MPH Having Difficulty Deciding on a Concentration

[JakZ95]

I entered my MPH program as a Community Health concentration (or its equivalent). However, now I'm having doubts about sticking with it because I'm afraid that it's not as marketable as other concentrations (ex. Epi/Biostats). I was considering switching into Epi/Biostats, but community health is a little more interesting in me (though I do appreciate aspects of Epi/Biostats). Has anyone else been in a similar situation and can offer some advice?

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[LookForZebras]

I agree with you that community health is not as marketable as other concentrations. Epi/biostats is more marketable, and would give you higher income-earning power. If you hated epi/biostats with a passion, I'd tell you to stick with community health. However, since you say that community health is a little more interesting and that you appreciate aspects of epi/biostats, I recommend making the switch! You can still do community health-related electives, or choose community-type topics for certain projects in non-community health classes, and be active in clubs and other school activities that are relevant to community health. That way you're still focusing on what you like best, but you'll be coming away with a better skill set.

 

[wwmmkk]

Absolutely agree with @LookForZebras. One thing I've realized by going to a concentration-optional school is that it matters way less what track you put on your resume and way more what skills and accomplishments you have when you graduate. What track you do during your MPH doesn't have to predict where your career goes. I would bet that community health settings want people with "hard" epi/biostats skills too [though the reverse is not likely true]. I think if you do epi/biostats, you'll have more professional options that interest you, and you can always take electives that teach you community health related skills like grant writing, program evaluation, etc. Also, since epi and biostat are more skill-based than content-based, you can choose to do projects in those courses or for your capstone that apply epi/biostat skills to more community-health-like topics.

 

[JakZ95]

I agree with you that community health is not as marketable as other concentrations. Epi/biostats is more marketable, and would give you higher income-earning power. If you hated epi/biostats with a passion, I'd tell you to stick with community health. However, since you say that community health is a little more interesting and that you appreciate aspects of epi/biostats, I recommend making the switch! You can still do community health-related electives, or choose community-type topics for certain projects in non-community health classes, and be active in clubs and other school activities that are relevant to community health. That way you're still focusing on what you like best, but you'll be coming away with a better skill set.

Thanks!

 

[JakZ95]

Absolutely agree with @LookForZebras. One thing I've realized by going to a concentration-optional school is that it matters way less what track you put on your resume and way more what skills and accomplishments you have when you graduate. What track you do during your MPH doesn't have to predict where your career goes. I would bet that community health settings want people with "hard" epi/biostats skills too [though the reverse is not likely true]. I think if you do epi/biostats, you'll have more professional options that interest you, and you can always take electives that teach you community health related skills like grant writing, program evaluation, etc. Also, since epi and biostat are more skill-based than content-based, you can choose to do projects in those courses or for your capstone that apply epi/biostat skills to more community-health-like topics.

Thanks! Just out of curiosity, what are you concentrating in, and what made you pick that concentration?

 

[wwmmkk]

Thanks! Just out of curiosity, what are you concentrating in, and what made you pick that concentration?

I'll let you know when I figure it out!

But seriously, I applied to community health/social behavioral health programs, and I didn't realize at the time that Brown (1) doesn't make anyone declare a track until the end of their first year and (2) has a Generalist track which, unlike other schools, is more like "fulfill the 6 core requirements and then take other courses you want in some coherent fashion". I'll probably do the Generalist track so I can take a pretty even combination of courses in the Behavioral & Social Science and Epidemiology departments, but there's a chance based on course scheduling that I end up fulfilling the requirements for BSS anyway. I'm more concerned with skills and research methods (because I think that is what will ultimately be useful in my job search and/or PhD apps) than with any particular content (though I do plan on taking a couple content-heavy classes as electives).