Welcome to the public health forum muscleman!
🙂
A friend who obtained her Master of Science degree in Health Administration many years ago told me that the one thing that she regretted was not simply getting the MPH degree instead. The problem was that when she told people she was in public health, they were confused by the fact that she had the MS degree instead of the MPH - this is more than likely less common now with the advent of the more well-known Master of Health Services Administration (MHSA) degree being offered at many more public health schools.
Essentially, besides the annoyance of possibly having to explain why you have an MS in Community Health, both degree programs are most likely the same in format and content. From what I've learned from other posters in this forum over the years, it seems that MS programs generally involve more coursework and/or a thesis when localized at an institution with a full public health program. However, there are many institutions that offer programs in Community Health and Health Education, for example, conferring the Master of Science (MS) or Master of Arts (MA) degree (although NYU does offer the MPH in Health Education through its School of Education) - I'm thinking that you may fit into this latter category (please correct me if I am wrong).
Bottom line is that there is little difference - public health professionals understand that: 1) not all degrees are made the same, 2) public health comes in ALL forms (from PhD to DrPH, MD to JD, etc.), and 3) that public health programs are not the end all-be all in terms of possibilities and opportunities for people to enter the public health field.
Best of luck with your job search, and don't forget to check out the public health job listings on the Public Health Employment Connection:
http://cfusion.sph.emory.edu/PHEC/phec.cfm.
Best,
H&T
