Public Health PhD while in Med School

[DrJackRyan]

Hi all,

I'm currently finishing up my MPH and will start med school this fall. I have really enjoyed the research involved in my thesis and would like to further my education and likely end up in academia. My research interests are primarily clinically oriented with my MPH having a strong emphasis on social and behavioral determinants of health.

My questions is: Are there any PhD programs in public health (possibly epi or behaviorism, although not policy) that are capable of being completed in 2-3 years after giving me credit for my MPH and maybe even a few credit hours of med school? Of course my medical school would have to be flexible enough to allow me to travel and not be affiliated with them in between the 2nd and 3rd year of med school but I have a feeling that they would be alright with this judging by how flexible they've been with me up to now after doing the MPH portion of the DO/MPH... My school unfortunately doesn't offer a PhD in any public health discipline except for biomedical sciences that's associated with the med school and they like their bench research so that's out.

Thanks for the input!

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[vanilladicedicebaby]

Yes.... I know of one, but I can't recommend it. What is your current location?

 

[DrJackRyan]

Midwest... Location seems to be irrelevant, however, when I'm willing to move for the PhD.

Yes.... I know of one, but I can't recommend it. What is your current location?

 

[vanilladicedicebaby]

Midwest... Location seems to be irrelevant, however, when I'm willing to move for the PhD.

Well, TCOM/UNTHSC in Fort Worth, Tx but I can't say I would necessarily recommend the public health program.

 

[DrJackRyan]

Well, TCOM/UNTHSC in Fort Worth, Tx but I can't say I would necessarily recommend the public health program.

Thank you for the reply -- I'll look into it!

 

[Glammyre]

Thank you for the reply -- I'll look into it!

Would your be willing to go back to your MPH school as a PhD student? They seem like they'd be most likely to count your MPH courses towards the PhD.

 

[kisekira]

If your school allows (and you are willing), the UK has many options for 3-year PhD's that you could qualify for. I agree that your previous MPH school is more likely to shorten a PhD if you enrolled there, if you took the courses they'd expect.

If you plan on continuing to residency after medical school, another option which is very feasible is to the PhD then. Financially you will likely have much better funding options. But a downside is you can't use the PhD as a bonus to when you apply for residency (which, depending on how competitive you'll be going, may or may not be important).

 

[Solara]

Hi all,

I'm currently finishing up my MPH and will start med school this fall. I have really enjoyed the research involved in my thesis and would like to further my education and likely end up in academia. My research interests are primarily clinically oriented with my MPH having a strong emphasis on social and behavioral determinants of health.

My questions is: Are there any PhD programs in public health (possibly epi or behaviorism, although not policy) that are capable of being completed in 2-3 years after giving me credit for my MPH and maybe even a few credit hours of med school? Of course my medical school would have to be flexible enough to allow me to travel and not be affiliated with them in between the 2nd and 3rd year of med school but I have a feeling that they would be alright with this judging by how flexible they've been with me up to now after doing the MPH portion of the DO/MPH... My school unfortunately doesn't offer a PhD in any public health discipline except for biomedical sciences that's associated with the med school and they like their bench research so that's out.

Thanks for the input!

you can do a phd at any school. most med schools are okay with you taking time off. though a phd at another school could potentially be a stretch. usually it's preferred to do it at your own school, which probably isn't an option here. i've seen people do this, except they'll do the phd at a place like oxford or LSHTM where they can do the phd in 3 years. you'd have to be prepaerd to take anywhere from 3-5 years for a Phd in the US. are you okay with potentially 5 years break between M2 and M3?

i know you love public health research. i'm a med student who loves it too. you know what my advice would be? find a good research fellowship [1 or 2 years] to do during medical school. in my opinion it's better to do a fellowship where you're free to do your own research, rather than doing a phd where you do your research under the monumental task of completing a dissertation. a thesis is no joke. it's not easy to complete and you lose a lot of your time to fitting your research into a thesis. just do the same research w/o all the formalities of a phd. and it's easy to say this b/c you'll have a medical degree behind your name. it'd be a totally different thing if you didn't have one..

 

[Stories]

Generally, most people enroll in a MD/PhD program from the get go, rather than taking a hiatus in the middle of medical school.

Most of my classmates who were in the MD/PhD program did three years of medical school, then did the whole PhD, then finished up year 4 of medical school.