Osteopathic Medicine and Public Health

[PublicHealth]

I know this topic has been brought up before, but I wanted to resurrect it. Have any of the pre-DO/MD or current DO/MD students in these forums completed an MPH before applying to medical school? If so, did the fact that you had an MPH make a difference in your getting accepted/not accepted?

I think the osteopathic philosophy blends well with the prevention-oriented approach of public health, and was wondering if anyone else thinks likewise. I am currently pursuing an MPH, and plan to apply to medical school this summer. I find myself wanting to go the osteopathic route for the reason that I feel the curriculum would allow me to continue thinking preventatively and biopsychosocially about medicine and health.

Any comments?

PH

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[ez073323]

PublicHealth,

I know I wish I was an MPH... I know quite a few awesome then-applicants, now-acceptees who were MPHers. I wouldn't go so far as to say it will get you in, but I have no problem saying that it definitely can't hurt... Touro has a PA/MPH program that my friend is a part of the inaguaral class of, and I hope to see it expand such to allow their DO students to attain an MPH as well..

Brian Enriquez
[email protected]

 

[DrMom]

I'm one of 3 in my class of 88 with an MPH. I do think that it helped me a bit, but probably only when compared with other applicants with similar GPA/MCAT stats. Who knows.

I, too, feel that public health and osteopathic medicine fit together well. Even if I don't ever directly use my MPH, I'm glad that I have the background.

Funny sidenote: two of my current professors (family practice docs) were classmates of mine in the MPH program.

 

[eschauberger]

If I go to DMU next year I was thinking about doing the dual degree DO/MPH program and starting classes in the summer. I could get about 1/3 of them done. Has anyone else done this? Was it worth it, too hard? I was thinking about trying to do some research or something in Des Moines during the week if I did do this, is this gonna be too much? Also, I thought that MPH would probably be better than a MHA (Healthcare admin.) since it is a little more broad? Any thoughts?
-=Eric

 

[abw]

I don't think it was a deciding factor, but I think that being in an mph program was a + for me when I interviewed at nova. It really fits in with their philosophy of creating doctors for the underserved populations.

 

[PublicHealth]

eschauberger,

First of all, congrats on your acceptance to DMU!

The MPH and MHA are different degrees. You're right about the MPH being more broad. The MHA will prepare you for a career in health services management and policy, while an MPH will expose you to epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, social and behavioral sciences, and health administration. The beauty of an MPH degree is that it will allow you to specialize in practically any public health area. In short, you have decide if you want to learn about public health or health services management.

Hope this helps! Good luck with your decision!

PH

 

[Burly B]

Definitely, Definitely believe having my MSPH degree made a difference in getting accepted to some schools. I found that the schools I interviewed thought this was a huge plus. I really sold myself in this area as well during the interviews because it is something I genuinely want to practice in my future career as a physician. It is a nice complement with a D.O. degree.

 

[PublicHealth]

Burly B,

If you don't mind my asking, which schools looked favorably upon your MSPH degree? Also, how do you plan to incorporate your training in public health and osteopathic medicine in the years ahead?

Thank you!

PH

 

[Burly B]

Hi Public Health,

I can only speak for the schools I have interviewed. I do think Kirksville, Arizona, and TCOM were all interested in my public health background. I imagine all DO schools would consider an MPH/MSPH degree a plus to your application since PH addresses so many issues concerning prevention, sociology, environment, etc..

As far as my future in medicine and public health.....it is hard to say how it will play out. Nonetheless, I remain committed to public health and it will entirely depend on where I end up in practice. However, I would like to serve as a physician in a medically underserved area. There are future opps as a medical officer, CDC positions, health clinics etc.

Burly B

 

[Adcadet]

I only applied to MD programs, but you did ask about MD/MPHers

I'm finishing my MPH in Epi, and I'm definitely glad I did it. I think it may have helped a little bit, especially as I found time to take two upper-level bio classes to boost my GPA from undergrad (sortof typical pre-med classes, but also close enough to my public health interest that they counted as electives). There is one school which gave me an interview offer that I suspect would not have done so had I not been doing the MPH - their stats are a bit above mine but this school is known for looking for unique individuals. But the MPH definitely helped shape my future direction, and I think schools definitely saw that. I'm not sure if DO programs care more about MPH's than MD programs do.