Getting an MPH

[orangeman25]

Hey fellow medical students,

I'm quite interested in getting an MPH (not exactly sure what concentration, but I have an idea), and have a few questions for the community.

1) Should I get an MPH during medical school or after?

2) Should I get the MPH from a top tier institution after I finish my medical education? Will that help more than getting the degree from a no-name public health school (no offense)

I have good experience working abroad and some in the states with the CDC, so this is definitely something that I want to tailor into my career goals. If anyone has experience going down this route or knows about it, please let me know!

Thanks

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[Medstart108]

Hey fellow medical students,

I'm quite interested in getting an MPH (not exactly sure what concentration, but I have an idea), and have a few questions for the community.

1) Should I get an MPH during medical school or after?

2) Should I get the MPH from a top tier institution after I finish my medical education? Will that help more than getting the degree from a no-name public health school (no offense)

I have good experience working abroad and some in the states with the CDC, so this is definitely something that I want to tailor into my career goals. If anyone has experience going down this route or knows about it, please let me know!

Thanks

If you are going to get an MPH might as well get one from a top institution if you can.

 

[notbobtrustme]

MPH won't help you in residency placement for the most part. If you get into public policy/healthcare policy, it might come in handy. Otherwise, you're just wasting time and money.

 

[ChrisGriffen]

If you want to be an MPH, why are you going to medical school?

 

[orangeman25]

MPH won't help you in residency placement for the most part. If you get into public policy/healthcare policy, it might come in handy. Otherwise, you're just wasting time and money.

Right. But most big time public health agencies (WHO, CDC, etc) prefer a public health degree when looking for employees. I've been accepted to DO schools which offer the mph dual degree which does not cost more than a "regular DO", but I'm trying to decide if it's better to get that mph degree from a better known public health school.

 

[orangeman25]

If you want to be an MPH, why are you going to medical school?

Because I don't want to spend my entire career as a clinician. I want to be a part of policy or administration at some level. I've worked at the CDC and the physicians there are leading very interesting caterers. And yeah mph is not necessary, but it helps a lot when trying to work with such organizations.

 

[orangeman25]

If you want to be an MPH, why are you going to medical school?

Also, to answer your question more completely, I want an MPH because my experiences have profoundly been in the public health field. I didn't have the classic shadowing, volunteering, and research that 95% of medical school applicants have. Being involved in public health issues is my number one motivation towards a career in medicine. An interest in an MPH and an interest in MD/DO aren't mutually exclusive.

 

[ChrisGriffen]

Because I don't want to spend my entire career as a clinician. I want to be a part of policy or administration at some level. I've worked at the CDC and the physicians there are leading very interesting caterers. And yeah mph is not necessary, but it helps a lot when trying to work with such organizations.

In that case, you may want to wait until you have finished medical school and then practice medicine for a while before getting an MPH. You may find that you really dont want to work in administration/policy 25 years from now.

Or

Get your mph and work in the field for a little, then decide if you really want to be a clinician.

You could save yourself some serious money and time if you realize which one you like.

Or you can do both at the same time. I know a ton of dual degree people who have no complaints. It adds 1 extra year of schooling, which in the big picture is really nothing

 

[ChrisGriffen]

Also, to answer your question more completely, I want an MPH because my experiences have profoundly been in the public health field. I didn't have the classic shadowing, volunteering, and research that 95% of medical school applicants have. Being involved in public health issues is my number one motivation towards a career in medicine. An interest in an MPH and an interest in MD/DO aren't mutually exclusive.

They SEEM like they go hand in hand. In the reality of todays medical field, they are quite different entities.

 

[hallowmann]

Realistically, you could save time/money taking it at the same time (lose your summer, but if you're interested why not), but it's not going to be impressive in a major academic settings coming from a random DO school. I would either defer and do a MPH now at a well-known academic program, or wait until after the DO.

That said, if I were in your exact situation, I'd ask my CDC buddies what they thought, and ask if it really matters to the CDC where you get your MPH from, especially if that's where you'd want to work in the future.

 

[orangeman25]

Realistically, you could save time/money taking it at the same time (lose your summer, but if you're interested why not), but it's not going to be impressive in a major academic settings coming from a random DO school. I would either defer and do a MPH now at a well-known academic program, or wait until after the DO.

That said, if I were in your exact situation, I'd ask my CDC buddies what they thought, and ask if it really matters to the CDC where you get your MPH from, especially if that's where you'd want to work in the future.

Perhaps it is better to pursue the degree after medical school, when I'm a bit further along in my career. But is it actually even possible to defer a year in order to pursue an MPH? I though deferments were for emergent reasons?

Thanks for the insight though, appreciate it.

 

[hallowmann]

Perhaps it is better to pursue the degree after medical school, when I'm a bit further along in my career. But is it actually even possible to defer a year in order to pursue an MPH? I though deferments were for emergent reasons?

Thanks for the insight though, appreciate it.

