Career Indecision!! PA school? MPH?

[alexela07]

(Is anyone else an INFP here?!) lol...ok in all seriousness..

Idk what's wrong with me. Both my parents are physicians, so I grew up loving medical talk...but I've always kept my options open and academically, have been pretty weak in Chem and math. So my undergrad (from a top 50 school) was in Philosophy, minors in Communications and Theatre...yes, i'm fully aware this is pretty immature and I have some regrets I always knew I would end up in medicine/healthcare (I love reading about diseases and conditions, and interpreting imaging/tests lol) However, 6 years later, and after attempting to go after one of my career interests (national security which has become limbo for over 2 years...), I thought an MPH would house all interests from National Sec to Media/Art and medicine. So here I am, applying to grad school in a rush for Fall 2019 (oh, to add to the mix, both my parents have become cancer patients which I think has advanced my direction to the field a little earlier). I really like bridging communications and health, but I also like clinical and have considered PA but i would have to take ALL pre-reqs...i just want to honor my parents tbh, and make use of the medical knowledge lol.

Have any of you been in the same boat? Did you pursue an MPH before PA or do a Post-bacc?? When it comes to individual level of treating a patient, would you see yourself getting burned out? Honestly though, ANYTHING is better than my cubicle job....I need to be more proactive lol

Thank you in advance and sorry for the rambling!

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[MusicDOc124]

By your statements of "I just want to honor my parents," "anything is better than my cubicle job....I need to be more proactive," and stating that your interests are somewhat widespread, it sounds like you'd more enjoy the MPH. You shouldn't do something just to appease parents. And when you use "proactive" and talk about healthcare, national security, and media/art, it seems you heavily lean toward MPH by comparison.

 

[alexela07]

By your statements of "I just want to honor my parents," "anything is better than my cubicle job....I need to be more proactive," and stating that your interests are somewhat widespread, it sounds like you'd more enjoy the MPH. You shouldn't do something just to appease parents. And when you use "proactive" and talk about healthcare, national security, and media/art, it seems you heavily lean toward MPH by comparison.

Thank you for your input Oh, I didn't mean to come off as if my parents are pushing me into medicine or any specific career...they are definitely not, and they have supported whatever I choose...just as long as I pick something, which clearly I'm having a hard time with lol.

Also, do you (or anyone) think it matters where you obtain your MPH from? As much as I want to get out of FL, i appled to UF and was accepted. I'm waiting to hear from Emory. Given my 3 week GRE prep, 6 years post-undergrad, I completely understand why the other schools didn't accept me. But I see UF isn't highly ranked for MPH...idk whether to wait a whole other year and move away for a bit, or just get it over with (I turned 30 this year)

 

[Wolfie7]

Hey there! I’m going into my second year of my MPH in epidemiology and just applied MD! Personally, I don’t think it matters so much where you get your MPH. It matters what kind of experiences you get out of it. I’m doing an awesome internship that’s providing the data for me to write and publish a journal article, and my internship has built in some physician shadowing so that’s always awesome. When I applied for my MPH program, I also applied pretty late in the game and only in reaction to my first MCAT result. So I applied to three schools (SDSU, University of Colorado, and Tulane) and got into all. Ultimately I went with the most affordable program (SDSU). Sure, it’s not the highest ranked, but I’ve made some good connections and I’ve learned a lot! Good luck!!

 

[theITcrowd]

Touro California has a PA/MPH program. Sounds like it might be up your alley. The MPH market is saturated now so you should definitely have a plan to stand out, whether that means becoming a clinician or furthering your studies in public health. The MPH degree by itself isn’t super marketable anymore, at least in my state.

 

[chicandtoughness]

The MPH degree by itself isn’t super marketable anymore, at least in my state.

Unless you want to work in government doing analysis in your state's department of health. Then they loooove epi/biostats majors.

Rankings do not matter. One of my fellow co-workers (in the state dept of health, yes) had an online MPH from a small state college and she got paid just as much as the rest of us.

You will also not earn very much with the MPH (unless you do biostats), so consider that carefully when looking at tuition costs.

 

[peregrino]

(Is anyone else an INFP here?!) lol...ok in all seriousness..

Idk what’s wrong with me.

Another INFP here.
And there is nothing necessarily wrong with you. Just because you come from a family of physicians does not mean that you must become one yourself. Even if that is meant to honor your parents and are weak in the sciences.
You are potentially a free thinker and have freedom of choice. Far too many premeds go into medicine to please their parents and not themselves. Bad decision. A better decision is to do what fascinates you, more likely to excel in the endeavor. And there is plenty of science in some MPH curriculums.