MPH during residency

[Pureride]

I was thinking of taking a year off from my reisdency to do get my MPH.
How long does it take?
What are the good programs in NY?
What career advancements would having an MPH and a MD afford me?

Personally, I am very business oriented and figure that having n MPH would give me a leg up when I open up my private practice down the road.

Thanks
PureRIde

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[kortoise]

I am in a similar position - thinking about taking time off from residency to get an MPH - i'm curious to know what kind of feedback you've had from people in medicine about your plan.
Mine has not been so positive, mainly because I would not be able to return to my original program and so I'd have to continue somewhere else & that brings up a whole set of issues.
To answer your question I believe if you have an MD it should only take a year to get your MPH. Columbia has a great public health school.
good luck!

I was thinking of taking a year off from my reisdency to do get my MPH.
How long does it take?
What are the good programs in NY?
What career advancements would having an MPH and a MD afford me?

Personally, I am very business oriented and figure that having n MPH would give me a leg up when I open up my private practice down the road.

Thanks
PureRIde

 

[southerndoc]

Taking a year off from residency places a serious strain on a residency. For one, they are now short a body and must make up for the extra work. Usually this means extra work from your fellow residents. Secondly, a program is accredited for so many positions total, not per year. So if an internal medicine residency program is accredited for 36 residents and recruits 12 annually, your taking a year off means that they can only recruit 11 interns for the year you return. (11 interns, 12 PGY-2's, and now 13 PGY-3's if you return as a third-year and the class already has 12). When you graduate, it now means they are short a resident again.

As you can see, it is burdensome on the residency program. This is why your residency isn't likely to view your desire for an MPH during residency very positively.

My suggestion is to finish residency and get your MPH either immediately afterwards, after working a few years, or while working by obtaining your MPH online through a school such as Johns Hopkins.

 

[Heal&Teach]

I concur with southerndoc. Are you currently a resident? I am wondering why you did not consider obtaining the MPH degree during medical school (unless you're about to graduate, but if you truly want the degree, there is also the option of deferring the match to pursue it if still in school).

If you are a current resident, I would encourage you to just wait on the MPH. You can probably do an online program (JHU was mnentioned). I've known several doctors who decided to wait until they were financially stable and able to pay for their program out of pocket. Unless you are in a preventive medicine residency program, I don't see the value of taking time off during your residency to obtain the degree for some of the reasons explained in the previous post. In addition, depending on the kind of degree you get, the MPH may not afford you that much more advantage in terms of your private practice. Unless you're thinking about getting a Masters in Health Services Administration, I'm not sure that having this degree will truly do for you - unless you're planning on working for a not-for-profit or government later in your career. If anything, the business side of you might be satisfied by getting the MBA degree, not the MPH.

As far as the question of what you can do as an MD/MPH, the opportunities are endless. You can do a search of the forum or check the sticky (thanks Adcadet) for more information. Here is one thread: http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=134791&highlight=heal&teach.

Best,
H&T

 

[Guevara M.D.]

There's no need to drop out of your residency. I am also interested in Public Health and did a little research. There's actually a residency specifically designed for future public health practitioners: General & Preventative Medicine. It's a two year residency after a transitional year and you obtain your MPH DURING the residency. They schedule the classes and the practicums around the resident's time.

The CDC in Atlanta is currently the U.S.'s biggest provider of this residency.

Also, many residencies have MPHs built into them i.e. many of the International Medicine residencies like Harvard's.