Put Down That MPH Application: How to Reapply to Medical School the Right Way

[wwmmkk]

Saw this on SDN today. While the article is dripping with an eye-roll inducing level of elitism and disdain, I think it raises a really important point that med school hopefuls on this forum tend to ignore. Here's an MD/MPH saying what I've been thinking on this forum for years now: if you want med school to be part of your future path, don't do an MPH first.

Here's a link to the article and the full text below:

By Monya De, MD, MPH

Unsuccessful medical school applicants face a quandary. What to do next?

A popular option has been the master’s degree in public health. Students figured it was a way to spend a year doing something “health-related.” They could take off for medical school interviews, maybe write a paper or two. But the MPH is too easy a route. It is not enough. Here is what the MPH telegraphs: “I sat down for a year in easy to moderate difficulty classes and passed. I have a broad overview of public health.”

Note: none of this says “I have a new skill” “I have distinguished myself” or “I have made a significant sacrifice”. And the admissions committee already knows the student can pass easy to moderate classes—that is what a college diploma with a respectable GPA is for. The MPH is a *great* degree to get during residency or fellowship, when the program is paying for it, when it creates a needed break in residency, and when it can extend loan deferment in a time of financial need.

As a former admissions committee member at my medical school, I was well aware of the reality of application readers. These are tired physicians with young kids running around. They grab a few hours at the end of a long day, glass of wine in hand, to read students’ applications. They are looking for something to surprise and delight them, not “I took some more classes that were not that difficult.” [I have an MPH, but did it during residency].

They are looking to be impressed, to be startled out of the haze that settles over them after reading too many identical applications. And doing that does not have to involve $60,000 in tuition money, two years, and weak hamstrings from sitting in the library. There will be plenty of that later. If medical school is your goal, there are many ways to strengthen your application without taking two years of your life and adding significantly to the amount of debt you accumulate.

Applicants should figure out where the weak spots are in their applications. Weak science grades? Take one-off classes in physiology and biochemistry at the local community college instead of paying for another degree that is highly unlikely to be used enough to justify its expense. (The rare exceptions to never using your MPH include preventive medicine and running epidemiological studies as a faculty member).

Not enough volunteering? Unique opportunities abound. Teach ESL at a community center and learn Spanish yourself as you get to know the people there. Coach a sport in a low-income school district. Teach art in an assisted living home. Become a court appointed special advocate (CASA) for foster children.

Application too boring? Take up competitive bodybuilding. Then write an essay about lessons in human performance, discipline, motivation, and pushing your limits to be the best you can be. [Or: work in the office of a local congressperson fighting for access to healthcare].

Not enough medical experience? Become a medical scribe and see patients every day. Or do patient intake at a high-volume rural clinic or ER. The patients are guaranteed to be fascinating, and the experience will be impressive to big-city admissions folk.

Need to make money? Become a waiter or bartender. Write a personal statement about serving people from all walks of life, balancing multiple orders and keeping them all straight in your head (if you don’t think being a hospital intern is exactly like being a waiter, just ask any physician), and staying professional in the face of upset customers.

Admissions is a numbers game, and success means doing something the rest of those numbers are not willing or able to do. Applicants need to have an application unique enough that readers say, “Oh, yes, I remember the one who did…”. Find it, do it, and the chances of success increase markedly.

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[theKingLT]

Saw this on SDN today. While the article is dripping with an eye-roll inducing level of elitism and disdain, I think it raises a really important point that med school hopefuls on this forum tend to ignore. Here's an MD/MPH saying what I've been thinking on this forum for years now: if you want med school to be part of your future path, don't do an MPH first.

Here's a link to the article and the full text below:

This is not anything new. Adcoms on this forum almost always question a pre-meds intention to do an MPH because they know how unhelpful it is. The desire to pursue the degree persists out of stubbornness and misinformation. The exception I can think of off the top of my head is if you receive full COA scholarship and are legitimately interested in public health, then why the hell not

 

[Pudu2009]

There are some past members on this forum that did there MPH, worked for a year or two, and then went to medical school. But, there are far too many people here that think doing an MPH will help them get into med school. As adcoms have said countless times, it will not. All an MPH is is an EC, it will not make up for poor grades and/or test scores.

 

[wholeheartedly]

Yeah, I'm doing mine first because I had some funding and a legitimate interest and was not trying to pad my application to med school. It's been great and valuable experience, but I always recommend people do it later, after MD if truly interested and preferably with funding.