Pre-Vet looking to pursue MPH

[wildcatwilly]

Hi there,
I am new to this site. However, it seems like a very friendly place for people to share thoughts and experiences with each other. I have a couple of questions that perhaps some of you may be able to help me with.

Briefly about myself: I am a pre-vet student that has spent the last two years working at a small animal hospital while also successfully completing a post-bac pre-medical science program. I thought I wanted to go to vet school, however, after my expereince at the animal hospital I've come to the realization that veterinary medicine is likely not where my true interests and strengths are. I've learned that I much prefer working directly with people. I enjoy informing pet owners about disease prevention and education for better care of their pets and as a result I can see myself becoming passionate about educating and reaching out to people about ways to better care for themselves. Thank you all in advance for any thoughts and feed back. My questions are as follow:

1. Is is possible to sucessfully gain admission into Social and Behavioral Sciences MPH programs with veterinary medicine experience/ no direct expereince in Public Health as it directly pertains to humans?

2. How important is it to have PH work experience vs. standardized test scores? And, how heavily are standardized test scores weighed in the admissions decision?

3. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to craft a decent personal statement that can explain a transition from veterinary medicine to PH? Or,
should I just write about my veterinary medicine experience and how it involves great interaction with humans/pet owners?

Thank you again!!

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[Generals]

1. Is is possible to sucessfully gain admission into Social and Behavioral Sciences MPH programs with veterinary medicine experience/ no direct expereince in Public Health as it directly pertains to humans?

2. How important is it to have PH work experience vs. standardized test scores? And, how heavily are standardized test scores weighed in the admissions decision?

3. Does anyone have any thoughts on how to craft a decent personal statement that can explain a transition from veterinary medicine to PH? Or,
should I just write about my veterinary medicine experience and how it involves great interaction with humans/pet owners?

Hi there!
I have to say, I thought your statement of interest in public health was one of the most compelling to be made on this board in quite a while! Expanding on that should be an interesting read for any admissions committee. To answer your questions:
1) Most people who go to schools of public health have little or no direct public health experience. Having some knowledge of humans and/or healthcare is generally sufficient. Your work in a medically-related field will be very informative and will be helpful to your application.
2) I think PH work experience (in the sense that you have had it, not that you lack it) would be considered more important to most admissions committees than standardized test scores, but in the end, neither is make-you-or-break-you. Doing well on the tests will help to round out your application. As I said above, most people don't have PH work experience; having any work experience at all (which it sounds like you have) is beneficial, though. In the end, I think a great personal statement can work wonders!
3) I think a personal statement that explains your transition from veterinary medicine to PH would be great. I wouldn't necessarily go into great detail about your desire to go to vet school, but explaining a general progression of your thoughts will be compelling. That is essentially what I did (I had had an interest in medical school and had done some EMTing and research): I took the reader through my experiences and showed how my experiences had led me to believe public health would be the best next step toward achieving my goals. Not to brag, but that worked very well for me, as I got into all of my schools!

Good luck with your apps!

 

[wildcatwilly]

Dear Generals,
Thank you for your response and words of encouragement!!

 

[Demas567]

I have to say, I thought your statement of interest in public health was one of the most compelling to be made on this board in quite a while!

Yea, most of them here are "will an MPH help get me into med school?"