I might seriously give up..

[AspiringPublicHealthVet]

So I am a recent veterinary graduate (outside of the US). I worked for a short while in private practice and disliked it. I constantly felt like I had tunnel vision in the clinic. I very much prefer work on a large scale, and something that benefits humans AND animals....that is why I decided to pursue vet public health. I am particularly interested in health education and communication, as well as capacity building in developing countries. The MPH programmes in the US seem good and all-encompassing.

However, whenever I keep searching for public health jobs, the results ALWAYS throw up jobs in the US state departments. I don't even qualify for these jobs because I'm not American. The international jobs also end up being traced back to the USA. If I actually did get the MPH, I foresee myself being limited to just my (tiny) country's state department....so very narrow range of jobs.

Just feeling grumpy at the moment. It looks like there isn't that great a need for public health veterinarians as people claim, if only Americans are able to pursue that field...I honestly think that the market is being monopolised. Does anyone know of places that hire which don't require US citizenship?

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[She-Hulk]

A lot of people get an MPH in the U.S., it is kind of a soft degree as it kind of introduces people to public health, though you may not get any hot in demand hard skills, and even people with an MPH in the U.S. struggle to find work, and may not end up in public health.

The US government creates a market for public health workers when the US taxpayers and voters decided that we need, for example, a public system in the US, or to do research in a public health field, such as zoonotic diseases.

Though some US government entities like the CDC through the EIS program will hire foreign noncitizen veterinarians (in the past only American doctors got an EIS fellowship, some of whom were avoiding fighting in the Vietnam War), for the EIS fellowship as there are zoonotic diseases. Of course, this is competitive, and they probably want you to have 2 or 5 years professional experience.

So, the US government actually does a lot to fund public health in other countries, as does private institutions such as the Gates Foundation, and in many cases foreigners are hired.

I guess the hope is that you'll return to your country and work on these issues, or maybe stay on at the CDC.

If your country's government decided to devote more resources to fund public health programs, then they'd create a market and would probably give preference to citizens of your country.

I think that the best public health school from a global standpoint is London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, just because it is a top/old school and because the student population is diverse and from a lot of different countries, so you'd learn a lot from your fellow students.

Some public health school in the US are very expensive and full of amazingly similar US public health students: a recent college graduate with little math skills, little awareness of global health issues, deeply invested in politics and modestly to moderately active in community issues. It's like watching that movie, Multiplicity, about a dozen times.

It would be much more cool to interact with somebody from a developing country who wants to bring back public health expertise to their country.

So, yes, there are opportunities out there (you haven't had time to learn about them), and you'll probably be best in a position to take advantage of them if you practice veterinary medicine for at least a couple years, and also network with veterinarians in your country.

 

[AspiringPublicHealthVet]

Thank you very much for your informative post - much appreciated.

I am working on reaching out to the state veterinarians (and doctors!) in my country. I do plan to work at least 4-5 years before pursuing further studies, and I plan on taking some online courses in the meantime - but do I really have to work in clinical veterinary medicine? As much as cats and dogs are still my life, I cannot foresee myself spending all of my time in a veterinary clinic. Ever since leaving my clinic job, I have joined my neighbourhood grassroots and Toastmasters' committee, and I am going to volunteer with a few state departments in my country - and I feel MUCH happier. I am looking into jobs as a community educator, or a biological workplace safety trainer...would that count as proper experience as well?

 

[She-Hulk]

There are no guarantees with planning for any type of career, the best advice I could give would be to research the career path of people who are in veterinary public health, and see how you can set yourself on that path.

I'm not a veterinarian! So, obviously I don't know a lot about this field. It seems like you don't want to be a veterinarian, though I'm guessing you would learn a lot by treating cats and dogs in the clinic and maybe other animals? Who knows, maybe you could work for a zoo and get more exotic experience. If you can't stand being a vetrinarian, then maybe you could go into public health, you'll have to assess what is best for you.

It seems that a "public health veterinarian", often works with a government to inspect cattle and other animals, as needed, and might practice general veterinary medicine the rest of the time, seems like you might want research experience and knowledge of creating disease control programs. If there are veterinary public health officers in your country, you should figure out how to meet them to get their advice, if not maybe you could immigrate to another country?

Thank you very much for your informative post - much appreciated.

I am working on reaching out to the state veterinarians (and doctors!) in my country. I do plan to work at least 4-5 years before pursuing further studies, and I plan on taking some online courses in the meantime - but do I really have to work in clinical veterinary medicine? As much as cats and dogs are still my life, I cannot foresee myself spending all of my time in a veterinary clinic. Ever since leaving my clinic job, I have joined my neighbourhood grassroots and Toastmasters' committee, and I am going to volunteer with a few state departments in my country - and I feel MUCH happier. I am looking into jobs as a community educator, or a biological workplace safety trainer...would that count as proper experience as well?