Dual DO/MPH Degree - Good idea?

[IlovePI]

I have been accepted to an University for their College of Osteopathic Medicine (DO). They offer a dual DO/MPH program. Completing the two concurrently allows me to claim 12 "in common" units, which means I would only need to complete and pay for 30 units of the 42 unit requirement for MPH.

This sounds like a great idea to me because I am unsure which direction I want to take with medicine and the MPH opens doors. However, I do not know anyone with an MPH and I do not know any DO's to ask their opinions.

It is also important to note that this University's MPH program is not yet accredited.

Any advice or opinion is welcome. Thank you for your help in advance!

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[aterry]

If you are interested in getting your MPH for free...check out Nova Southeastern. The program is accredited and they give you a scholarship basically if you are in the DO program and you graduate in the same time frame as just the DO alone. I am seriously considering this (going to NSU in the fall) and have been told that it gives you a lot of choice as far as how you use your DO other than patient practice. You could get into policy development, epidemiology and of course teaching. I think the courses will help me see where my practice can fit into a broader need in the local and global community. I wonder also if it makes you more attractive for residency programs. Thanks for starting this thread....I am wondering about the opinions out there too!

 

[Altruist]

You might be interested to read this:
http://www.une.edu/com/publichealth/shannon.asp

It's one DO/MPH's answer to the question "what does an MPH do for a physician?"

 

[tideleonheart]

You know, I have a similar opportunity with a DO/PhD through Virginia Tech and VCOM, but when I really got introspective about it, I found out that I wasn't really thinking about it because I had a genuine interest in the subject, I just thought it'd look good. That's why I'm not really thinking about it anymore.

So, my words of advice (in the form of a question): is it something you genuinely and not greedily want to do?

 

[Live4Life]

If you are really interested in getting a MPH, complete a preventive medicine residency after your primary residency. Preventive medicine residencies are two years, the first year you earn a MPH which is paid for by the residency and the second year you get to put to use your MPH by working in public health. The best known preventive medicine program is at Hopkins (http://www.jhsph.edu/GPMR), but there are tons of them all over the place. Why pay for an MPH when you can get paid to earn one.

The only catch is that you have to complete at least a one year internship before you are eligible for a preventive medicine residency program.

 

[Altruist]

Preventative health is the only field that I'm aware of where you are required to have an MPH in order to be board-certified. If community public health is what you want to do, it's the best way to do it.

That said, there are other specialties in public health--epidemiology, emergency preparedness, and medical education are examples-- and these may be more interesting if you want the MPH to do other things. There are other residencies/fellowships that offer the MPH as an option. For example, EMS fellowships often do. These fellowships are meant for ER-trained docs who want to do research in prehospital medicine or want to be medical control officers for ambulance services. Can't say MPH without mentioning Hopkins, so wouldn't you know they have a program:
http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/emer...rams/residency_fellowships.html#EMSfellowship

And tideleonheart, I agree 100%. I've played the "how many letters can I get behind my name" game long enough. D.O. will be just fine.