*post bacc/masters/MPH/SMP?? i need ADVICE*

[CaliDreamer]

im graduating in 2008 with double degrees in psychology and english. i always went back and forth about what i wanted, and ultimately decided on medical school. since i wasnt a sci major, i have to take the premed prereqs somewhere else. these are my questions:

will the fact that i wasnt a sci major in college hurt me at all? or does it just matter that i do well in my post bacc? im thinking that my soc sci/humanities background will actually make me unique to adcoms, but im relatively new to the pre-med game.

how much will my undergrad gpa matter if i wasnt premed then?

when looking for a premed post bacc program, some are 1 year, some are 2 years (and tack an extra yr onto both for applying/interviews)...is there an added benefit with either program (an extra yr of coursework, or does it not make a difference?

Should I do a Masters? I'm wondering if another GPA in clinical psychology/neuroscience/any advanced science MS program will help and show my capabilities to med schools. some people have said that undergrad and masters is like apples and oranges, and that a grad GPA wont help that much in gaining admission to med school. is this true?

MPH? im truly interested in public health and if i dont get an MPH soon, ill get it during/after medical school. but would it be helpful in the application process to do it following my post bacc and before medical school? ive heard that an MPH doesn't hurt but that they are getting to be very common these days, and success in an MPH doesnt necessarily indicate success in med school, since the type of coursework is different. med schools want to see that you will do well in their courses (anatomy, immunology, etc), and doing well in biostatistics/epidemiology/global health courses doesnt exactly cut it. at least thats what ive been told. any thoughts?

SMP? from what ive read, SMP programs are what you make of them; if you do really well, it can help. if not, its a waste of time and money. should i do an SMP after my postbacc?

as you can see, im pretty confused about what to do. i feel like i need to compensate for not being a sci major in undergrad, and also i took a yr off for personal/family reasons in the middle of undergrad, so i dont have 4 full yrs of study. i may have to do a post bacc + something else to show something substantial.

comments/suggestions??

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[Dimoak]

I'm not an expert, but I'll try to answer your question as best as possible.

im graduating in 2008 with double degrees in psychology and english. i always went back and forth about what i wanted, and ultimately decided on medical school. since i wasnt a sci major, i have to take the premed prereqs somewhere else. these are my questions:

will the fact that i wasnt a sci major in college hurt me at all? or does it just matter that i do well in my post bacc? im thinking that my soc sci/humanities background will actually make me unique to adcoms, but im relatively new to the pre-med game.

Not being a science major will not hurt you, as long as you've completed all of the required pre-med courses. Most ADCOMs will not discriminate based on your major (in fact, many non-science majors gain medical school admission every year), but you are still responsible for your BCMP (Biology, Chemistry, Math, Physics) GPA, and if you didn't take any other science courses, your BCMP GPA will be based entirely off of the Pre-Med courses.

how much will my undergrad gpa matter if i wasnt premed then?

The medical school application service will calculate a weighted average of your undergrad GPA along with your post-bacc grades.

when looking for a premed post bacc program, some are 1 year, some are 2 years (and tack an extra yr onto both for applying/interviews)...is there an added benefit with either program (an extra yr of coursework, or does it not make a difference?

You will probably need to do atleast a 2-year program if you have yet to complete the Pre-Med courses. Most medical schools require atleast 2 semesters of General Biology and Chemistry, 2 semesters of Physics, a semester of Math (atleast at the Pre-Calculus level), and 2 semesters of Organic Chemistry. If you have yet to take a General Chemistry sequence, it will take atleast 2 years (or a year and a fairly intensive summer) to complete the pre-reqs as the year of Organic Chemistry is sequenced with a year of General Chemistry as a pre-req. In the 2nd year, however, you would also be able to take some upper-level Biology courses, which many med schools recommend. Taking General Bio, Chem, and Physics in the same semester can also be pretty intense for people without an undergrad science background, so many people prefer to do post-baccs over atleast 2 years anyway.

Should I do a Masters? I'm wondering if another GPA in clinical psychology/neuroscience/any advanced science MS program will help and show my capabilities to med schools. some people have said that undergrad and masters is like apples and oranges, and that a grad GPA wont help that much in gaining admission to med school. is this true?

This may help, however, if you have yet to complete the Pre-Med, it would probably be a good idea to get those out of the way before you start working on a Masters'. Alot of the people who generaly decide to enroll in an SMP or other medicine-related Masters' program have already completed the Pre-Med courses, but may not have done as well as they would have liked, and so may do the program in order to help strengthen their application.

MPH? im truly interested in public health and if i dont get an MPH soon, ill get it during/after medical school. but would it be helpful in the application process to do it following my post bacc and before medical school? ive heard that an MPH doesn't hurt but that they are getting to be very common these days, and success in an MPH doesnt necessarily indicate success in med school, since the type of coursework is different. med schools want to see that you will do well in their courses (anatomy, immunology, etc), and doing well in biostatistics/epidemiology/global health courses doesnt exactly cut it. at least thats what ive been told. any thoughts?

If you're interested in an MPH, I think you should go for it, however, if you have yet to complete the Pre-Med sequence of courses, you should consider doing that first while the whole undergrad approach to courses is still fairly fresh in your mind. Many med schools offer a dual MD/MPH program where you can earn both degrees concurrently.

SMP? from what ive read, SMP programs are what you make of them; if you do really well, it can help. if not, its a waste of time and money. should i do an SMP after my postbacc?

If you take the Pre-Med courses and find that you didn't do as well as you'd like, an SMP may be a good option to help bolster your application.

as you can see, im pretty confused about what to do. i feel like i need to compensate for not being a sci major in undergrad, and also i took a yr off for personal/family reasons in the middle of undergrad, so i dont have 4 full yrs of study. i may have to do a post bacc + something else to show something substantial.

You should try to get some clinical volunteering time at a hospital and/or shadowing a physician, as well as evaluate the cost (in both time and money) of taking the necessary courses and going through the application process. If you decide that this is really something you want to do, and you don't mind committing and working hard, then this may be the right path for you! Good luck!