London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine vs. Swiss TPH

[mtldog]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking for anyone who can provide some information and help shed some light on my dilemma. I know there have been many posts where people ask for some opinions in comparing two different schools (a lot about LSHTM vs school X). However, seems like no one has mentioned LSHTM vs Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute.

I know most of you are aware of the existance of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine (which right away helps answer my question). I've been offered admission to their MSc in Control of Infectious Diseases. I was very excited to accept their offer, but looking into the costs of tuition and living in london for a year is starting to get me a little nervous. Basically, tution is £18,815 (about 29,000$ Canadian) and living in London for a year would cost another £20,000 (over 30,000$ Canadian). So I would need about 60,000$ on student loan/line of credit. CRAZY!

There is a school in Basel, Switzerland called the Swiss TPH (part of the University of Basel) and I am considering applying for their MSc Epidemiology programme. Their tuition (for the full 1.5 year programme) is roughly 2,100$ Canadian... that's about 27,000 cheaper for tuition alone! It isn't EXACTLY the programme that I want but it is quite close enough.

My questions to you guys are the following: Is anyone familiar with Swiss TPH and their MSc Epi programme? Is it reputable? Is the school well connected to the job force later on like LSHTM? Basically, how do the two programmes compare taking into consider cost. Is LSHTM worth spending THAT much money!??! It's even tougher doing a cost-effectiveness analysis on school programmes rather than health!

Any information would be MUCH appreciated as there doesn't seem to be a lot information out there on Swiss TPH (besides their own website).

This post came out longer than I would have liked... I hope you guys didn't get bored half way through and that it is all clear.
Looking forward to hearing from someone soon!

Regards

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[OneDay81]

If you complete the MSc via distance learning, the cost goes down to 11,400 and you don't have the high cost of living in London.

 

[mtldog]

Hi OneDay,

Thanks for the quick reply.

I was looking into the distance learning course; however, I have to admit I am not self-motivated enough to be able to sit on my own time and learn a Masters degree. Also, one of the beauties of the London School is the face-to-face contact time with profs and other professionals which would help with networking later on. I would also be able to benefit from being with other students and attend seminars. I also think that group work (assigned projects etc) are an integral part of public health/epidemiology training since this is a necessary skill in the professional workforce later on.

With all of that said, the distance learning option may be something I end up turning to, if these costs continue to frighten me.

Does anyone have some words specifically pertaining to MSc Epi at Swiss TPH?

Thanks again, OneDay!
Cheers

 

[Kevin36]

mtldog,

I went the distance route. It's a quality education, but I wouldn't have done it unless I was working in the field. You will also have to be extremely self directed.