my question is how do people become excellent in disaster management? Where would one go in order to become the most well prepared so that stepping onto the field would be less hazardous to those involved?
Regardless of what school you go to the only place to become "excellent" in disaster management is in the field through experience. In the Peace Corps I experienced a true disaster, about 6 months into my time there my site was devastated by a typhoon that arrived 12 hours before we expected it and hit us dead on. My tiny, poor, rural town had never been hit like this and we were all completely unprepared. I was encouraged to take a site change because of the health threats and lack of infrastructure left in the wake, but I figured that's when they needed me most. I focused most of my projects on water/sanitation, health, and reduction of diseases like malaria, dengue, and tuberculosis (which is not spread by flood waters but seemed to be exacerbated by the living conditions). When I left almost 2 years later I would say they were about 60% recovered. We didn't have the resources or the support needed to make a fast/efficient recovery and honestly, no matter how much help I brought in it didn't make that much of a difference because of cultural & bureaucratic obstacles. Culture will ALWAYS play a huge part in disaster relief and it's something that you can't prepare for in a classroom.
In addition to this, it's often frustrating to deal with the NGOs or other donating agencies you may work with (someone else mentioned that you often have to bring your own supplies, etc). I spent weeks coordinating donations for my town of clothing for people whose only change of clothes were washed away in the flood. I finally got a package from well-meaning Americans (not my friends, but through a highly recognized US-based NGO) which turned out to be boxes of
winter clothing. Seriously, for people in the Philippines where it never gets below 150 degrees in most of the country (obviously an exaggeration, but it felt like it) - it was winter in the US, and most people are not privy of the different climates of other parts of the world so they just assumed it was winter in the PI as well...regardless, this wasn't even filtered out by the NGO which should have known better. Often times you are tripped up because you get a whole lot of stuff you don't need and none of the stuff you do...so you have to learn how to circumvent these obstacles quickly (it's a disaster, you don't have time to send the stuff back, right? and you can't just go down the street to a Walmart, and you may not have good phone or internet access if the disaster was serious enough) - anyhoo, this is just another thing that you can't really learn in a classroom, but will be best experienced in the field.
You may have had experience with this in the past, but if you haven't had any long-term international development experience then it's something that you just can't explain, you just have to take the time to volunteer/get on research projects/etc.
By the way, I just realized you didn't specify if you wanted to work internationally, but I'm just assuming that you plan to since disasters occur all over and it seems like you wouldn't have steady work if you only responded domestically. Ignore this if you aren't
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Soooo, basically, my advice is, that if you really want to make the biggest difference/become the most prepared, then look for programs that encourage and have many opportunities to participate in field experience while you are in school! My friend Matt is in his third year of medical school at Vanderbilt and he wants to do disaster response (but only intermittently so he is not getting an MPH or anything else), he and I worked in Africa together and that's where he wants to focus. He has spent any breaks he has had from med school working on medical missions that the school or an affiliated organization does. In his case an NGO or the school has paid his way and for his food and lodging every time because they need the skilled personnel...I bet it would be pretty easy for you to get plenty of experience if you searched it out not only while you are getting your MPH but also while you are in med school.
Just my two cents, good luck!!
