MPH? Program matriculating into Med School

[blee321]

I've been accepted into Ross but I just found out that as for St. Georges I have two options. I can either "resit the MCAT and take 3-4 upper/graduate level courses in the biomedicalsciences to then be reassessed for the August 2005 MD program or, two, you may opt to begin the MPH track to MD program with us in June of this year.With this you would complete a one-year MPH program and should you obtain a 3.5 GPA at the end of the program you would be promoted to the School ofMedicine in August of 2006." What should I do? I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with St. Georges MPH program or if I should just forget about St. Georges and go with Ross which would put me imediately into a Med Program.

Sincerely
Brian

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[PKP719]

I've been accepted into Ross but I just found out that as for St. Georges I have two options. I can either "resit the MCAT and take 3-4 upper/graduate level courses in the biomedicalsciences to then be reassessed for the August 2005 MD program or, two, you may opt to begin the MPH track to MD program with us in June of this year.With this you would complete a one-year MPH program and should you obtain a 3.5 GPA at the end of the program you would be promoted to the School ofMedicine in August of 2006." What should I do? I was wondering if anyone had any experiences with St. Georges MPH program or if I should just forget about St. Georges and go with Ross which would put me imediately into a Med Program.

Sincerely
Brian

its that competitive to get into SGU ? eek , i am scared now

 

[skypilot]

Don't waste your money on an SGU MPH.

If you want an MPH then get it (or another masters degree) in the US then reapply to US med schools with SGU as a backup plan.

 

[Dr Who]

In my opinion if I had to choose I would take a year and repeat some of my classes where I didnt do too well AND retake the MCAT. If I do good I would then have the realistic option of applying to US allopathic med schools. Many schools in the US look favorably on peopl retaking the MCAT, it shows persistance and dedication.
Doing an MPH that you dont want anyway only serves to fatten St George's bank account and nothing else. I say that because I decided to take an extra semester to repeat some classes (C's) before I took the MCAT and it helped tremendously. I am now finishing an MPH in Epidemiology and have acceptances to 5 med schools so far, although I already made up my mind where I want to go.
A bit of advice (its free ), if you pull up your GPA to respectable levels (~3.45) and do ok on the MCAT (>25) you would be in a reasonably good position to apply to certain med schools (Drexel, Ponce, Vermont, etc). The most important thing to remember is that they are US ACCREDITED schools and that beats St Georges any day (although I dont take anything away from IMG's).
St Georges is a good school and does its best to help its students. Ask yourself this, is it worth owing more than $150,000 in loans (even more if you decide on the MPH) and having a hard enough time getting into competitive residency? If you are going to spend so much money on an MPH you dont even want then consider taking one year more to become a stronger candidate for a US school. You wont get into a top 10 school, but who cares?

 

[Dr Who]

Don't waste your money on an SGU MPH.

If you want an MPH then get it (or another masters degree) in the US then reapply to US med schools with SGU as a backup plan.

Skypilot hit the nail right on the head. Unless you planned on going to St Georges from the beginning, always try first a US school. I dont know what your GPA or MCAT scores are but try for a US school first, St Georges should be your back up. No need to complicate your life any more as a med student by taking the IMG route unnecesarily.
Remeber where you go to med school is NOT as important as where you do your residency. If two med students (IMG, US) compete for the same residency with exactly the same stats, the US student will almost assuredly get the nod. Doesnt sound nice, especially on an IMG forum but its the truth.