Epidemilogy or Environmental Health?

[GUH]

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So I read this thread, but my interests are slightly different.

I'm about to start my MPH in September, and will have finished my undergraduate degree on Friday (woohoo). Although I do hope to some (distant) day take some science courses to boost my uSciGPA, enter med school and go into either family practice or preventive medicine, I am fully aware that the MPH degree is not the best way to boost my med school application-the reason I'm doing the MPH is because I have a genuine interest in public health and hope to work in the field.

I'm trying to decide between doing a concentration in Epidemiology or Environmental Health. Regarding job opportunities, I've heard that Epi has more job availability, but it seems that Environmental Health gets slightly higher salaries. Although I had some exposure to public health topics as an undergraduate, it was not really in-depth enough for me to really know which concentration I would prefer. As of right now, I'm signed up for Epi, but I still have a couple of months before it's set in stone.
Based on my undergraduate experience, I enjoy economics, health and security policy analysis, and basic sciences. My enjoyment of the basic sciences did not translate to excellent grades in Bio and OChem , although I did much better in a course that revolved around population ecology.

Are there any major differences in salary/lifestyle/job availability/job satisfaction between the two areas?

 

[ddsindamaking]

So I read this thread, but my interests are slightly different.

I'm about to start my MPH in September, and will have finished my undergraduate degree on Friday (woohoo). Although I do hope to some (distant) day take some science courses to boost my uSciGPA, enter med school and go into either family practice or preventive medicine, I am fully aware that the MPH degree is not the best way to boost my med school application-the reason I'm doing the MPH is because I have a genuine interest in public health and hope to work in the field.

I'm trying to decide between doing a concentration in Epidemiology or Environmental Health. Regarding job opportunities, I've heard that Epi has more job availability, but it seems that Environmental Health gets slightly higher salaries. Although I had some exposure to public health topics as an undergraduate, it was not really in-depth enough for me to really know which concentration I would prefer. As of right now, I'm signed up for Epi, but I still have a couple of months before it's set in stone.
Based on my undergraduate experience, I enjoy economics, health and security policy analysis, and basic sciences. My enjoyment of the basic sciences did not translate to excellent grades in Bio and OChem , although I did much better in a course that revolved around population ecology.

Are there any major differences in salary/lifestyle/job availability/job satisfaction between the two areas?

thats a good question iam looking for an answer too on this one? btw which school did you get accepted in? what were your stats? and what concentration did you end up choosing?

 

[GUH]

thats a good question iam looking for an answer too on this one? btw which school did you get accepted in? what were your stats? and what concentration did you end up choosing?

I was accepted to UCI and SDSU... those were the only ones I applied to, since they had to be public, in-state and have a fairly late application deadline for it to work for me.

I had an undergrad cGPA of 3.3 and a sGPA of 2.7-something (bleh), and a GRE of 1520 (800 quant, 720 verbal, 5.0 writing). Fortunately, MPH programs generally don't seem to calculate sGPA separately, which was definitely a good thing for me.

I picked Epidemiology and am enjoying what I'm learning so far, although I think Env. Health would have worked out just as well for all I know.

I'm still not sure which is the best choice career-wise though! Haha this is something I'm still talking about with the advisors in my program.

One important thing that has come up in my discussions with them is that demand for certain public health disciplines waxes and wanes with time- for example, epi was supposedly in very high demand back when we were worried about anthrax and bioweapons attacks. Right now Env. Health seems popular because of the focus on climate change, pollution, and all of that. So it seems possible that career-wise, opportunities for Public Health practitioners can come in cycles. However, getting a degree in Medicine (or Dentistry) can probably alleviate any worries about finding a job 😀- if a person can get in! In that case, the MPH will be useful because it helps a doctor or dentist to get a larger scope on the population-level effects of what they're doing, and can help with developing preventive interventions.

Fortunately, I'm still taking general MPH courses and technically can still switch if there is some compelling reason. But so far, epi seems really interesting.

Also, it's awesome to see a pre-dent interested in Public Health! There's plenty of work to be done in that area. Feel free to PM me.

 

[Wenjing]

Does Environmental Health get slightly higher salaries? I don't know, but I like EOHS :-D

EPID is a little diffcult for me~I don't take enough stats courses in my country.

You have a really good GRE score!

 

[ddsindamaking]

I was accepted to UCI and SDSU... those were the only ones I applied to, since

I had an undergrad cGPA of 3.3 and a sGPA of 2.7-something (bleh), and a GRE of 1520 (800 quant, 720 verbal, 5.0 writing). Fortunately, MPH programs generally don't seem to calculate sGPA separately, which was definitely a good thing for me.

I picked Epidemiology and am enjoying what I'm learning so far, although I think Env. Health would have worked out just as well for all I know.

I'm still not sure which is the best choice career-wise though! Haha this is something I'm still talking about with the advisors in my program.

One important thing that has come up in my discussions with them is that demand for certain public health disciplines waxes and wanes with time- for example, epi was supposedly in very high demand back when we were worried about anthrax and bioweapons attacks. Right now Env. Health seems popular because of the focus on climate change, pollution, and all of that. So it seems possible that career-wise, opportunities for Public Health practitioners can come in cycles. However, getting a degree in Medicine (or Dentistry) can probably alleviate any worries about finding a job 😀- if a person can get in! In that case, the MPH will be useful because it helps a doctor or dentist to get a larger scope on the population-level effects of what they're doing, and can help with developing preventive interventions.

Fortunately, I'm still taking general MPH courses and technically can still switch if there is some compelling reason. But so far, epi seems really interesting.

Also, it's awesome to see a pre-dent interested in Public Health! There's plenty of work to be done in that area. Feel free to PM me.

hey there plz chck yr inbox...🙂

 

[rachelbds]

hi i am applying fr mph for fall 2011...and am confused btw epi n eohs...i m not sure how interestd i am in stats and probability n all....wich is really imp for epi..but then..if needed i guess i can manage....eohs seems interesting...... but my aim is purely career oriented....so whatever give me a good job scope immedialty aftr graduation and a good salary i ll go for it...any suggestions pls.......