DrPH DrPh after MPH, requirments

[Truelotus]

Hey All,
I am loving my MPH at BUSPH. But, I hear that MPH's are a dime a dozen. And, if you want t a leadership role you need the DrPH. So I would like to go on, right after the MPH.

I worked for 6 years in housing before starting my MPH. What are the G.P.A requirements for the DrPH?
I would love to hear from Stories 🙂
Also, is there funding for the DrPH, or just the Phd? Does Harvard have funding? I think their DrPH is new. Anyone have experience there? I am working at Harvard now. Might that be an edge for admittance? If I only have a 3.8 for grad school, should I bust my ass to have the 3.9. If I only get a 3.8 but have a lot of great exp, will that be enough to get into the DrPh?

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[Bolingbroke]

Hey All,
I am loving my MPH at BUSPH. But, I hear that MPH's are a dime a dozen. And, if you want t a leadership role you need the DrPH. So I would like to go on, right after the MPH.

I worked for 6 years in housing before starting my MPH. What are the G.P.A requirements for the DrPH?
I would love to hear from Stories 🙂
Also, is there funding for the DrPH, or just the Phd? Does Harvard have funding? I think their DrPH is new. Anyone have experience there? I am working at Harvard now. Might that be an edge for admittance? If I only have a 3.8 for grad school, should I bust my ass to have the 3.9. If I only get a 3.8 but have a lot of great exp, will that be enough to get into the DrPh?

In academics, you need a DrPH, or PhD, in a related field. In the private world, having a DrPH helps. It is always advised to never enroll in a PhD program which charges their students, for both personal and professional reasons. I believe that BU is one of the few schools that charges for some of the DrPH programs, and they just won't get the talent pool that other schools get.

If you want policy/leadership, I would consider a PhD/DrPH at a place like JHU, Harvard, UNC or Columbia.

 

[Stories]

In academics, you need a DrPH, or PhD, in a related field. In the private world, having a DrPH helps. It is always advised to never enroll in a PhD program which charges their students, for both personal and professional reasons. I believe that BU is one of the few schools that charges for some of the PhD programs, and they just won't get the talent pool that other schools get.

If you want policy/leadership, I would consider a PhD/DrPH at a place like JHU, Harvard, UNC or Columbia.

Every school charges for their graduate programs, regardless of whether or not it's a PhD or not. Whether a student can secure funding to cover those expenses is entirely up to that student. At the time of admission, students can receive funding offers of various sizes (nothing, tuition only, tuition + stipend, etc.) and it's up to the student to decide if that's the right choice. In general, I would say that a doctorate is the right choice only if that student needs that degree for his/her career development. Not many jobs require a PhD and there are fewer jobs out there designed for someone with a PhD, so only get one if necessary. Becoming 'overqualified' is very quick once you have a PhD.

I know for a fact that many students at BU have an arrangement that is similar to UW in how PhD students receive funding. Most of them will work under a PI as a RA and in exchange, receive a stipend + tuition remission/waiver. So wherever you heard that PhD students don't receive funding is completely false.

The only school I know that doesn't charge their PhD students a dime is Yale. Every PhD student at Yale is 100% funded (in every department). One of the reasons Yale's graduate school has a much smaller enrollment than many competing Universities that do offer partial funded and non-funded positions.

While a MPH is a common degree, it's a common degree because it's versatile and teaches many skills which are useful in the work force. There are lots of jobs designed for someone with a MPH so finding those jobs is key. Having a PhD is a way to stand out--but it will exclude you from jobs that require only a MPH (i.e. overqualified). You'll stand out, but perhaps not in the way you think you might. Specific types of jobs need a PhD/DrPH: becoming an academic PI, research director, research associate (title varies by firm), technical specialist (consultant-ish title), and other specialized and technical positions which require expertise in a narrow area.

As it stands, funding for PhDs is very very very tight right now. It goes all way from NIH down to undergrads. It's tough to get in and even tougher to get funding. But if you really want a PhD, go for it. I loved the process of getting one, but I have the feeling that I probably wouldn't get in now if I tried to apply because it's become much more competitive in the years since I was a student.

