Good MD/MPH schools

[starlight15]

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I'm interested in dual degree MD/MPH programs but not 100% sure at this time. I know for med schools everyone gets basically the same education and training but it's different for schools of public health.

Does anyone know which schools are better for getting an MPH? I know Johns Hopkins and Berkeley (through UCSF) has good PH schools. It seems like most schools I've looked at offer dual degree programs but I want to know if they are actually considered "good." I'm interested in global health/community health.

Thanks!

 

[Mt Kilimanjaro]

Get the MD and use JHUs open courseware to learn for free is another option.

 

[starlight15]

Well if I was to take PH courses I'd either want to do it as elective classes or actually get the degree at some point.

 

[LizzyM]

Are you interested in a 4-year program or 5-years?

If it is a 4 year school, you'll need to be a strong enough student to get into the MD program iteself before you can tackle the MD/MPH. Tufts, Northwestern and Tulane offer 4 year programs and there are others.

If you prefer a 5-year plan you can always take a year off and do a one-year, full-time program at any MPH degree program and then go back to your MD program. UMichigan, Yale and many others offer that option.

 

[Soulstice]

For what it's worth, your experience may vary but I've heard from a lot of people who opt to do the four-year track that you definitely feel the crunch from the dual workload (and that it cuts into a decent amount of your spare time that would otherwise be used for other activities/research.

 

[starlight15]

I would ideally want to do a 4 year plan but I feel that at this point I can't make a decision whether I want to get an mph or not, I would prefer to decide after I matriculated. For the schools with 5 year programs, I didn't know you could attend another school's public health school--do they offer 1 year programs for "outsiders"?

I guess my main question was that I know not all mph schools are created equal and if anyone knows of better schools to apply to for MD (so I can keep thr mph option open). Thanks so much!!

 

[wholeheartedly]

A lot of MPH programs are two years, except for those who have or are working on MD's or DVMs or whatever. So yes, a lot of schools will let a med student from another school do a 1 year MPH program. Although I think the 1 year thing can be misleading as it seems like you cram your courses into summer/fall/winter/summer and maybe tie up loose project ends afterwards. But it varies by program. The MPH program at my school has MD students from quite a few places come here to do their MPH.

I'm doing an MPH prior to med school and I like that I've had some time to explore my interests instead of cramming everything into a year when I might not be sure of the exact path I want to take. However, there are a lot of different ways to go about this if you aren't exactly sure if you want to do it.

Some people have suggested that it's better to do the MPH after you have the MD for reasons of cost and practicality. Some residency or fellowship programs will allow you time to do it, a couple even fund it. In that scenario you already know what you're going to be practicing so you can tailor your MPH courses to fit your actual career instead of guessing how you might use it after just finishing M2 when you might not even know for sure what you'll be practicing.

Basically, you have a lot of options to consider. If you really aren't sure at this point, you can always change your mind and do it at several other points.