M.D. MPH Non-trad Question

[Alphadorian]

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The school I want to go to offers a MD MPH program. The program cites that it is intended for those that want to have leadership roles in medicine.

I'm thinking ahead and comparing this to what I do for a job. Right now - my job is an EDI Account Manager. I specialize in helping doctors, hospitals, and clearinghouses who serve doctors and hospitals send electronic transactions (health care claims, eligibility, and claim status) to the insurance company I work for. However, these transactions require the end user (this would be the officer workers in hospitals or doctors office) to be able to understand what we send. So even though I specialize in the formats, I direct my company on how they ought to design these transactions.

I was thinking that perhaps this kind of specialization combined with leadership might translate to the medical field. One of the reasons I desire to be a doctor is because I have a firm belief that the real solution to the problem of making healthcare effective and accessable is transforming the industry into something that is a true partnership between physicians, patients, and insurers.

To that end I was thinking an MD MPH might be something to go for.

Does anyone have any experience with such a program or have any comments on it? I am still new to the pre-med scene (just a year, after working 9 years at a health care insurance company) so please pardon me if I sound either brainwashed or am asking a question fraught with craziness.

It's an option where I want to attend and I thought I'd ask about your experience with it.

Thanks!

 

[DrMidlife]

I think your background falls more under healthcare administration than public health, for better or worse. An MPH will expose you to epidemiology, biostatistics, and other "what's going on with this huge demographic in terms of disease?" areas. Improving the structure and function of medical delivery, whether through EMR or usability, is only a public health issue if you're looking at it from 10,000 feet up. For instance, a public health area would be how the absence of translators impacts immigrant care. A healthcare administration area would be how to effectively integrate translators into an existing system of provider paging and payment and access and recruitment.

Also, there's no specific benefit to doing a combined program, unless you have already targeted a residency where you need the masters degree, or the combined program has a tuition savings. My school (Nova) offers a free MPH, for instance. You have more than plenty to deal with in getting your medical degree and in finishing residency, and those experiences are going to inform your ambitions to continue (or not) with administration. Lots of practicing doctors get a masters on the side, when they find that it's relevant and practical to their practice.

In your shoes I'd be questioning whether I truly have a passion for the activities on my resume, or if I'm looking for background experiences that I can use to my advantage in advancing my career. You aren't required to leverage your first career in your medical career, and you can find yourself uncomfortably limited if you tie the two for a reason other than true interest.

Best of luck to you.

 

[gman33]

Based on the brief statement of your goals, I'd think the MPH would be more useful than the MD degree.
Plenty of people get MDs and end up in non-clinical roles, but I wouldn't go through the whole MD + residency if that is your end goal.

If you want to be a doc, and you'd just like to the other stuff as well, you can probably do what you are talking about without the MPH based on your current experience.