help me

[healthordie]

i'm sure this has been addressed before but i found nothing on the subject. Currently I am trying to come to a decision between getting a postbacc-most likely an MS/MA degree, or an MPH degree.
I graduated with a 3.0. My worst gpa year was probably junior (personal stuff) but then senior was 3.6. I take the GRE's in a few weeks.
I feel that an MS/MA would maybe help my chances of med school but I also really want an MPH more so than the other (but I realize I can get it later)
Given my situation what would be a more logical course of action? Anyone in similar situations (or have been)? Can I even get into any mph programs realistically?
Any help would be much appreciated

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[namazu]

You would have a shot at an MPH program if you can clearly articulate your reasons for wanting to get an MPH and how you plan to use your public health training.

However, if you are more immediately interested in going to med school, I'd really recommend a post-bacc program instead. These are really geared towards helping people get into med school (duh!), and I think they do a good job of helping people prepare. Also, people I've known who started MPH programs as a stop-gap measure before med school didn't seem to find the program very fulfilling.

I don't mean to discourage you from pursuing an MPH prior to med school if you are very enthusiastic about the public-health aspect of your career (in which case, go for it!), but you might have better success with a post-bacc as far as getting your medical career underway. And MPH programs are usually thrilled to take people who have started med school already.

 

[julie29524]

I am currently duing MPH-Epidemiology, and I am accepted to Medical School already.

From what I understand ( talking to deans, applicants, students), pursue the degree that YOU want. A med school wants an applicant that is passionate about her/her learning experiences. Find out what programs,( MS, MA, MPH, MBA, MHA, phD) you'll be enjoying studying, and you'll naturally do better, and when you are interviewing for med school, you can naturally talk about how you plan to combine your multiple degrees to serve the society, and that is the key to success.

I hope you'll seriously consider MPH-Epi, how my professor explains public health is "a physician treats one person at a time, easing their pain, improving their quality of life, but public health treats the society, focusing on prevention of diseases, studying the prevalence and incidence of diseases to better the lives of each person in the society." Its sooo relevant to medicine, 1/3 of my classes are residents and fellows.

julie

 

[Jack Daniel]

i'm sure this has been addressed before but i found nothing on the subject. Currently I am trying to come to a decision between getting a postbacc-most likely an MS/MA degree, or an MPH degree.
I graduated with a 3.0. My worst gpa year was probably junior (personal stuff) but then senior was 3.6. I take the GRE's in a few weeks.
I feel that an MS/MA would maybe help my chances of med school but I also really want an MPH more so than the other (but I realize I can get it later)
Given my situation what would be a more logical course of action? Anyone in similar situations (or have been)? Can I even get into any mph programs realistically?
Any help would be much appreciated

IMO, you've received some excellent replies above. I agree with both. Pursuing a graduate degree is a smart move if you need to prepare more for medical school, but the type of degree is important. If you're weak in science classes, you'll find better opportunities to strengthen this area with a good biomedical degree or a post-bac designed specifically for those interested in medical school. This type of program may be more helpful if your interests were in hard research.

However, a good MPH program is also very beneficial for those interested in clinical medicine, especially primary care; it really does complement the training. You can still find opportunities in electives to take upper level and graduate level science courses (I took several biochemistry and chemistry courses), and you'll get plenty of statistics and epi courses (which will probably boost your science GPA). As for research, you'll have good opportunities if you have strong epidemiology and stat skills. I'm sure you can probably tell my bias. Unfortunately, I can't advise on admissions. To me, the entire process appears so arbitrary. I'm sure you would want to target your applications realistically: do your admissions research and apply accordingly. There are top-tier programs which would be difficult to crack into, and probably bottom-tier programs you'd be wise to avoid.