ziffy 850 said:
I am a medical student who wanted to do a combined degree, but knew I didn't have the fire power to handle it. As a med student, my academic history is dismal and my boards suck, but I am getting through it with honors and high passes in my clinical years. Here is my question: should I put off my residency and get my mph first? Would that enhance my application or just make things worse? Any suggestions?
go for both!!
seriously, since you are already made up your mind on residency, i would suggest you try figuring out where the MPH fits in the "big picture" for your long term goals. it fits in perfectly for me because i am going into Pathology, and the epidemiology-biostats bit has got to help in any future research.
luckily, there are some schools which offer the MPH online, and the course work has to be completed over 4 years.i need 39 credits to be completed for the MPH at my university. that translates into roughly 5 credits a semester...which i am sure you can handle,given you are getting through the clinical years with "high passes and honors"
. but do consider that doing both means spending most of the time you have apart from the residency studying for the MPH,cause it is not an easy course.
if you want, another option(the one i am pursuing) is putting off entering your residency by 1 year, going to a school where the MPH is also offered online, and getting as many of the credits as possible within one year. then, you have 3 years left to get 17 credits(3 credits= 1 course per semester!!
). this will give you time to breathe a bit after med school, add an MPH to your resume which academic programs like, and also make sure clinical med is a career you want.further, after the 1 year there,some schools hold your credits for 8-10 years.that means you can finish your residency,2 fellowships,then complete the MPH..a long route,but possible nonetheless..
what i am saying is this- you have to be sure of how badly you want to do both.the details can easily be worked out,with a bit of imagination. there might come a time when you have to make the choice between MPH and residency, and your call then will be based on what you want more.i faced that as i had to study for my step3 as well submit LOADS of assignments before thanksgiving.
try to think along those lines before making your decision..
