Special Masters Programs or MPH?

[seabreeze811]

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Hello,

I am trying to apply to some masters programs this year b/c i want to bring up my gpa first (since my undergrad gpa is 3.3) before i apply to any medical school. I am a little confused with which programs i should apply to. Should i apply to those special masters program that are typically 1 year (i.e. Boston Univ, georgetown, Finch, Loyola Chicago) and are structured to take actual medical school/medical science courses, OR should I apply to Masters in Public Health (@ Boston Univ, NYMC , UCLA)???

Whatever program I choose, I want to do well in, but will either program help my application when I applyto medical school? I heard from a post-bac advisor from UCI that med school admissions do not look upon students with a degree in MPH favorably because they know it was easy to do well. Is that true? Which program will medical schools favor or would like to see if an applicant needs to redeem herself academically? HELP !!!

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[Fusion]

If you want to increase your chances of getting into medical school, go to a special master's program like the ones you mentioned. Taking actual medical school classes is the best thing you can do. An MPH certainly won't hurt, but as far as demonstrating your aptitude for rigorous science coursework, you can't go wrong with a graduate program in medical sciences, biomed sciences, applied physio, etc. Just make sure you are ready to work harder than you ever have in your life. If you can bust a$$ for a year and finish one of those programs with an awesome GPA (3.5), you just did yourself a huge favor as far as getting into med school goes. An MPH will make you more well-rounded, but won't do much to show how much you want to go to med school.

 

[azcomdiddy]

If you want to work for the CDC or practice preventative medicine, get your MPH. If you could care less about the MPH and are using it just to get into medical school, then don't get the MPH. It's a waste of time because most adcoms don't consider the MPH to be very rigorous when compared to masters programs, special masters and postbac. If your GPA is low, you aren't helping your case by completing a degree that most adcoms consider to be easy. That would be like telling an undrafted football player to play in the pee wee league if he wants to impress NFL scouts. It ain't happenin! I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule and some MPH programs are very challenging. The problem is that you won't get the benefit of the doubt unless you got your MPH from Harvard or some other prestigious name. The only MPH people that got into medical school all had amazing MCAT scores. I doubt they would have gotten a sniff if their MCAT was anything but spectacular.

 

[RedRiddinghood]

If you want to work for the CDC or practice preventative medicine, get your MPH. If you could care less about the MPH and are using it just to get into medical school, then don't get the MPH. It's a waste of time because most adcoms don't consider the MPH to be very rigorous when compared to masters programs, special masters and postbac. If your GPA is low, you aren't helping your case by completing a degree that most adcoms consider to be easy. That would be like telling an undrafted football player to play in the pee wee league if he wants to impress NFL scouts. It ain't happenin! I'm sure there are exceptions to the rule and some MPH programs are very challenging. The problem is that you won't get the benefit of the doubt unless you got your MPH from Harvard or some other prestigious name. The only MPH people that got into medical school all had amazing MCAT scores. I doubt they would have gotten a sniff if their MCAT was anything but spectacular.

I think your completely wrong with your ideas and thoughts about MPH. If you really looked into the study of public health, you would see that it and medicine are one of eachother. If you can't see that, or want to learn that, then you probably better off with a scientific masters program. Rigor has nothing to do with it. Your decisions in life speak for themself, and medical schools will see that, did they, A) want to learn about the reality of health in the lives of patients B) study all they can about cells ...
Just some thoughts.

 

[scooter31]

Do what you love, love what you do. There are many ways to accomplish this while making yourself a better prepared/ more well rounded applicant- what fits your situation best? Which one, looking back 5-7 years later, post med school graduation, will you think was worth the time, money, and effort? Which one may help you get into the med school/residency of choice in the state of choice? There are plenty of options out there, and certainly many opinions on SDN of which will be the best fit-- the search button is your friend! Good luck, from another non-trad/post-bac'er SDN'er.

 

[davematthews]

is your science gpa low?? if so. you answer your own Q. Ask an admissions officer.

Do what you love, love what you do. There are many ways to accomplish this while making yourself a better prepared/ more well rounded applicant- what fits your situation best? Which one, looking back 5-7 years later, post med school graduation, will you think was worth the time, money, and effort? Which one may help you get into the med school/residency of choice in the state of choice? There are plenty of options out there, and certainly many opinions on SDN of which will be the best fit-- the search button is your friend! Good luck, from another non-trad/post-bac'er SDN'er.

 

[benelswick]

I think for me the decision would be to go with something like the Finch Program--depite that my interests would naturally be in the MPH curriculum. In an ideal world we could all just skip down whatever path we wanted to and still end up in the right place and while esoterically this is perhaps true in the realm of the medical school admissions game you have to be practical. As such, in my opinion, there is no better option that to climb into the ring with first year med students and demonstate your ability to hold your own--in terms of getting an acceptance. If I was in my 20's I might consider going my own way but I'm looking at applying at age 33 and so I have to get to the punch quick. Essentially this is a decision that must be weighed heavily from one's own perspective. Good Luck!--Ben

 

[docmira]

What about a masters in physiotherapy? I'm from Canada and we dont have the post bacc programs like the US.
I want to do physio because it will give me a career to fall back on if I decide after two years that I am satisfied with physio. With other masters programs I will be left with more school to complete (ie phd ..which i'm not too interested in) if I don't get into med school.
How do med schools look at applicatns from physio? Or Is it advisable to do other masters programs?

 

[seabreeze811]

Bump

 

[exmike]

I got in with an MPH after a low undergrad GPA. I dont know if i had an AMAZING mcat score as the other poster suggested. MPH vs MS really depends on your your individual record and your career interests. This horse has been beaten to a pulp.

FYI, I have done both an MPH and a MS, and the MPH got me into school. THe MS is making my first year of med school a breeze so far.

 

[Lindyhopper]

Exmike,
So, what kind of MS is making your first year a breeze?

 

[exmike]

Exmike,
So, what kind of MS is making your first year a breeze?

SMP, georgetown. took about 2/3 of the 1st year curriculum.