What to do next?

[surfdoc]

I will be graduating this December(2002) with a B.S. in community health education. I have decided I want to go to an osteopathic med school. I haven't started any of the pre-med requirements. My question is: 1) Should I go and just do the pre-med classes or 2) Would it look better and help my chances of geting into med school if I completed a graduate degree-an MPH( which I wouldn't mind doing) along with the pre-med requirements.Any advice and help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks

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[abw]

Hey! only do the m.p.h. if you're interested and really think you'll use it. I decided to get one done in my year off and am just getting burned out - it was very interesting and useful at first, but now the stuff is just very repetitive (people who had it for undergrad are killin themselves). i would say just take the pre-med courses necessary, and get your C.H.E.S. certification to show your commitment to the field. If you want your m.p.h. you can always get that later, or combine it into a shortened d.o./m.p.h. degree

 

[abw]

oh, i forgot to mention - i don't think it helped my admission at all but that's bc i didn't start the program until after i sent int my application.

 

[DrMom]

I'd get the prereqs out of the way before thinking about doing anything else. They'll keep you quite busy.

 

[Avonlea]

I wouldn't do a MPH while taking premed classes. I did my MPH and couldn't imagine doing all those science classes with it. Plus you want to do one thing well at a time. The work load will be WAY too much! You may want to try Post back programs where you may have extra premed support and could get funnelled into their med school if you do well. Good luck to you!

 

[Chagas]

There are not too many options for you. If you have a great GPA (above 3.5) and didn't screw around too much in undergrad you can get through the interview process without too much grief from the interviewers granted you get that far. In order to get to that level, your best bet would be to enroll in a reputable post-baccalaureate pre-med program that steers you toward your goal....getting accepted to med school. If you did less than your best in undergrad, have a bunch of mediocre grades on your transcript and/or took longer than 4-5 years to get your degree than opt for a master's degree keeping in mind you still need around 32 credits of undergrad sciences to apply to med school. Tough to accomplish well and still work towards a master's degree. Most schools will look heavily upon your academic record and will want to see more than 1-2 years of post-bacc undergrad grades if you can't back them up. I was in a similar situation and opted for the post-bacc route - got a 4.0 - took the MCAT and was accepted all within 2 years. Don't make excuses, give it your best in the pre-med courses take the MCAT and apply. Easy huh?