Jump to content
Premed 101 Forums

MPH @ Dalla Lana - UofT


Recommended Posts

The MPH program at the Dalla Lana School of Public Health at UofT sounds really interesting. I'm curious if anyone has experience studying here or anything experience applying for the program? If so, I'm curious about what your experiences have been as well as the type of applicants they may be typically looking for in terms of admittance?

 

Thanks!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 73
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

I am currently a student in Epidemiology at U of T finishing up my first year.

 

In terms of admittance, they accept about 10% of applicants (our class this year is about 30 people). As its competitive, the higher the GPA the better (most people I have talked to had at least a 3.7 in the last two years), although having a strong background in either research or public health work will also give you points (can compensate for lower grades). When writing your letter of intent, make an argument for why their program fits you - it is unique in a number of ways compared to other MPH programs in Ontario.

 

If you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you haven't discovered the cure for aids, built a hospital from scratch with your bare hands in a third world country, or solved world hunger... you don't have much of a shot of being admitted.

 

In all seriousness, I would guesstimate that acceptance is just as tough as medical school coming straight out of undergrad. It would help to have other life experiences that relate to your interest in public health. It is a very competitive program, but a fantastic area to work in.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The world is not going to wait around for you to get into medical school. You need to be able to support yourself - rent, food, family, and med school applications are all expensive. I don't feel bad at all for wanting to become a doctor and enrolling in the MPH program. It puts me in a great place.

 

It makes me a more attractive applicant (research opportunities, grad school bonus to GPA, working with the federal government, travelling opportunities across Canada, among others), provides me with an education that many doctors end up getting anyways (my class of 30-35 students has at least 6 or 7 docs), and provides me with a career that can make me great money while I continue on for medical school.

 

I couldn't be happier with this course of study at U of T - no regrets.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It makes me a more attractive applicant (research opportunities, grad school bonus to GPA, working with the federal government, travelling opportunities across Canada, among others), provides me with an education that many doctors end up getting anyways (my class of 30-35 students has at least 6 or 7 docs), and provides me with a career that can make me great money while I continue on for medical school.

 

I couldn't be happier with this course of study at U of T - no regrets.

 

How many nurses in your class?

 

I hear that there are many nurses working for Toronto Publich Health.

 

I may want to work as a public health nurse someday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do not think there is a single nurse in our year (which is surprising as we have just about every other type of health professional). I know that some programs in Ontario (especially Lakehead) have MPH programs developed specifically for nurses. See the link below:

 

http://graduatestudies.lakeheadu.ca/programs/?programid=2#requirements

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I am currently a student in Epidemiology at U of T finishing up my first year.

 

In terms of admittance, they accept about 10% of applicants (our class this year is about 30 people). As its competitive, the higher the GPA the better (most people I have talked to had at least a 3.7 in the last two years), although having a strong background in either research or public health work will also give you points (can compensate for lower grades). When writing your letter of intent, make an argument for why their program fits you - it is unique in a number of ways compared to other MPH programs in Ontario.

 

If you have any other questions, I would be happy to answer them.

 

Can you comment on the strengths and weaknesses of the program? What job opportunities are available (specific jobs) after graduation? How does this program compare to other universities in Ontario? I may be applying there next year as a backup for medical school.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strengths: emphasizes research and practical skills - you can choose to focus on one, or do both (unique to this program). Work with outstanding, world renown faculty who regularly teach our courses. Almost all of our practicum placements are paid (between $500-$1000 a week).

 

Weaknesses: Newly expanded program (was much smaller a few years ago) - still has some kinks in it's curriculum. Tuition is 10k a year with little funding, although this is to be expected as it is a professional degree (like MD, Law, pharmacy). The practicum helps to displace this cost.

 

There are lots of jobs available. Epidemiology students generally work as epidemiologists in universities, governments (provincial, federal), health units, et cetera. Some of the practicum placements have programs to recruit students after they finish their degree. Once you finish your MPH, you can also get a Ph.D - and this is completely funded at U of T and has greater career and financial prospects down the line.

 

I do not know much about other programs in Ontario - I just applied to U of T and Lakehead (accepted to both). Lakehead looked fine - and great if you want a northern flavour to your public health education, but they did not expect students would be paid for their practicums (an important factor for me) and did not have the course selection or faculty that caught my research interests.

 

Hope that helps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Strengths: emphasizes research and practical skills - you can choose to focus on one, or do both (unique to this program). Work with outstanding, world renown faculty who regularly teach our courses. Almost all of our practicum placements are paid (between $500-$1000 a week).

 

Weaknesses: Newly expanded program (was much smaller a few years ago) - still has some kinks in it's curriculum. Tuition is 10k a year with little funding, although this is to be expected as it is a professional degree (like MD, Law, pharmacy). The practicum helps to displace this cost.

 

There are lots of jobs available. Epidemiology students generally work as epidemiologists in universities, governments (provincial, federal), health units, et cetera. Some of the practicum placements have programs to recruit students after they finish their degree. Once you finish your MPH, you can also get a Ph.D - and this is completely funded at U of T and has greater career and financial prospects down the line.

 

I do not know much about other programs in Ontario - I just applied to U of T and Lakehead (accepted to both). Lakehead looked fine - and great if you want a northern flavour to your public health education, but they did not expect students would be paid for their practicums (an important factor for me) and did not have the course selection or faculty that caught my research interests.