 

[Bolingbroke]

Every school charges for their graduate programs, regardless of whether or not it's a PhD or not. Whether a student can secure funding to cover those expenses is entirely up to that student. At the time of admission, students can receive funding offers of various sizes (nothing, tuition only, tuition + stipend, etc.) and it's up to the student to decide if that's the right choice. In general, I would say that a doctorate is the right choice only if that student needs that degree for his/her career development.

There's a difference between PhD programs and DrPH programs, and a difference between science PhDs and others. In general, it makes very little to no sense to do a PhD without funding. If a school doesn't fund you, it kinda speaks to how little they value what work you could do for the school. PhDs in science are usually funded and most folks who do an unfunded PhD would tell you not to do it. Sorry, but I think it is poor advice to suggest that a student do a PhD without funding, and also that it is up to the student to secure funding, sometimes a department just doesn't have the money.

DrPH's are different, and it is not uncommon for DrPH student to feel inferior to PhD students with funding.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2509619/

 

[Bolingbroke]

I know for a fact that many students at BU have an arrangement that is similar to UW in how PhD students receive funding. Most of them will work under a PI as a RA and in exchange, receive a stipend + tuition remission/waiver. So wherever you heard that PhD students don't receive funding is completely false.

Sorry, I meant DrPH funding. Some schools have good funding opportunities for the DrPH, it may depend on part-time vs. full-time status, but it is critical for applicants applying to DrPH to know what the funding situation is. Given that DrPH programs have grown significantly, and due to employment issues, I don't think it makes sense to go to an unfunded DrPH program.

SDN should have a list of funded vs. unfunded DrPH programs, as well as info regarding funding opportunities.

DrPH'ers typically have work experience post MPH, and they can find jobs in hospitals, non-profits, and other places due to their educational experience.

 

[Stories]

Sorry, I meant DrPH funding. Some schools have good funding opportunities for the DrPH, it may depend on part-time vs. full-time status, but it is critical for applicants applying to DrPH to know what the funding situation is. Given that DrPH programs have grown significantly, and due to employment issues, I don't think it makes sense to go to an unfunded DrPH program.

SDN should have a list of funded vs. unfunded DrPH programs, as well as info regarding funding opportunities.

DrPH'ers typically have work experience post MPH, and they can find jobs in hospitals, non-profits, and other places due to their educational experience.

I can't claim to be the know-all of DrPH programs as the number of institutes offering the degree are relatively few, I've always been under the impression the degree is designed for working professions rather than full-time students. In this way, these students don't need funding in the same way a PhD student would (who is likely coming straight from a MPH/MS program).

There's a difference between PhD programs and DrPH programs, and a difference between science PhDs and others. In general, it makes very little to no sense to do a PhD without funding. If a school doesn't fund you, it kinda speaks to how little they value what work you could do for the school. PhDs in science are usually funded and most folks who do an unfunded PhD would tell you not to do it. Sorry, but I think it is poor advice to suggest that a student do a PhD without funding, and also that it is up to the student to secure funding, sometimes a department just doesn't have the money.

DrPH's are different, and it is not uncommon for DrPH student to feel inferior to PhD students with funding.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2509619/

Funding for a student is tied to the resources of the program at the time the student applies. One year, a program might have funding for 1 student but the following year they may have funding for 7. Funding comes and goes as grants expire, so it's not nearly as simple as what you've suggested. That said, I do think going into a PhD program without some source of funding or a waiver of school-related expenses is a hard under taking. Some students, however, may not be concerned with lack of funding and may chose to go this route if they wish. Financial decisions are entirely their own.

That is an interesting article and I appreciate the link. Here's the quote I found to be most interesting, and perhaps of interest to anyone involved in public health education:

The DrPH program continues to respond to requests for innovative part-time opportunities and for a distance-education version of the degree. The greatest challenge to developing these alternatives is convincing the full-time academic faculty that it is possible to maintain the high standards of analytic skills and disciplinary course work in such formats. In addition, the program is continually challenged to recruit practice-based faculty into an environment that is heavily research based and soft-money funded.

Due to the way that research and public health faculty work, a practice-oriented degree is often at odds because the traditional faculty members are worried with grant funding, publishing research, and training of graduate students (not necessarily teaching). The vast majority of faculty at research institutes (basically, every big school) are judged on promotion and tenure by their grant success and then by their publication record and lastly any other categories Goes to show the difficulties of figuring out how to have two worlds co-existing when they are so far apart.