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Hello,
I'm an undergraduate student still looking for the right medicine/public health/biology career or program "fit." Right now, I'm leaning toward work in public health, specifically biostatistics or a quantitative subfield of epidemiology. My question is generally relevant to all public health practitioners, though. I realize that a general, broad knowledge of biology is helpful for any work in public health, but I was wondering--have there ever been times, in your practice/research, that your ignorance of the microbiological/biochemical details of a disease, drug, etc., seriously impaired your research goals? Or usually could you learn, or solicit from other experts, any relevant information on a need-to-know basis? Have you ever wished that you had gotten a research degree (MS/PhD) or professional degree (MD/PharmD) to acquaint you with the basic-science details of your research topic before you began analyzing the problem from the macroscopic lens of public health?
I started out in pharmacy school and decided I was really interested in population health. I am finishing up my PharmD degree (graduating in a few weeks!) and am also finishing up my first year of MPH classes (in a 2 year program). For me, having clinical training was very helpful. I expect to draw upon both sets of knowledge during my career.