Would an MPH help your chances for getting into med school? compensate at all for a lower gpa?
Mph Before Med School
- Thread starter Hima
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Hima said:
I got my MPH and worked for 3 years after undergrad, and it worked out well for me- got in to the school I wanted and such. I didn't have the greatest GPA (3.1 undergrad), but more than anything I wanted some experience- so between the MPH and the work in the medical field, I really think the few years off helped.
It also helped me to be SURE about the choice to go in to medicine.
Also, I have a few teachers and friends w/ both the med and MPH degrees, and they all say it gives you more choices in the end. Many go in to teaching or administration.
The MPH can also help with some first year classes- I found it helpful many times because I had seen infectious diseases/statistics/environmental health problems before and we discussed them in class during my 1st year.
I hope that helps a little, and good luck
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Hey, I'm getting my MPH at Georgia State University right now and I LOVE IT! And from talking to some of the ADCOMS and their members, it's really looked upon favorably. The fact that you have an undergrad degree and you're doing well in advanced degree classes seems to be the helping hand. Hope this helps a little.
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By no means does it erase a poor undergrad performance, and it can be obvious when somebody does an MPH just to get into med school (which is not looked upon favorably). But an MPH can give you a great background for many things in medicine, and can help you do things with your MD degree that would be much harder without. I'm not sure how adcoms look upon the MPH GPA - I'm sure some are impressed if you knock out a bunch of A's, and I'm sure some figure that it's easy coursework and shouldn't erase all those C+'s you got in O-chem (rightly or wrongly).
thanks for the advice! I know my undergrad gpa is going to haunt me for years..its pretty unfortunate..makes me bite my tongue, and slap myself silly for hours..but nonetheless.
dockatie09, if you don't mind me asking, what med school do you go to?
dockatie09, if you don't mind me asking, what med school do you go to?
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Ditto to everything - also note that the breadth of your MPH curriculum (i.e., your area of specialty) is important in how adcoms look at your application.
It's wonderful if you have straight A's in health education classes, but the equivalent grades in epidemiology/infectious diseases/environmental health/toxicology courses may hold much more weight. In addition, many of the MPH courses would not be counted as a part of your BCPM GPA. So, whatever you choose, think about how challenging the nature of your curriculum will be (with the sciences quite possibly being near the top of your list).
Best,
H&T
It's wonderful if you have straight A's in health education classes, but the equivalent grades in epidemiology/infectious diseases/environmental health/toxicology courses may hold much more weight. In addition, many of the MPH courses would not be counted as a part of your BCPM GPA. So, whatever you choose, think about how challenging the nature of your curriculum will be (with the sciences quite possibly being near the top of your list).
Best,
H&T
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I have my MPH too and it can help you somewhat in the application process - help you stand apart from other applicants but I don't know if it is what will get you in. A comment I actually got from one of the schools I was rejected from was that - although I did very well in my MPH classes (and I was epi), I didn't have enough hard sciences mixed in with it. So if I had to do it all over again I would've taken the advice of my pre-med advisor while getting my MPH to take some upper level biology classes at the undergrad or nursing school while I was there. Something you may want to keep in mind. But I was asked about my degree and experiences with it during interviews so it does capture attention. Good luck!
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Good advice about taking some "harder" science classes. I took toxicology and virology, both of which counted towards my degree, but also looked like hard science classes (virology definitely was "hard science", toxicology was borderline).
My MPH definitely helped me get into med school. However, I got my MPH because I was really interested in public health, and it did help validate my desire to go into medicine. A MPH wont make up for horrendous grades, but it certainly can help a marginal application.
My app.
http://mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=922
Oh yeah, my MPH was in infectious diseases so it was relevant to medicine.
My app.
http://mdapplicants.com/viewprofile.php?id=922
Oh yeah, my MPH was in infectious diseases so it was relevant to medicine.
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I'm highly considering going for my MPH first and then med school but I am still missing pre-req classes from undergrad needed for med schools. Unfortunately, I cannot afford to not work or work part-time. I was considering taking the MPH classes and pre-req classes in addition to con't working fulltime but feel (and know) that it's impossible. My major concern about all the classes that I still need to take is that I won't get out until I'm 50!
