MPH, MD/MPH Rankings?

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I am at a point where I'm choosing between MD/MPH at Jefferson/Hopkins or OHSU/Oregon.

I've heard the Oregon MPH is ranked better than JHU, but this seems unreal. Does anyone know where I can specifically find MPH program rankings?

err.. jhu is always number 1 as far as i know. i'm not even sure ohsu is accredited. you can look this up on the asph website. that doesn't necessarily mean the program is weak. it may mean that the school doesn't offer all the concentrations required for accreditation. these rankings are u.s. news & world reports, and i believe they are rankings of the schools themselves rather than the mph degree specifically.

1. Johns Hopkins University (MD) 4.9
2. Harvard University (MA) 4.7
University of North Carolina--Chapel Hill 4.7
4. University of Washington 4.5
5. University of Michigan--Ann Arbor 4.2
6. Columbia University (NY) 3.9
7. University of California--Berkeley 3.7
University of California--Los Angeles 3.7
9. Emory University (GA) 3.6
10. University of Minnesota--Twin Cities 3.5
11. University of Pittsburgh 3.4
12. University of Texas--Houston Health Sciences Center 3.2
13. Boston University 3.1
Yale University (CT) 3.1
15. University of Alabama--Birmingham 3.0
16. Tulane University (LA) 2.9
University of Illinois--Chicago 2.9
18. St. Louis University 2.5
University of Iowa 2.5
University of Massachusetts--Amherst 2.5
University of South Carolina 2.5

i'm not even sure ohsu is accredited.

Clarification: OHSU may not be certified by the ASPH which is different from being "nonaccredited" period. I'm sure that OHSU carries the regional accreditation that all universities carry, but it may not carry the ASPH accreditation. And from what I've seen, it looks like the majority of MPH programs don't carry ASPH accreditation.

So i'm guessing you've already decided. But I'll put in my two cents anyway. If you're more interested in rural public health/ environmental issues affecting public health, I'd go with oregon. If you're more interested in innercity issues regarding public health, i'd go with hopkins. (And if you don't mind the crime.)

If you wanna do infectious disease or bioterrorism, Hopkins is where it's at. DA Henderson is an Epid demi-God, and he pulled down major Homeland security funding for the Center for Civilian Biodefense Studies.

Hell I think the only thing Hopkins SPH ISN'T #1 in is the Management and Policy Side, where UMich supposedly is #1.

Do you know who's top for urban health and tropical health- i dont exactly know the category. I mean , if I'm interested in health problems in tropical areas, including places like Ghana, India, Brazil..?

OHSU MPH better than JHU??

BWAHAHHAHAHAHAHA!!!!

sorry

Anyhow, I'd still look at Johns Hopkins for tropical diseases. You'd need a school with a strong international health program so you are educated in the suppor and administration of health programs overseas while you study the actual diseases themselves. Also I'd look into Tulane's specific tropical diseases department at their school of public health.

Urban and Tropical are generally on opposite ends of the academic spectrum. I'd say flip a coin and try to focus on one.

For urban you should look at Columbia U - they're in Manhattan and they put alot of emphasis on this area of research/experience.

For tropical, almost without question the best program is at the London School of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene. Little known in the States, the London school is a part of the U of London and is highly regarded in Europe (including WHO). It's spendy (all the privates are), but very highly respected. In general, their school is considered on par with or maybe even better than the top US schools.

That said - you'll never go wrong with Hopkins.

Thanks! But... what if i can't/don't get into hopkins?

The falloff in quality in MPH programs is steep from the top-tier to the second-tier, and then stays level across the majority of remaining schools. This means, if you have the ability and finances to go to Hopkins, Harvard, UNC, UMich, UWash, Columbia or Berkeley, you'll get the best training in public health in the country.

If you can't hit one of those top schools, you'll get a very good to excellent education at most of the other ones. GW is not a top-tier school, but they charge top-tier prices. You'll do just as well at UMass (actually a better program) or Tulane (also dramatically better in IH) than at GW.

Remember, you're going into a field that suffers from an inherent LACK of money. Paying top-dollar for your education is probably unwise unless you're getting a product that justifies the cost. Who's going to pay back your loans? African kids with cholera?

I'm not criticizing you, I'm in the same boat. You're not an idiot if you do go to GW - they do have good things to offer. But after a few classes there, I wished strongly that I'd spent dramatically less at a state school for roughly the same education. Now I need the people I ostensibly trained myself to help to pay off my loans. Quite a dichotomy.

Remember, no one gets rich helping poor people except the Clintons.

for tropical medicine, the schools that came to my mind were lshtm, johns hopkins, and tulane -- already mentioned on here. i looked into getting my drph in infectious disease epi and those were the programs that stood out. tulane is probably not too hard to get into.

Thanks for the imput. So I'm guessing the UCSF and Berkeley joint md/mph program would be good for urban health. I'm thinking en route to be director of public health in a major city. You guys are really helpful, i appreciate it.

That would be a top 1% combination. But Berkeley is easily a top 10 MPH program, and UCSF if top 10 or better med school. And it would be totally cheap.

But, if you're good enough to get into UCSF med., you can take your pick of MPH schools. They aren't nearly as competitive as MD programs. So, if you REALLY want to pay 500% more and go to Hopkins instead of Berkeley, I'm sure they'll let you in.

Originally posted by washkeep
Thanks for the imput. So I'm guessing the UCSF and Berkeley joint md/mph program would be good for urban health. I'm thinking en route to be director of public health in a major city. You guys are really helpful, i appreciate it.

One of my mentors while i was at Cal is the Cheif of Medical Science/Affairs at the CA Dept of Health. She did the JMP MD/MS UCSF/UCB program along with a UCB MPH, so yes, thats a good way to lead to major role as a director/administrator in public health for a major city... or state in this instance.