Health policy - Yale MPH vs. JHU MSPH

[justdroppingby]

Hi everyone,

I have been reading through the posts and there isn't much information for public health - health policy track.

Currently, I am wrestling between Yale MPH (health policy) and JHU MSPH in Health Policy.
Both are amazing programs and honestly, I would be happy anywhere I attend.
However, I'm concerned about the my prospects after graduation.

I haven't decided whether I want to pursue a PhD after my master's, but it's likely.
That said, JHU's MSPH requires shorter amount of time on coursework (one year coursework, one year full-time employment) compared to Yale's MPH (or MPHs in general).

Could you please help me weigh out the pros and cons of either of these programs if I do or do not decide to go to PhD? (i.e., better research prospects at X than Y; better job prospects at Y than X)


Thanks in advance for your help!!!

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[Emsy]

I was in the Health Policy Analysis track at Columbia, in hindsight I wish I applied to Hopkins because of the 1 year of full time employment aspect. You learn a lot more on the job, which has been the case for me interning on the federal level.

Here's the sad fact right now, it's hard to find a job in this world. I have been looking for a job for 6 months (well before I graduated in December) and have gotten to final interview rounds with places only to not get the job. The market is bad due to lots of places losing government funding. Many of my classmates are in the same boat, I knew of only one person who had a job set up before graduation in December. Many have only found a job recently (4 months out of school), with a lot still unemployed or working at their unpaid internships.

I have no plans to go the Ph.D route, in some places like Mathematica Policy Research, you can advance to a high level research position without a Ph.D. Other places like Rand and Urban Institute, you'll hit a ceiling eventually if you only have a Master's.

Are you thinking of applying to these programs or you have an offer in hand? I would even consider a MPP over an MPH because that opens the job market up further for you especially if you want to work on the state/federal level by not limiting yourself solely to health policy.

 

[Pdesai8]

Do you have much work experience going into your MPH? If not, I would say go with JHU to get the 1 year employment. It'll be a lot easier to get a job afterwards.