What are the best undergrad prep courses for an MS or MPH in Epi?

[scoopage]

Hi everyone,

Well, although I still have no idea exactly what concentration I'll be pursuing at whatever point I decide to go on to grad school, epidemiology is still one option.
I'm playing around with my schedule for this fall and I'm wondering if I should drop physics. Once upon a time I thought I'd go to med school and started taking all the prereqs. Physics is all I have left (yes, I put myself through a year of Orgo knowing full well I wasn't going to be a doctor). But I was looking around on the JHSPH site and saw that courses in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are suggested background courses for admission. Is this the case at other schools as well? If so, should I forego the pain of physics (and I do predict a lot of pain) and take one of these courses instead? Since I'm not a physical sciences major (my make-your-own-major is primary social sciences), I'm concerned about appearing as if I don't know enough hard science (although I've taken both an undergrad level epi class and a grad level biostats).
While I'm aiming high for JH and Harvard, I'll probably also apply to Boston U, Berkeley, and maybe others. The websites aren't always straightforward. Do any successful epi applicants have any insight?

Thanks so much. And I was so looking forward to graduating in 3.5 years and having this spring off!

Jamie

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[fantasty]

I can't make any blanket recommendations, but physiology, intro pathology, microbiology, human genetics, or anatomy would be good biological sciences to take. (Or anything related to personal health or public health, such as nutrition, demography, health care systems, etc). Our epi program does require either human pathology or intermediate physiology for master's students (and BOTH for phd students) as part of the curriculum. Some people without much biology background found graduate level courses in these areas difficult.

Another route that would be really helpful is either more statistics or basic computer science. I especially get the feeling that JHU has a strong quantitative requirement. And, a lot of epidemiologic work requires that you can use appropriate statistics and program statistical applications and create databases.

 

[DRNNHA]

Hi everyone,

Well, although I still have no idea exactly what concentration I'll be pursuing at whatever point I decide to go on to grad school, epidemiology is still one option.
I'm playing around with my schedule for this fall and I'm wondering if I should drop physics. Once upon a time I thought I'd go to med school and started taking all the prereqs. Physics is all I have left (yes, I put myself through a year of Orgo knowing full well I wasn't going to be a doctor). But I was looking around on the JHSPH site and saw that courses in anatomy, physiology and biochemistry are suggested background courses for admission. Is this the case at other schools as well? If so, should I forego the pain of physics (and I do predict a lot of pain) and take one of these courses instead? Since I'm not a physical sciences major (my make-your-own-major is primary social sciences), I'm concerned about appearing as if I don't know enough hard science (although I've taken both an undergrad level epi class and a grad level biostats).
While I'm aiming high for JH and Harvard, I'll probably also apply to Boston U, Berkeley, and maybe others. The websites aren't always straightforward. Do any successful epi applicants have any insight?

Thanks so much. And I was so looking forward to graduating in 3.5 years and having this spring off!

Jamie

Hi Jamie,
I graduated from UCLA with MPH in Epidemiology. MPH and MS programs in Epi are not the same. You will take classes in Epi for both degrees, but the MPH focuses more on field work and the MS degree focuses more research. At UCLA, the MS program requires you to do a thesis while for the MPH you don't have to. So, it is really up to you. You will get good education from either of these degrees.
Some of the public health program requires you to have some health care working experience such as John Hopkins. In public health school, you will meet people who are either working full-time or had worked full-time before.
I don't think you really need all those science courses to prepare for getting into Epi. Epi has a lot of math and scientific concepts. But I think you can pick them up as you go along. When I got into the MPH program for Epi, I never took Anatomy and Physiology. I had some Biochemistry, but I don't think we ever used Biochemistry in Epidemiology.
The Epi program is relatively harder to get in compared to other programs in Public Health. It is more science-based. Don't torture yourself more than you have to. If you had some science, then you should be ok. Epi is very math oriented and requires knowledge in biostastistics. However, don't be scared. You will pick it up with your classmates.