Masters Program vs. Relevant Work Experience

[runner19]

Hi everyone. I am at a crossroad and am in need of some help. I applied to the 2020-2021 application cycle but unfortunately did not receive any interviews. I am wondering how I can best spend my time to improve my chances. I have a Bachelor of Medical Sciences degree and have recently been accepted to a one year Master of Public Health Program. Additionally, since I graduated last June (2020) I have been working as a medical assistant for two doctors that are married in my area. Both doctors have their own family practice and one also runs addiction treatment clinics. My responsibilities include conducting patient assessments, compiling medical histories, taking patient vitals, presenting patients to the physician, and consulting with the physician about patient concerns, potential courses of further investigation and treatment, and helping advise potential medication changes. In addition, for the addiction treatment clinics I control patient flow, run the clinic independently, conduct urine drug analysis, prepare patient prescriptions, and offer patient support. 

Any thoughts on which one would help boost my application and chances of getting an interview this round would be greatly appreciated!

[ceelbe]

I don’t have a definitive answer for you because I’m also an applicant but I feel like that’s good valuable work experience to have on a CV. I am curious though, are these skills that you learned through your undergraduate studies or are they just teaching you on the fly? Just curious because I haven’t heard of that degree before (but I may be super out of the loop) so I’m not sure what’s taught  

[runner19]

29 minutes ago, ceelbe said:

I don’t have a definitive answer for you because I’m also an applicant but I feel like that’s good valuable work experience to have on a CV. I am curious though, are these skills that you learned through your undergraduate studies or are they just teaching you on the fly? Just curious because I haven’t heard of that degree before (but I may be super out of the loop) so I’m not sure what’s taught  

The skills for the job they have taught me on the fly! Yeah my Bachelor of Medical Sciences Degree is unique to Western University but its sort of a mashup of life sciences/biomed but more human aspect based! (human pathology, physiology, immunology, all of that good stuff!) and thank you for your input!!

[bearded frog]

22 hours ago, runner19 said:

Hi everyone. I am at a crossroad and am in need of some help.

It depends on your application. If you didn't receive interviews, how best to improve for next year depends on where you stand. Basically there are three man factors prior to interviews - GPA, MCAT, extra-curricular/research. This post only discusses the third factor, so without knowing your GPA I have to assume that it's at least 3.8, and a MCAT >80th percentile, otherwise the highest yield would be doing more undergrad or retaking the MCAT, which would be much better than a masters or work experience. If your GPA and MCAT are good, then if you have no research experience that would be my next step. The work experience you mention is great, but you would be better off doing it part time and adding in volunteering and research experiences as well. Honestly a one year masters, especially non-research based, is not going to do anything for a medical school application, as most schools will not consider graduate GPA and won't give you credit unless you have completed the degree by time of application.