Pros and Cons of using two gap years to get an MPH

[numbersloth]

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I'll be taking two gap years after college. While medicine is my end goal, I've also always also been interested in public health. I know some schools have MD/MPH programs, but since I'm taking two gap years I figure this could also be a time to get an MPH.

Has anyone here pursued this (or another masters during their gap years)? The main drawback as I can see, besides cost of course, is that I could also be using these gap years to get more research or volunteer experience. Besides that, are there any downsides?

 

[Goro]

The MPH will not make you a more attractive candidate.

 

[LizzyM]

On the other hand, many MPH students conduct population science research (epidemiology, health services, research, environmental/occupational health research, etc) which does count as research and is at least as relevant to medicine as the genetics of zebra fish. MPH students are required to have community health experiences that can pass for community service-- developing a health ed. curriculum for school kids, developing and conducting a needs assessment for a minority community, organizing health fairs, etc.

Not only are their more letters after your name but you should have a skill set that is in demand in medical school (and covered on the Step 1 exam: Biostatistics & Epidemiology) that will give you a leg up in understanding the literature and making evidence based decisions, and even designing, conducting studies and analyzing data. It is ideal if you can be involved in small projects while in school (some med schools require a thesis or similar research) to keep your skills sharp.

 

[numbersloth]

The MPH will not make you a more attractive candidate.

Yes I understand this. I would be pursuing a masters degree out of personal interest -- not trying to "game" the system.

On the other hand, many MPH students conduct population science research (epidemiology, health services, research, environmental/occupational health research, etc) which does count as research and is at least as relevant to medicine as the genetics of zebra fish. MPH students are required to have community health experiences that can pass for community service-- developing a health ed. curriculum for school kids, developing and conducting a needs assessment for a minority community, organizing health fairs, etc.

Not only are their more letters after your name but you should have a skill set that is in demand in medical school (and covered on the Step 1 exam: Biostatistics & Epidemiology) that will give you a leg up in understanding the literature and making evidence based decisions, and even designing, conducting studies and analyzing data. It is ideal if you can be involved in small projects while in school (some med schools require a thesis or similar research) to keep your skills sharp.

Thanks for this. I'm especially interested in the intersection of gene-environment interactions/environmental health, chronic disease epidemiology, and health policy. After my MPH, how much potential is there to get involved in these sorts of fields/projects as a medical student?

 

[wholeheartedly]

Thanks for this. I'm especially interested in the intersection of gene-environment interactions/environmental health, chronic disease epidemiology, and health policy. After my MPH, how much potential is there to get involved in these sorts of fields/projects as a medical student?

Since you are pursuing the degree out of interest, I'd say there's a lot of value for you. The cost is an issue, as grad school is ridic expensive, and there are opportunities to get it paid for later in medical training.

That said, I fall more in line with @LizzyM s thinking. If you just do the bare minimum to get the diploma it's probably not so impressive. If you make the most of your time, you can really get some valuable experiences. I'm finishing my MPH in Epidemiology now (worked fulltime while doing it). No regrets.

Cool things I've gotten to do while getting my degree:

volunteer at the student run free clinic for a couple years with the med, nursing, pt, dental, and pharm students

finagle my way into working on a cool clinical trial at my job that wasn't really a research job

do my field experience in the ED of a busy county hospital doing informed consent, data collection, patient interviews, and chart reviews for clinical research projects (also got a ton more shadowing in at same time)

serve as a grant reviewer for Ryan White HIV/AIDS program grants

student run ID journal club

network with cool docs to shadow and have as mentors

Masters thesis/research project

Learned a ton, much better critical thinker for it (made me look really good at my unrelated job)

So... I think I almost got my money's worth (tuition being ridiculous and all)



As for your second question, in med school it will be somewhat school dependent, but at a large academic medical center with a school of public health you should be able to participate in those interests.