Will a Masters in applied ethics increase chance of acceptance?

[hope24718]

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I will be taking a gap year and was thinking of completing a masters in that time. I found a program I liked involving a Masters in Applied Ethics with a concentration in Biomedical and Healthcare ethics. I'm wondering if this will increase my chances at all of getting into medical school.

I've read other posts, but they are mainly by students obtaining a masters in biomedical sciences and generally have lower than ideal GPAs. My gpa is a 3.9 and I have many ECs including volunteering, leadership, research, teaching, etc. I'm currently studying for my MCAT.

I mainly want to do the program because I think bioethics is interesting to learn about, but at the same time, the main goal is to get into medical school. That being said, if this doesn't help my chances much, I'm better off using that gap year doing other things (working as a scribe, continuing research, etc.). Any thoughts about how this will affect my application?

 

[The Buff OP]

I will be taking a gap year and was thinking of completing a masters in that time. I found a program I liked involving a Masters in Applied Ethics with a concentration in Biomedical and Healthcare ethics. I'm wondering if this will increase my chances at all of getting into medical school.

I've read other posts, but they are mainly by students obtaining a masters in biomedical sciences and generally have lower than ideal GPAs. My gpa is a 3.9 and I have many ECs including volunteering, leadership, research, teaching, etc. I'm currently studying for my MCAT.

I mainly want to do the program because I think bioethics is interesting to learn about, but at the same time, the main goal is to get into medical school. That being said, if this doesn't help my chances much, I'm better off using that gap year doing other things (working as a scribe, continuing research, etc.). Any thoughts about how this will affect my application?

No. If your main goal is to attend medical school stay focus on that. Your GPA and Ec's look nice. Try to do the best you can on the MCAT.

 

[Catalystik]

I'd say no, except as it enhances your ability to gracefully answer related interview questions. But you could also just read the textbook to get the same boost.

 

[Goro]

I think it makes you interesting, but it will not make up for a weak MCAT and GPA.

I will be taking a gap year and was thinking of completing a masters in that time. I found a program I liked involving a Masters in Applied Ethics with a concentration in Biomedical and Healthcare ethics. I'm wondering if this will increase my chances at all of getting into medical school.

I've read other posts, but they are mainly by students obtaining a masters in biomedical sciences and generally have lower than ideal GPAs. My gpa is a 3.9 and I have many ECs including volunteering, leadership, research, teaching, etc. I'm currently studying for my MCAT.

I mainly want to do the program because I think bioethics is interesting to learn about, but at the same time, the main goal is to get into medical school. That being said, if this doesn't help my chances much, I'm better off using that gap year doing other things (working as a scribe, continuing research, etc.). Any thoughts about how this will affect my application?

 

[The Chemist]

pros:
interesting to med schools esp. depending on how you talk about it
something interesting for you to do

cons:
takes up time that you should be using to study for the MCAT
takes up time that you should be using to continue to serve others in some role
takes $$$

notes:
will not look bad to med schools...some med schools actually have dual bioethics master MD programs ....maybe look into this later, if you decide against it now
will not look so good to med schools that it will be able to overcome flaws in your application....its slightly positive, but not a lifesaver or deal breaker

 

[hope24718]

Good points. I should also mention that at my school, I can get a full tuition waiver for the entire program plus a stipend if I become a TA for 20hours/week. Based off of my past experiences, I will definitely get to do this and have my master's paid off for. As far as interview questions go, I'm not sure that it'll be super useful since I will just be starting classes during the time interviews are conducted, but it can certainly be a conversation starter. As far as the MCAT goes, I'm not going to even apply to the program unless I get a good score (so I don't have to worry about time I could be using to study the MCAT). If I get a bad score, I'll repeat it and will not apply to the program.

The Chemist- I'm definitely going to check out the dual degrees, but I figured since I'm taking a gap year, I might as well use it to do the masters instead of adding an extra year to med school. Plus it'll be free!

 

[Gauss44]

You may need to explain the value of that degree to ADCOMs. They might need to know what about the major is valuable because they are unfamiliar with it.

Awareness, understanding, sensitivity, and certain types of thinking and analysis might become more developed with this sort of major. If you are able to read, understand, analyze, and appreciate characters like Socrates (at his less comprehensible moments) like most philosophy students (and ethics is a branch of philosophy), then that should say something about your ability to communicate (and perhaps be sensitive) with patients.

And I'd hate to say it, but from a GPA standpoint, that 3.9 is a ticket, and I'm not sure exactly what the consequences of doing less well in graduate school would be... Careful to to wreck your GPA. If you don't get that masters degree now, maybe you could get it after medical school? I almost wish everyone had to have a masters in ethics.

 

[VictorAlpha]

It will help in the sense that it's certainly not going to hurt you. But it probably won't help you as much as a higher score on the MCAT or a year of clinical work or research/publication.

 

[LizzyM]

It will not hurt... it could help or it could be neutral. To the extent that you are able to share the knowledge acquired with classmates and team members, it could be a real asset in med school and beyond.

I generally think that most people get more out of a degree of this type after having some clinical experience which informs the questions asked, but if you have the time and the (free) money and don't mind the opportunity cost (other options you give up to choose this one), go for it.