How Important is Epidemiology and SAS ?

[Leukocyte]

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So I am about to start my MPH degree in few weeks and I still do not know what concentration I want to take. My options are:

Biostatistics
Epidemiology
Enivomental Health
Community Health
Health Administration

So I want to work as a public health Medical Officer ( MD, MPH) in a public health goverment organization (CDC, DOH, HHS....)

So as a public health Medical Officer in the DOH or CDC, how important is it to have knowledge of advanced epidemiological methodology and knowlegde of SAS?

I am assuming as a Medical Officer, a healh administration concentration is more appropriate, but part of me is saying public health is essentially epidemiology. It is all epidemiology. A "Medical Officer" is essentially a Medical Epidemiologist!

So having said this, do you think a Medical Officer should have more expert knowledge in advanced methodology and SAS? Or should they have more expert knowlegde in public health policy, administration, community health assesment, and ecomimics?

In my program, the MPH in Epidemiology curriculum is EXACTLY like the MS in Epidemiology curriculum. No difference what so ever. If I go the MPH in Epidemiology route I will have to take extra classes in advanced methodology and biostatistics with SAS. If I go the MPH in Health Administration route I will only have to take general Epi and Biostat, in addition to advanced health managment, health program planning, QC, and community health assesment courses.

So what should I do? Do I need advanced methodology, SAS and advanced biostatistics to function as a public health Medical Officer or is it more important for me to have advanced knowledge in health administration and community health assessment?

Thanks

 

[hypersting]

Take as many of the epi and biostat classes that you can. For what you want to do, you really need to understand multivariable analysis. For instance, if you were doing surveillance on salt reduction and it's impact on cardiovascular disease, how would you take into account differing ages, sex differences, ethnic differences, baseline clinical profiles, etc. Also, doing those classes give you a tangible skillset that you can use when applying for a job. Having the ability to actually perform an analysis correctly is a powerful thing. Furthermore, it will help you when you do your thesis project. While some of the management things are certainly useful and necessary, the skillset you develop is less quantifiable. Usually employers value actual management experience higher than classroom experience.

I would think about what kinds of projects you are going to do with your residency and pair your classes appropriately. Are you going to mine datasets to elucidate mechanisms of disease or are you going to develop and implement a novel community teaching curriculum or are you going to try to change a something on a policy level? These are just some examples, but I think having some projects that directly allow you to apply your educational skills will be most valuable. If you are more towards the latter options, than maybe my earlier advice should be tempered and you should take more of the management classes.

 

[MolBio]

So I am about to start my MPH degree in few weeks and I still do not know what concentration I want to take.

I am assuming as a Medical Officer, a healh administration concentration is more appropriate, but part of me is saying public health is essentially epidemiology. It is all epidemiology. A "Medical Officer" is essentially a Medical Epidemiologist!

Thanks

My understanding of health administration is limited, but the way I understand it is typically geared more towards the administration of health facilities or organizations, especially hospitals. The skill set emphasizes "operations", and is somewhat distinct from working on the health of "populations" more broadly, although there is certainly some overlap but perhaps one reason why many schools separate out a different degree altogether (the MHA or masters in health administration).

A doc working for a public health department (city, state, federal, or international) typically will not focus on specific health facilities. My feeling is that the more natural extension of this type of work is actually Health Policy - that is, setting policies at the city, state, federal level that would improve the health of your target populations. After all, most of these departments are part of the government. If you start off in Epi, which is a very useful skill set to have, you will begin by first informing those policies by collecting, analyzing and synthesizing relevant data. That being said, you will have to balance a budget if you run a health department, so having MHA financial and budgeting skills is not unwelcome from an operations perspective.

Of the options you listed, health administration is actually the option I would select last (personally, if in your position) unless you really do want to work with hospitals. Epi would probably be the most useful here. Just my 2c.

mb