Applicants interested in additional information on MD degrees, contact the Office of Admissions and Student Affairs:
Hours: Monday – Friday 8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. (CST)
Phone: 504-988-5331
Email: medsch@tulane.edu
MD/MPH program information, contact Rachael Ruiz Currier, 504-988-7055 | rruiz1@tulane.edu
NOTE: Students must first be accepted into the School of Medicine before they are eligible to apply for the combined degree program.
Tulane's MD/MPH combined degree program is open to students who have been accepted to Tulane's School of Medicine and who wish to pursue both an MD from Tulane and an MPH from Tulane's School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (SPHTM).
The MD/MPH program is a global, integrated program in an excellent learning environment which:
- Integrates healthcare training for individuals and populations;
- Provides the foundation for a holistic approach to patient care;
- Encompasses diverse and challenged populations domestically and internationally;
- Provides in-depth training in population and public health knowledge, behaviors, and skills; and,
- Allows students to match their specific population interest with a degree concentration in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine.
Program Information
Tulane's MD/MPH combined degree program offers Tulane School of Medicine students a unique opportunity to build on their patient-based medical education with a population-based public health degree. The combined degree program is designed to be completed in four or five years, integrating the requirements for the School of Medicine with those from the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine. Browse the links below to learn more general information about the program.
To receive the MD/MPH combined degree, students must fulfill all requirements for graduation from both schools before the graduation deadline.
While students develop MD/MPH competencies specific to both their medical and public health curricula (see below for links to specific competencies), the competency that bridges the public health curriculum with the medical school curriculum is that MD/MPH students graduate from the MD/MPH program with the ability to use educational experiences in the School of Medicine to apply population-based and public health findings and principles in assessing individuals and groups at risk of disease and injury and to translate these findings and principles into recommendations and actions for improved health in clinical practice settings.
SPHTM Requirements and Competencies
In addition to completing their School of Medicine curriculum, MD/MPH combined degree students must also complete the following requirements:
- Required core and programmatic courses in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine (SPHTM)
- Practicum (fulfilled, in part, with MD/MPH rotation)
- Culminating experience. All MD/MPH students are required to complete a culminating experience which requires students to synthesize and integrate knowledge acquired in coursework and other learning experiences. Your culminating experience should demonstrate to your public health advisor that you have mastered the body of knowledge and can demonstrate proficiency in core and departmental competencies.
- Additional departmental requirements: each department has specific requirements for programmatic and elective courses and the culminating experience. In some cases, departments may have additional requirements that students should verify with their SPHTM department.
Students should verify all requirements with their SPHTM department and should make contact with their advisors each semester to verify their progress toward their degrees.
MD/MPH competencies for each department mirror that department's general competencies, which are available at the following links:
- Epidemiology - MPH in Epidemiology competencies
- Global Biostatistics and Data Science - MSPH in Biostatistics competencies
- Global Community Health and Behavioral Science - MPH in Community Health Sciences competencies
- Environmental Health Sciences - MPH in Disaster Management competencies
- Health Management and Policy - MPH in Health Systems Management competencies
- Tropical Medicine - MPH&TM competencies
SOM Requirements
Courses in the School of Medicine that provide public health content and that MD/MPH combined degree students are required to take include the following:
- Foundations in Medicine I & II
- Family and Community Medicine clerkship
- MD/MPH one-month rotation (3rd or 4th year)
- Medical microbiology
- Genetics
- Clinical diagnosis (evidence-based medicine)
Any changes in the School of Medicine curriculum that reduce the public health content courses may require that MD/MPH combined degree students complete additional credit hours in the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine to meet degree requirements.
Generally, MD students are able to complete only a single combined degree during their customary time at SOM. Multiple combined degrees are generally not possible or advisable.
Tulane's MD/MPH program offers the following two options for students who have (1) earned a baccalaureate degree, and (2) already been admitted to Tulane University School of Medicine (SOM) and who wish to complete the requirements for both the medical degree and public health degree:
Four-Year Option (for incoming or T1 SOM students)
Applicants to the 4-year program must have earned a 28 or higher on the MCAT and/or a 504 or higher on the MCAT2015.
Requirements for the MD/MPH combined degree should be completed within 4 years: students must graduate with both degrees concurrently.
Students are strongly encouraged to begin the combined degree program the summer before their SOM curriculum begins. Students may begin the four-year program as late as the spring of their T1 year. If you have been admitted to SOM, you can apply for the four-year program. Please email Adam Maese for an application form.
Five-Year Option (for T2 or T3 SOM students)
Students who will require more than 4 years to complete the requirements for the medical and the public health degrees are also eligible for the MD/MPH combined degree program. Students choose this option for a variety of reasons, including a desire to focus exclusively on public health for a year, career exploration, Couples Match timing, and a host of other personal reasons.
In the five-year option, students must graduate with both degrees concurrently. The most common path for these students is to take a leave of absence from SOM after either the T2 or T3 year of medical school.
Students who choose this option have been admitted to SOM and are generally in their T2 or T3 years. Students may also begin the program by pursuing the four-year option and then opt to take a year off from SOM to complete the MD/MPH combined degree in five years. The requirements for both options are the same; however, the application process differs.
T4 students are not eligible to begin their public health studies as part of the five-year program in the MD/MPH combined degree program. However, T4 SOM students who wish to pursue a public health degree are encouraged to pursue their public health degree as a non-combined-degree student by applying directly to the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine and completing the public health curriculum for non-combined-degree students.
A student may not receive the MD degree and then continue working on MPH requirements as part of the MD/MPH combined degree program. A student may graduate with the MD degree and may continue working towards their public health degree, but must meet the full MPH, MSPH, or MPH&TM requirements for non-combined-degree students. MD/MPH students can discuss the non-combined-degree public health requirements with their public health advisors if they wish to delay completing their MPH requirements until after they earn their MD degrees.