Skip to main content

MPH in USA. v.imp



Applying to the US for an MPH program needs dedication and time. Unlike Pakistan, Public Health is a popular field in the US and students from diverse educational and career backgrounds apply to graduate school for Public Health. However, medical doctors have an edge as they have studied and worked in healthcare and have a strong profile already built for Public Health.

First and foremost, if you are a US Citizen or have a Green Card you will have several scholarship opportunities available to you both by the university and the US government. If you are a Pakistani citizen Fullbright Scholarship given by HEC is your best choice. With fair warning, however, it is very competitive and they only choose 2-3 people for it. 

Moving on to the application process. Following are the requirements:

1. GRE 
2. TOEFL [Minimum 90 score]
3. Minimum GPA of 3.0 in undergraduate
4. WES or ECE evaluation of transcripts
5. SOPHAS application
6. 3 Letters of Recommendation
7. Statement of Purpose

Now I’ll Discuss each point individually.

1. GRE : This is an exam similar to GAT in Pakistan. It has two portions, Quant [maths] and Verbal [English] and marks are measured from a range of 130 – 170. There is a wealth of information available online on how to prepare for this exam. The better you score in this the stronger your application becomes for Scholarships. It is valid for 5 years. Price 205$
2. TOEFL: This is an exam similar to IELTS. It is necessary for international students to prove their English speaking, writing and listening proficiency. It is out of 120 and usually a score of more than 90 is required. High scores in this aren’t used as competitive edge. Valid for 2 years. Price 200$.
3. I will discuss point 3 and 4 together. World Education Service [WES] or Educational Credential Evaluators [ECE] are services for international students to get their university transcripts equated to the American system. As medical schools in Pakistan have an annual percentage system, it needs to be translated into courses and grades and finally into GPA. A competitive application for scholarships needs to have a GPA for more than 3.0. This usually costs around 200-250$.
4. Discussed above
5. SOPHAS : This is an online portal where you make an account and upload all your documents. Then add all the universities in US you want to apply to. Pay application fee for each institution and then wait for their answer. Application cost 85$ first university then 55$ any additional ones.
6. LORs: They play an important role in making your application strong. These letters can be written by employers or professors who know you well and can vouch for your capabilities.
7. Statement of Purpose : Or some like to call it Personal Statement is THE MOST IMPORTANT part of your application for Public Health. This is usually an essay or your life story ranging from 500-1500 words that explains what you have achieved in life and what you want to do in the future and how will doing an MPH help you achieve that. Every University has their own requirements for what they want to see in your SOP. Rest assured, this is where you are directly talking to admissions committee and trying to convince them why you are the best candidate. 

Other Important Points:

1. Applications for Fall 2020 open in November 2019. Various schools have very different deadlines and requirements and you need to visit each website and find out.
2. GRE English is difficult and you should atleast give 3 months of prepepration time to get a decent GRE score.
3. Without scholarships US universities are expensive. Public university fee ranges from 20,000$ to 30,000$ a year.
4. Private universities Like Harvard, John Hopkins, Yale etc usually cost starting from 60,000$ to 80,000$ per year.
5. The whole application procedure including exams may cost 700-900$
6. If you have taken all your USMLEs and are ECFMG certified then some places can waive off GRE and TOEFL both. Some places don’t waive off either. You have to email them and check.

Following are some helpful websites which I consulted throughout. Hope this information helps. Good luck and Regards. DR. UM

https://www.healthcare-management-degree.net/best/mph/
https://sophas.liaisoncas.com/applicant-ux/#/login
https://www.usnews.com/.../top.../public-health-rankings
https://www.reddit.com/r/publichealth/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

MRCS PART A – EXPERIENCE

DURATION OF STUDY – 3.5-4 months (with work )  Pattern of study  Paper 1 ( Basic sciences )  Anatomy – Emrcs with NASA khan notes ( best part about these notes are he copied all the colourful pics from Snell’s anatomy along with emrcs theory ) . Make small pics for imagination of anatomical relationship .... A big chunk of questions are from anatomy , this needs to be done in a crystal clearway .. Physiology – raftry with emrcs  Pathology – raftry few topics and emrcs Pharma and micro – emrcs  I read raftry for physio complete twice , patho and micro once only  Biostatistics – emrcs  For basic sciences reading emrcs with its theory is more than enough with few references from text books to make the concepts clear  Fawzia sheets for paper one is very very very important , somehow in every session of this examination RCS is putting almost 50-60% paper from these sheets ... Don’t leave them .... Read them at least three times .... Pape...
4 comments
Read more

USMLE step 1 Thaer Shehadeh- 251

Hello everyone, I think this is probably my first post on this forum. You guys have helped me alot throughout my study period and i would like to share my experience with you. Studying for this exam is definitely a challenge and needs well drawn-out plans and good time management. Always believe in yourself and never listen to any negative thoughts from others. Your ultimate goal is to be the best phyisician that you can be, and if you believe in that, you would definitely achieve that goal. I'm currently a 6th year medical student from Jordan. I started studying in august 2018 and took the exam in October 8, 2019. (Total study time = around 1 year) There were alot of gaps at first, but it became more consistent at the beginning of 2019 My first read was from cover to cover in the same order as the first aid book. Resources: First aid + Uworld are the most important Biochem: kaplan videos Pathology: pathoma Microbiology and pharmacology: sketchy (it...
Post a Comment
Read more

USMLE Step 1 Experience (262) by Rizwan Zafar

I am writing this experience because I think it might help others avoid the mistakes I made during my preparation. I started preparing for step 1 after my final year result was declared, and I took a long time preparing for it. I did all  subjects from kaplan except pathology, for which i did goljan and it was a big mistake as it took me more than 3 months to complete it along with my medicine rotation and in the end I almost retained none of it. I hadn't completed my first read until the end of my 3rd rotation of house job i.e 9 months for the first read with house job.  I read every subject from kaplan(except patho) along with video lectures for most subjects followed by relevant First aid portion after each subject. For patho I did goljan along with its lectures followed by first aid of patho.            Then I  left my last rotation of house job in view of speeding up the things a bit (no use at all) only to resume it 4 months...
Post a Comment
Read more