What are some examples of “special masters programs” that prepare candidates for health professions?

[Nontraddoc00081]

How long do they usually take to complete and is there a science degree requirement?

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[To be MD]

There are many. They are mostly to boost your GPA and prove you can handle graduate level coursework.

If I had to do one, I would get one in biostats or a masters of science in research. Everyone and their mother can memorize things in medical school; we need more people to crunch research data!

 

[viralhiker]

There are many. They are mostly to boost your GPA and prove you can handle graduate level coursework.

If I had to do one, I would get one in biostats or a masters of science in research. Everyone and their mother can memorize things in medical school; we need more people to crunch research data!

This is bad advice. A master's of science in biostatistics is not the same as a special master's program for the purpose of matriculating to medical school. The AAMC has a list of programs (see Gonnif's post above) they recognize as such. Any random MS will likely have no impact on your admissions chances, as most are prone to grade inflation, or are unable to promote the qualities you are trying to show you now have.

If you bombed undergrad (like I did), you need to show you can handle med school coursework. A true SMP can do that, as it did for me!

 

[LizzyM]

There are different types of MS programs.

Some are focused on medical school coursework and are an audition for medical school. These are the "special masters programs" (SMP) that are, essentially, a bet that you can do better in medical school than the average med student. If you win the bet, you have a good chance of being admitted to a medical school; if you lose, you kiss your chances good bye.

There are "record enhancer" MS degrees that don't show you have prowess in the hard sciences but are a way of building a skill-set that may be of value in medical school and beyond. Biostats, biomed engineering, public health would be some examples. Sometimes this is a way to keep loans at bay and show that you are doing something productive during the year you apply to medical school. In some cases, it is an alternative to finding a job in a tight job market.

There are MS degrees that are neither record enhancers nor SMP.

 

[Detailsmatter]

I never did an SMP so im not too familiar with how they work. is admission to them competitive? Since they're designed to help ppl show they have changed from undergrad dont most of the ppl applying have a "below average" app?

 

[Goro]

I never did an SMP so im not too familiar with how they work. is admission to them competitive? Since they're designed to help ppl show they have changed from undergrad dont most of the ppl applying have a "below average" app?

It's not competitive for my program.

Most GPAs of our applicants are around 3.0 or lower.

Most MCAT are < 505, or they don't have one (we don't require them, but a fair number of programs do). The two stats don't always go together. Many kids have a nice GPA but a rotten MCAT, or vice-versa. Thus, they use the SMP as the back door into med school.