Thread: Question about the Masters of Public Health program (MPH)??

Hi, I was wondering if I should go for the MD/MPH program at SGU. I wanted to know how the MPH is useful when you are a practicing physician. Does it help you at all in obtaining residency or on the USMLE's. It adds an extra 6 months to your SGU stay but I was interested in it. I guess the main question is would I benefit from this program in the long run or will this program just add the initials MPH next to the MD degree. Any help is appreciated!!!

~Thanks

Great Idea, I'm currently completing my MPH, and highly recommend it.

If you can do it before residency great, it is harder while you are a resident !!

Good Luck,

Originally Posted by vampiresoup

Hi, I was wondering if I should go for the MD/MPH program at SGU. I wanted to know how the MPH is useful when you are a practicing physician. Does it help you at all in obtaining residency or on the USMLE's. It adds an extra 6 months to your SGU stay but I was interested in it. I guess the main question is would I benefit from this program in the long run or will this program just add the initials MPH next to the MD degree. Any help is appreciated!!!

~Thanks

Remember that you go to a foreign medical school because you can't get into a US one. MPH programs are not nearly as competitive, so there should be no real reason for you to do one in gnd...unless you really like tropical medicine, I suppose... .

My advice is to get the MPH in the USA - and only if you think that you will get involved in public health. A bonus is that you will be able to reapply for US med schools one more time.

Originally Posted by vampiresoup

Hi, I was wondering if I should go for the MD/MPH program at SGU. I wanted to know how the MPH is useful when you are a practicing physician. Does it help you at all in obtaining residency or on the USMLE's. It adds an extra 6 months to your SGU stay but I was interested in it. I guess the main question is would I benefit from this program in the long run or will this program just add the initials MPH next to the MD degree. Any help is appreciated!!!

~Thanks

like the above poster said, don't do your MPH at SGU unless you are really interested specifically in tropical medicine. It is not that hard to get into a US school to do your MPH and it will be more widely recognized. Will it help you as a practicing physician? well, that depends on what field of medicine you want to go into....infectious disease? sure. preventative and community medicine? yup. international medicine? probably. do you want to work for the NIH? definitely will help (but they would probably want an MPH from Harvard, Columbia or Hopkins instead of SGU). you want radiology or surgery or something else like that? don't bother with the MPH. and no, it won't really help you on your USMLEs, we cover all the info we need to know in the MD program.

the "six months" extra time is erroneous.....they like to state it like that because it sounds better. This is six months of extra course work (prior to starting your MD) but they don't mention the extra time is requires to do your practical component to receive the MPH degree. Most of the dual degree (MPH/MD) students that were in my class were in GND for one year finishing their MPH before starting their MD. I'm actually most likely doing my MPH but I will be completing it at a US school after I graduate and I'm waiting for my visa.....

sorry to sound so cynical but you need to know the stuff behind the program at SGU, hope it helps out a bit

Thanks for the help guys! I will just apply for the MD degree and look to do the MPH program in a US med school. By that time I'll be more sure about the MPH program.

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