MPH Global Health Bubble

[She-Hulk]

Ran across an interesting article,

http://www.bdkeller.com/2014/02/is-there-a-global-health-bubble-or-should-you-get-an-mph/

The really interesting stuff is in the comments where you've got folks who got an MPH and who are now on the hiring side of things and they're saying that they prefer to hire people who have just a bachelors degree and two years work experience versus those who go straight from college to the MPH without much solid work experience.

The article talks about how the number of public health schools offering 'global health' tracks has skyrocketed, yet getting hard skills should be the top priority.

The bottom-line seems to be that it's not all doom and gloom, people get amazing jobs, and some don't, but that having work experience before getting the MPH helps with the job search afterwards as well as helping students get more out of the MPH.

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[agh2415]

I think you can apply this to most fields. Employers would rather have someone with a bachelor's and 2 years experience over someone who got a MBA right after undergrad.

Schools can be partially blamed for this, in my opinion. I see a lot of 4+1, BA/MPH programs popping up.

 

[Solara]

Thanks for sharing this article. Nice to see someone write about the topic.

Given the rise in people applying for MPHs, they're becoming big sources of revenue for a lot of schools (this can be said for a lot of different degrees; I wonder how MPHs compare to other degrees in terms of how much revenue they generate for schools).

I also wonder how the market is for PhDs. I certainly don't think there's a bubble like there is for MPHs, but not every newly minted PhD is in hot demand, unless you maybe did your PhD in Epi/Biostats and have a strong quantitative background. Off the top of my head, I know there's a huge bubble of Biomed/Biology PhDs, very few of whom can get jobs as tenure-track professors. Many become post-docs, or go into industry. In my opinion, an MD is a good way to set yourself apart (even if you don't want to practice medicine and want to primarily work in global health), but it's quite expensive and a long road.

So yea, going to a prestigious school (harder now given that competition gets more fierce every year), doing unpaid internships at prestigious organizations and making valuable connections, developing skill sets, these are all important to set yourself apart given the sheer amount of people doing MPHs now. I think most people need to be honest with themselves about whether they really need an MPH given the financial investment and prospect of getting a job after graduation. For some, the MPH is the straightforward and necessary choice. And as the above poster mentioned, a Bachelor's and relevant experience might be preferable compared to a Masters degree, depending on the circumstance.

Long post - this discussion could go on forever