Md/mph...

[misrayah]

Hey All,
I was wondering, depending on how far along you are in med school and considering/are in this program what made you choose such a program and what will you gain from it once you earn the degree. I'm trying to decide whether or not to apply for a regular MD program or MD/MPH.
I read the curricula for a few schools and they looked pretty interesting and beneficial things to learn, on a global scale. So, I would love to gain some input on this that I can put to good use once I begin applying. Thanks a bunch!

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[domukin]

FYI, you can apply for the MPH after you've gained entrance to the Med School (ie, you don't have to do MD/MPH right off the bat). I'm not MD/MPH, but I have thought about pursuing it...

 

[OmahaMX80]

I was also considering it. Unfortunately, my school doesn't offer the MPH degree. I would transfer to a school that does but most schools with combined programs don't allow transfer students to participate in them because they don't know how much public health preparation your previous curriculum consisted of.

My reasons were many. I'm not yet convinced that I want to spend the rest of my life in clinical medicine. While you don't need an MPH to get involved in public health or acquire epidemiological training, it is certainly helpful. However I should say that from what I have seen, completing a fellowship in something like infectious diseases is often a pretty good way to move into the public health/epidemiology field.

Long answer short, more options for an uncertain individual and more letters to put behind my name.

 

[hwong14]

I actually did my MPH first, because my aim is to do public health-related medicine, and I wanted the public health mindset, not the god-doctor complex. An MPH is really useful whether or not you have an MD, but there are also plenty of ways to get into public health without having an MPH. Keep in mind that the areas of an MPH are: epidemiology/biostatistics, community health and prevention, environmental and occupational health, health management and policy. Epi is what most people think of when they think of MPH's, and many epi-minded people go into infectious disease, which is great. But if you're more business- or policy-minded, then health management is quite interesting, has a lot of potential for great impact, and is pretty lucrative. Community/preventive health is obviously very important as well, and many family medicine practitioners practice in this mindset. Environ/occupational health is a pretty easy merge with an MD, because you don't have to be JUST an occupational health physician or anything like that.

You can learn the MPH stuff along the way -- I've even seen residency programs that give you the opportunity to earn the degree while in residency -- but the biggest difference is whether you're aiming to treat individual patients or whole communities/populations.

 

[Adcadet]

I too did my MPH first (mine was in epi). Very glad I did it. I've been using it for research since my MS1 year. My major advice for those considering an MD/MPH combined program who want to be more epi-minded folks is to really look hard at the training you'll get and compare it to a "full" 2-year MPH that you would do outside of med school. I know there are programs where you take "baby" epi and only half the biostats, which really leaves you with a less than complete education epi-wise. If you "just" want to operate a community clinic, work with community partners, or collaborate with others in research who have a more robust background, great. But if you think you're going to do epi research by yourself with a less-than robust epi background, be prepared for an uphill battle. Also, learning public health can take time to get into the mindset. I know I noticed a major change only after my first full year. So it helps to have time.

 

[PineappleGirl]

FYI, you can apply for the MPH after you've gained entrance to the Med School (ie, you don't have to do MD/MPH right off the bat). I'm not MD/MPH, but I have thought about pursuing it...

Yeah, Harvard's MPH program actually is just for people who already have a higher level degree, like MD, JD, MBA, etc.