Hi, and welcome to the consulting prep world.
First, the reframe: an MPH is not a gap to apologise for. You can (and should) even use it as a differentiator. MBB actively recruits advanced-degree candidates from non-business fields (MDs, PhDs, lawyers, public-health folks), and healthcare and public sector are among their biggest practices. Your background is an asset. I made a similar transition myself: from engineering master’s at ETH Zurich to McKinsey.
The key thing to internalise: MBB interviews don’t test business knowledge. You won’t be quizzed on accounting or finance. They test how you think i.e., structured problem-solving, clean quantitative work, and clear communication. That’s why “which business classes” is the wrong first question; a semester of microeconomics won’t move the needle like getting genuinely good at the skills relevant for case interview will.
Here is how I‘d prioritize your time: first, case skills: structuring, driver-tree thinking, hypothesis-led reasoning etc. This is the real gatekeeper. Second, mental math: fast, confident arithmetic without a calculator. Coming from research you likely have the horsepower; the work is making it quick under pressure. Third, just enough business literacy to be conversant: how companies make money, profit as revenue minus cost, basic unit economics. You need the grammar of business, not an MBA.
For someone with your background, the real gap is rarely the analysis; it’s translating quantitative instinct into the structured, answer-first language interviewers reward. That’s the exact thing I had to learn, and the exact thing I coach.
If useful, I offer a free 15-minute intro call. Happy to look at your starting point and map a realistic path from MPH to MBB. Either way, you’re starting from a stronger position than you think.
Kind regards,
Gianni
