woojae1995
New Member
- Joined
- Jan 1, 2021
- Messages
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- Reaction score
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Hi everyone!
I am new to this community so I was wondering if I could get help regarding admission to MPH, I am not that familiar to the whole system so I am not sure about the chances I have for MPH application.
I am a recent graduate of a Korean med school (2020 grad) and right now serving in the military (we have mandatory service..). I am planning on how to spend the year 2021 to prepare for a public health career. I have some questions on whether I would be able to gain admission to top-tier MPH programs. While I do understand hard scores or credentials itself do not guarantee admission, I want to know if I would have a chance with what I got.
I spent 6 years of my youth abroad, 3 in France and another 3 in Hong Kong so I don't have much problem with English and Chinese.
GPA: Because my school had a pass/fail system for GPA, I do not have a specific GPA score, however I would say I was about 50~60 percentile in my school. I have 7 honors in Anatomy, Neuroscience, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, General surgery etc. I am not sure how our scores are translated when applying outside but I think it goes out like 4.0/4.0.
Majors: Medicine, I got my Korean medical license last year February (2020.2).
Research: I did not have any research experience so this is what concerns me the most. I did write an abstract for a certain subject, but it was nothing published formerly, just submitted as a class assignment.
Volunteer: I do have experience in organizing and participating in a student-lead refugee medical volunteer organization in my school (We called it the Lighthouse Clinic for Refugees), where me and other founding members recruited other med school students provided medical support to a certain refugee community living in Korea. It was since this activity that I thought about pursuing a public health career. I was the president for the group for about 1 year during my 3rd-4th med year.
Experiences:
- Clinical rotations in my school's hospital (Severance hospital) for 2 years
- Clinical rotations in the 2nd Hospital of Beijing University of Medicine (北京医科大学) and did clinical rotations for 2 months in the Endocrinology and Neurosurgery department.
- Work experience in the SeodaemunGu Public Health Center (Governmental public health facility located in my city of residence) as a COVID-19 emergency recruit doctor for 4 months (2020. March~July) until I was drafted to the Army. I did medical examinations and took nasal & throat swabs for COVID-19 PCR tests. It was a unique experience that made my determination in public health even more solid.
The reason why I want to pursue a public health career is to contribute in promoting medical cooperations among East Asian countries (China, North & South Korea, Japan, Taiwan etc.) and by doing so lay the foundations for advanced, sustainable universal healthcare in this region. For such objective, I wish to take MPH45 - global health in Harvard Chan school, and later on work in global organizations such as WHO. I think my proficiency in Chinese and my background as a Korean medical student can be emphasized when stating my purpose of application.
During my remaining year in the military I am planning to take the USMLE step 1 exam, GRE and HSK exam for Chinese proficiency.
Would it be alright to apply for top-tier MPH schools? What could I prepare more to increase my chances?
I am new to this community so I was wondering if I could get help regarding admission to MPH, I am not that familiar to the whole system so I am not sure about the chances I have for MPH application.
I am a recent graduate of a Korean med school (2020 grad) and right now serving in the military (we have mandatory service..). I am planning on how to spend the year 2021 to prepare for a public health career. I have some questions on whether I would be able to gain admission to top-tier MPH programs. While I do understand hard scores or credentials itself do not guarantee admission, I want to know if I would have a chance with what I got.
I spent 6 years of my youth abroad, 3 in France and another 3 in Hong Kong so I don't have much problem with English and Chinese.
GPA: Because my school had a pass/fail system for GPA, I do not have a specific GPA score, however I would say I was about 50~60 percentile in my school. I have 7 honors in Anatomy, Neuroscience, Obstetrics & Gynaecology, General surgery etc. I am not sure how our scores are translated when applying outside but I think it goes out like 4.0/4.0.
Majors: Medicine, I got my Korean medical license last year February (2020.2).
Research: I did not have any research experience so this is what concerns me the most. I did write an abstract for a certain subject, but it was nothing published formerly, just submitted as a class assignment.
Volunteer: I do have experience in organizing and participating in a student-lead refugee medical volunteer organization in my school (We called it the Lighthouse Clinic for Refugees), where me and other founding members recruited other med school students provided medical support to a certain refugee community living in Korea. It was since this activity that I thought about pursuing a public health career. I was the president for the group for about 1 year during my 3rd-4th med year.
Experiences:
- Clinical rotations in my school's hospital (Severance hospital) for 2 years
- Clinical rotations in the 2nd Hospital of Beijing University of Medicine (北京医科大学) and did clinical rotations for 2 months in the Endocrinology and Neurosurgery department.
- Work experience in the SeodaemunGu Public Health Center (Governmental public health facility located in my city of residence) as a COVID-19 emergency recruit doctor for 4 months (2020. March~July) until I was drafted to the Army. I did medical examinations and took nasal & throat swabs for COVID-19 PCR tests. It was a unique experience that made my determination in public health even more solid.
The reason why I want to pursue a public health career is to contribute in promoting medical cooperations among East Asian countries (China, North & South Korea, Japan, Taiwan etc.) and by doing so lay the foundations for advanced, sustainable universal healthcare in this region. For such objective, I wish to take MPH45 - global health in Harvard Chan school, and later on work in global organizations such as WHO. I think my proficiency in Chinese and my background as a Korean medical student can be emphasized when stating my purpose of application.
During my remaining year in the military I am planning to take the USMLE step 1 exam, GRE and HSK exam for Chinese proficiency.
Would it be alright to apply for top-tier MPH schools? What could I prepare more to increase my chances?
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