MPH helpful with pallative medicine?

[zmeister22]

Recently, I have become really interested in pallative care/end of life medicine. Having worked in 3 ERs for 4.5 years, I have seen lots of death, some sudden but much of it slow and expected. In Nebraska right now, they are trying to reform the end of life laws with families overriding DNR orders. As of now, if a patient has a DNR and starts to die, the family can freak-out and tell the EMS squad they call to code the patient, even with a horrible case of terminal cancer. I have seen this many times and the patient suffers while we pound on their fragile chest and pump them full of drugs. Legislation is supposedly being introduced to change that. I would love to be a part of that process to help shape change that will have a lasting effect on the population. How helpful would an MPH be in addition to my DO in order to get into a position where I could help form policy?

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[brimcmike]

As of 2006, the specialties that are co-sponsoring subspeciality certification in Hospice and Palliative Medicine are:

Anesthesia, Emergency Medicine, Family Medicine, Internal Medicine, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Pediatrics, Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation, Psychiatry and Neurology, Radiology and Surgery http://www.abms.org/News_and_Events/downloads/NewSubcertPalliativeMed.pdf
http://www.abms.org/Who_We_Help/Phys...ecialties.aspx

My specialty is EM; I'm a PGY-2 resident. Here is ABEM's web info on subspecialization in HPM:
http://www.abem.org/PUBLIC/portal/al...opDefault.aspx
EM-based programs are just starting to get launched now. Each specialty is finalizing their regulations - stay tuned.

You have a strong vision. There are also public policy fellowships, HPM tends to be short - 1-2 years. I've seen people get a JD with, during or after their DO/MD. There are also master's degrees in public policy out there.