 

Hope that helps

 

That was very helpful, thanks a lot!

 

I noticed that there isn't funding for this program. Are the students able to apply for external awards such as the CIHR masters award?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about the HRM program at McMaster (they have several profs doing epidemiology research) and funding is available but not guaranteed. This program seems interesting but you get MSc (not MPH) at the end....Has anyone attended this program or have experience applying there? Any thoughts on that?

 

Apologies to the OP for going a little off topic here.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I do not think there is a single nurse in our year (which is surprising as we have just about every other type of health professional). I know that some programs in Ontario (especially Lakehead) have MPH programs developed specifically for nurses. See the link below:

 

http://graduatestudies.lakeheadu.ca/programs/?programid=2#requirements

 

I guess I'm not too surprised. RNs are already trained and educated in school to work in the community and public health to provide health promotion, do situational assessment, planning, implementation, ...

 

What I'm now thinking is that I may become a family nurse practitioner. I'll work full time in the family health clinic and work part time to do the health promotion activities for the community.

 

This is only if I don't get into med/dent... someday.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 5 weeks later...
If you haven't discovered the cure for aids, built a hospital from scratch with your bare hands in a third world country, or solved world hunger... you don't have much of a shot of being admitted.

 

In all seriousness, I would guesstimate that acceptance is just as tough as medical school coming straight out of undergrad. It would help to have other life experiences that relate to your interest in public health. It is a very competitive program, but a fantastic area to work in.

 

That is NOT true. I got into UofT MPH without having to do all those (even though I went to another school for it). I don't think they are ONLY looking for people with a lot of experience (even though it helps). They are looking for motivated people who are truly interested in the field. I applied in my 4th year and I had some public health related experience, but I wanted to get in BADLY, and I did. But they do look at marks, my gpa in my last 2 year was around 3.8 or so. So give it a try, you never know! :D

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did a summer placement in second year at Toronto West Hospital. Our lab had 3 professors and 3 assistant professors for the MPH program. The students that were in the MPH program in our lab also loved the program. My recommendation letters for medical school also came from these people as well. This is saying a lot since I'm doing BMSc in Pathology at Western and the practicum was in my second year's summer. And I have done research in other areas since then.

 

It was an amazing experience and I loved epi after this exposure. If I don't get into med school for a few years, I'm definetly switching out of pathology into epi/public health

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

How many ppl from premed have applied to the MPH at U of T? I have applied to both uoft and u of a. They also have a great program with the exact same structure as the Uoft one. The only difference I noticed is that at uofa you take less electives. Either way lets keep each other posted on the status of application.

BTW, long time reader but recent member.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What about the HRM program at McMaster (they have several profs doing epidemiology research) and funding is available but not guaranteed. This program seems interesting but you get MSc (not MPH) at the end....Has anyone attended this program or have experience applying there? Any thoughts on that?

 

Apologies to the OP for going a little off topic here.

 

I have friends in HRM and I myself applied... it seems that there is quite a bit of overlap in terms of the courses you have to take (epi, stats, critical appraisal) and then from there, you really focus on a public health at UofT but I liked the HRM program at Mac better because you'll need to do epi research with anyone, but there's greater variety for thesis choice (and a lot of the researchers at McMaster associated with the program are Canada research chairs). the downside is you have to TA to get funding at HRM, whereas I think you go on a placement in UofT instead... so different ways to get money I guess

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are many TA opportunities at U of T for MPH students - you just need to set them up yourself with different departments (I currently TA health studies courses). During the first summer, we go on a 4-month practicum (e.g., work at a health unit, do research with a prof), and we do the same from Jan-March of the 2nd winter. These opportunities together make paying the 10k tuition a year very manageable.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

There are many TA opportunities at U of T for MPH students - you just need to set them up yourself with different departments (I currently TA health studies courses). During the first summer, we go on a 4-month practicum (e.g., work at a health unit, do research with a prof), and we do the same from Jan-March of the 2nd winter. These opportunities together make paying the 10k tuition a year very manageable.

 

Is it realistic to finish the degree in 16 months or it is more like 2 years?

Also is it hard to get a practicum extension so that you only do 2 electives?

I looked up the practicum at u of a and you are limited to a max of 17 practicum weeks.

Thanks for the info

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hey MOH,

 

I applied to U of A also. It looks like a well structured program. I applied to MPH in Epi, but I wasn't able to find how many seats they offer. Do you have any clue?

 

Hey good to hear you also applied there. I was under the impression that they offer as many seats as u of t which is about 30. I also applied to the MPH in Epi there. i'll keep you informed through this thread on the status of my application. I need to know soon because Im getting married in september and have not clue where Im gonna live. Best of luck!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

MOH,

 

I got an email from UofA today saying they "are please to let me know I've been shortlisted" and would like to interview me.

 

I think it sounds promising...just need to try to not come off as a psychopath or something I guess. Lucky I got this today otherwise I'd be a bit depressed, UBC MPH rejected me like an hour before.

 

 

Hmmm, I wonder if schools typically provide funding for MPH degrees? I know for sure since it's a professional program and not a thesis base that it wouldn't be as much. It sure would be nice to graduate with not to much debt though :).

 

 

Good Luck to you, maybe we will become classmates!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...

×
×
  • Create New...