees, who had helped work on major public health projects, and who had even done significant work in third world countries who felt underqulified after talking to the representative. Also, if you're planning on doing an M.P.H. there before you go to medical school, that sends up a big flag for them. I spoke to a faculty member, who asked my future plans, and when I said I want to combine it with an M.D. to work in an underserved area, they told me flat out that it wasn't a stepping stone to get into med school. After that, she just turned and left. I'm sure once you get in, it's unbelievable, but that was my experience. hope it helps!

 

Just wondering, at what point do most of the doctors in the one-year program apply? Have they already completed residencies?

 

i don't understand this "one year" program dilly. at other schools that have MD/MPH programs that take 5 years... you basically take a year off to do MPH work and the *OTHER* year's worth of work you do throughout the other four years. You still do all the work - mind you a lot of your medical doctor electives will suffice for the MPH.

 

I don't know for sure what Harvard's reason for its policy is, but I can make a good guess.

Many premeds who have to improve their numbers try the MPH route. They are not necessarily, if at all, interested in Public Health itself. Harvard apparently does not want this kind of student in its MPH classes. MD/MPH is different: Harvard has to first accept you into its medical school class. Anyone acceptable to the Harvard medical school class is clearly not using the MPH as a stepping stone. This, whether my guess is correct or not, is perfectly reasonable and rational, not arbitrary at all. It presumably raises both the level of interest of the students and the level at which the class can be taught, benefits for both the lecturers and the students.

 

I can't really speak for other schools, but for Minnesota you can only do the 1-year program if you have a doctoral level degree (MD, PhD, PharmD, DVM, DDS, etc). You don't have do do quiet as many electives, and you have to take a higher courseload (usual is ~12 credits/semester, 1-year people usually do more like 16 credits/semester from what I've seen).

Minnesota now has an MD/MPH program - I believe you can ONLY major in a new thingy called Public Health Practice. Typically you do two years of med school supplimented with a small seminar course in public health each semester, then take a year off between the second and third years to get the bulk of your MPH work done. So far I'm not very impressed with Minnesota's MD/MPH program. In my experience 1 year is not enough time to really get a public health mindset (I'm sure the public health coursework during the first two years of med school helps, but I'm not sure how much), and I'm not sure the Public Health Practive major is something that should exist - I think they'd be better off just majoring in Epi.....but that's just my opinion at this point.