It really depends on the program. Some make it near impossible, others don't care what the reason is as long as you agree not to apply elsewhere in the interim. Obviously, see what your school's policy is before you make the decision to do anything.

 

[orangeman25]

They SEEM like they go hand in hand. In the reality of todays medical field, they are quite different entities.

I think that depends on what type of medicine and more importantly where you're practicing. Public Health includes a lot of different disciplines and is easily translatable to medicine in specific circumstances. Especially in the DO profession

 

[ChrisGriffen]

I think that depends on what type of medicine and more importantly where you're practicing. Public Health includes a lot of different disciplines and is easily translatable to medicine in specific circumstances. Especially in the DO profession

I think you are a little misinformed.

In American medicine, there is almost zero overlap between the two. I am not aware of any circumstance where BOTH degrees are useful.

You can either write policy or follow policy

Now over the course of a career you can switch between the two, but thats why I think you should wait on getting one of the degrees.

 

[IslandStyle808]

I think you are a little misinformed.

In American medicine, there is almost zero overlap between the two. I am not aware of any circumstance where BOTH degrees are useful.

You can either write policy or follow policy

Now over the course of a career you can switch between the two, but thats why I think you should wait on getting one of the degrees.

I would assume an MPH useful for those in occupational medicine & preventative medicine. A lot of residency/fellowship programs in these fields require the completion of an MPH at the end of training.

 

[IntriguedStudent]

I think you are a little misinformed.

In American medicine, there is almost zero overlap between the two. I am not aware of any circumstance where BOTH degrees are useful.

You can either write policy or follow policy

Now over the course of a career you can switch between the two, but thats why I think you should wait on getting one of the degrees.

There is a lot more to public health than just policy. Public health may not have a lot of direct overlap with clinical work, but the medical and public health fields can definitely work together/overlap slightly. As stated above, an MPH could help a lot in preventative medicine. For example, a clinician with an MPH degree could work on infection prevention protocols in clinical settings (which requires a lot of Epi knowledge). Clinical education and MPH are not as exclusive as you are making them out to be.

 

[ChrisGriffen]

There is a lot more to public health than just policy. Public health may not have a lot of direct overlap with clinical work, but the medical and public health fields can definitely work together/overlap slightly. As stated above, an MPH could help a lot in preventative medicine. For example, a clinician with an MPH degree could work on infection prevention protocols in clinical settings (which requires a lot of Epi knowledge). Clinical education and MPH are not as exclusive as you are making them out to be.

They really are.

You dont need to be a doctor OR an MPH to work on infection prevention protocols. Actually, 99% of the time nurses do that.



Everybody seems to think that an MPH doc would be better at giving vaccines and mammograms and such. Preventative medicine is the standard of care, and anything extra doesn't get paid for by insurance.

So yea, your MPH probably would know more about the yearly dengue fever screening. In REALITY that knowledge means nothing to clinical practice.

And yes, it would help if you wanted to be in occupational medicine. That was a good point. I forgot it even existed. It is super niche, but MPH is pretty crucial there.

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

MPH won't help you in residency placement for the most part. If you get into public policy/healthcare policy, it might come in handy. Otherwise, you're just wasting time and money.

I have an MPH. It was paid for by my institution because I was a graduate research assistant. The only thing it cost me was time.

If you are going to medical school, I would not recommend it unless you do not need to incur any further debt in order to obtain it.

 

[Cytarabine]

I have an MPH. It was paid for by my institution because I was a graduate research assistant. The only thing it cost me was time.

If you are going to medical school, I would not recommend it unless you do not need to incur any further debt in order to obtain it.

I have an MPH. I paid for it despite doing it as part of a combined MD/MPH. I agree with Buckeye's last line, except I'd add that I'd only do it if it had a reputation for being a strong public health program. Also, roll tide @Buckeye(OH)

 

[Buckeye(OH)]

I have an MPH. I paid for it despite doing it as part of a combined MD/MPH. I agree with Buckeye's last line, except I'd add that I'd only do it if it had a reputation for being a strong public health program. Also, roll tide @Buckeye(OH)

I bleed scarlet and gray but no way are we gonna pull a win off.

 

[GUH]

OP, an MPH may help you if you earn one in a field relevant to your professional interests, are going into health policy or preventive medicine, or if you plan to teach public health courses. If you want to do environmental health research, for example, then an MPH with a focus on epidemiology or environmental health could certainly be useful for the practical skills that you will learn. It can also help boost your GPA if you are still applying to medical schools. As far as which program to attend, it may or may not matter depending on what you plan to do with it. Just make sure to attend a CEPH-accredited program to retain eligibity for certification in public health which, again, may or may not be important depending on what kind of work you plan to do and where

tl;dr attend a CAPH-accredited program if you really feel that an MPH will help your career.

I would assume an MPH useful for those in occupational medicine & preventative medicine. A lot of residency/fellowship programs in these fields require the completion of an MPH at the end of training.

Correct. As far as the programs I've looked into, it seems that all of them require you to earn an MPH during residency.