Mph

[Chloe29]

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Hi guys, I was wondering if anyone here has pursued a masters in public health before entering dental school, and if it helped them get in. I decided to work towards my MPH after undergrad bc I knew my GPA was too low for d schools. However, when I call some schools they are telling me that I should have gotten an MS instead. The admissions lady at Nova told me "Why get an MPH? Who gave you that silly idea?"

Do you guys think it will really matter? Don't they just want to see a curve of improvement in my grades? Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[ingemar]

It's cool that you got your MPH. I did the same. The thing about the MPH is that it's really not a program that will rectify poor grades, but the degree itself is a million times more useful that an MS. Getting your MPH is like specializing before you even go to dental school. You learn about everything you need to know to be an excellent health care provider in America's messed up health care system.

Dental schools like the degree too. During the interview you can talk intelligently about public health issues, cite statistics and famous papers on different subjects. You can include lots of public health talk in your application essays. Also, do some research in dentistry and public health for your MPH. That looks way better than sitting in a lab all day running gels for your MS.

 

[vhh007]

I know several people with MPH degrees and they all love their job and find it very rewarding. in terms of helping show an adcom you can do well in classes is another story because you won't be taking any "hard" science classes. that's the only disadvantage I can see about doing this type of program and applying to dental school. Then again if the whole dental thing doesn't work out it shouldn't be hard to find a job with the MPH

 

[jeezy]

i was looking into MPH and BMS. But i didnt major in bio so I thought it would be most useful/cheap to take non-degree classes like biochem, microbio, ...

But if i were to choose between them, I would prefer a MPH because it complements a dental education. I called schools and they preferred a BMS, mostly because many of the classes are the same ones you will take in Dschool.. so they see that you can handle the course work.

its not really a question of was it a waste, they are asking about something you spent 1 or 2 years on and you should have a better answer than 'to raise my gpa'