<p>I'm a freshman at a large state school and I'm also in the honors program. Through honors, we can get a Bachelor's/Master's dual degree in four years in a variety of majors. One of the choices is Public Health. I have an interest in public health, so this was appealing to me. However, I can still explore my interest for Public Health without getting a Master's degree by getting a certificate (in between a minor and a major) in Global Health. Basically, the question is: Would option #1 or option #2 be better for admission to medical school? I really like the idea of getting an MPH degree by the time I'm 22 (I'd rather not pursue one for another 2 years after I get my Bachelor's because I'll already be old enough by the time I start making a living). However, at the same time, I really want to study Genetics because I fell in love with science before I knew I was passionate about medicine.</p>
<p>(1) Genetics (B.S.), Global Health (certificate), Spanish (minor)
(2) Public Health (Bachelor's/Master's), Spanish (minor)</p>
<p>P.S. I came in with a ton of AP credits which exempted most of my Gen Ed stuff. That's why I'm able to complete so much coursework.</p>
<p>med schools dont care what kind of a degree, however they prefer BIOLOGY type degrees, to remain competitive, you will have to take premed courses as well.</p>
<p>“… however they prefer BIOLOGY type degrees…”</p>
<p>That’s silly, med schools do not prefer bio degrees. Most med students do happen to be bio majors primarily because they are killing two birds with one stone (i.e., completing premed reqs and major reqs at same time), whereas say an art history or psych major may be in school for a couple more years after earning degree in order to complete premed reqs. Whatever major you choose, med schools care about how you do (GPAwise) in your major, premed, GE courses, etc. As to which option, again, med schools care about your performance (GPA wise) not if you have major/minor, major/certificate/minor,etc. Pick what you’re most interested in as if you like material, you’re more likely to do well (GPAwise).</p>
<p>As long as you complete the pre-requisites for medical school, it doesn’t matter what your degree is in. The challenge, though, is that in a 4-year MS/BS in public health, it might be hard to get all of those requirements. I’m guessing that the schedule is pretty strict to fit both degrees in 4 years, so I suspect you won’t have much space for electives and there will likely be some pre-med requirements not covered by a public health degree (perhaps physics, for example). Check with your academic and pre-med advisors to make sure that it’s do-able to meet the requirements while doing this degree. If it’s feasible, choose whichever YOU want to do, not based off of what you think would look good to medical schools. They want to see students who are passionate about what they chose to study, not students who chose what to study based on filling check boxes.</p>
<p>“….is that in a 4-year MS/BS in public health, it might be hard to get all of those requirements….”</p>
<p>It’s also not just about doing well and fulfilling GE, major/minor/premed/certificate, or whatever else you’re into in 4 years. You’ll also need to pencil in some MCAT prep time as college profs do not teach bio/chem etc with the intent to prep students for MCAT per se, they just simply teach bio,chem… Also via extracurriculars, aka ECs, (e.g,.shadowing, volunteering, etc) med schools expect to see you have some real world idea of what you’re signing up for career wise as a med school applicant. So you’ll need to find the time for ECs as well. I agree with nanotech above about need to talk to academic and pre-med advisors and IMO the sooner the better. Good luck</p>