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What will it take to get me into a top Public Health School?
- Thread starter USArmyDoc
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this isn't really answering the question but,
maybe take one thing at a time?
first get your MD/DO - who knows - maybe u won't be interested in an MPH afterall...
and without first having your MD/OD, and knowing ur professional school, or professional school marks - then it's a bit hard to comment on your chances at a top school.
maybe take one thing at a time?
first get your MD/DO - who knows - maybe u won't be interested in an MPH afterall...
and without first having your MD/OD, and knowing ur professional school, or professional school marks - then it's a bit hard to comment on your chances at a top school.
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USArmyDoc said:
Honestly, I don't think you'll have a problem at all. Are you looking to get an MPH, or a PhD? Some folks opt to take a break during medical school to complete their MPH, even if it's at a different institution. Also, you could consider doing a preventive medicine residency, which would yield an MPH after your medical school. There are several dual program options (internal medicine / preventive medicine, etc). The American College of Preventive Medicine would be a good place to start, if you're interested in this route (www.acpm.org).
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14_of_spades said:
I think 14_of_spades offers a lot of good advice. I just wanted to mention that many medical students do research at some point during medical school. (You already mentioned experience in this, which is a plus.) But, if the school you attend is affiliated with a public health school (or if there are faculty doing public health or clinical epidemiology research), you could use that opportunity. Also, some places have public health electives, especially as 4th year rotations. I'm also pretty sure the CDC has a fellowship for medical students (I think there is a summer one between M1 & M2 years, as well as a full year one you can do between M3 & M4). And, you may not have to take the GRE - many schools accept MCATs (I don't know about Harvard, though - you'll have to check).
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14_of_spades said:wow u have ur life planned out for the next 20 years... i don't even know what i'm doing this summer
but seriously - below are my thoughts - and they come from someone who doesn't have an MPH (but is too, considering an MPH and would be interested in attending a top school). check out the harvard thread here - u'll see my stats. are they good enough? i dunno.
i have personally met one person who has gotten the MPH from harvard. he was a UToronto MD graduate, who was a resident who took a year out of his public health residency to do the MPH (or rather, the MPH was part of his 5-yr residency). i think many (of those i know, 2/2) people who do residencies in public health obtain an MPH (?). if that's the case, it would seem that if ur residency is public health, u have better odds of getting into an MPH program (simply because that's what PH residents DO).
otherwise - i'm sure there's also all the quantitative factors that make ur application stronger to ANY kind of graduate school.
-attend a good med school
-be at the top of the class (i imagine this would help in a harvard application)
-get good marks
-do well on the GRE
-get (public health) related experience
-have an educational/occupational PLAN that includes the (MPH) degree
i think that's about the most u can do - other than donating 100 million to the school to secure a place - which i don't know has been tried before or not.
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Hi USArmyDoc,
Once you have some med school experience, and especially if you already have Army service under your belt, you'll already be a step ahead of most of the competition! Try to do well on the GREs and keep up your med school grades, but don't sweat it. Focus on what the best program is for your interests/needs/constraints and write a tailored statement of purpose. if you're already set on a particular program, start making contacts with faculty there, and maybe you can hook yourself up with some summer work at that institution. Follow the advice others have given on trying to incorporate public-health-related co-curricular activities (though it sounds like you've done some of this already, too). You should have no problem getting in most places if you do these things.
Just my two cents. Good luck!
Once you have some med school experience, and especially if you already have Army service under your belt, you'll already be a step ahead of most of the competition! Try to do well on the GREs and keep up your med school grades, but don't sweat it. Focus on what the best program is for your interests/needs/constraints and write a tailored statement of purpose. if you're already set on a particular program, start making contacts with faculty there, and maybe you can hook yourself up with some summer work at that institution. Follow the advice others have given on trying to incorporate public-health-related co-curricular activities (though it sounds like you've done some of this already, too). You should have no problem getting in most places if you do these things.
Just my two cents. Good luck!
