MPH Workload

[jollyrgr25]

While looking over a sample schedule for Emory's MPH program, I started freaking out a little. In between classes, internships, etc. do students have any free time? Do they sleep or are they up all night doing massive amounts of work?

Could anyone give me insight into the typical schedule/life of an MPH student. Thanks!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[MPHandPsych]

Could anyone give me insight into the typical schedule/life of an MPH student. Thanks!

That will depend on the specific program you're in and whether you're going full time or part time...I also feel like your undergraduate education greatly impacts how busy you'll be as a graduate student & how hard you think the work/workload is in the MPH program. I didn't attend Emory, but for me, my MPH program was WAY easier than my undergrad institution (and I worked part time while going full time). It's all relative though! Just work out a schedule that fits you and how you do school work- having some free time is important so you don't go completely crazy (especially your first semester)!

 

[Big Dog]

some are mid-career professionals who haven't had a college class in more than 10 years. Others, are right out of undergrad. Classes consist of right-out-of-undergrad lit/hume and math-science majors, to mid-career doctors, nurses, radiology techs, social service workers, etc.

The most difficult classes tend to be Epi and Biostats, and the level of difficulty depends on one's comfort level with math. If you are right out of undergrad and were a Stats major, Biostats will be a breeze; you could probably TA the course. If you haven't had math in 20+ years and even then, it was a weak area for you, Biostats and Epi will take some (conceptual) work.

 

[EpiWin]

Would it be reasonable to say that a first semester MPH student with a decent grasp of statistics/math could take a foreign language elective and work ~20 hours a week at a job, in addition to coursework? I know that it definitely varies for each person, but I'm curious if it's more the rule than the exception--I'm hoping to make some kind of cashmoney for minor expenses.

 

[EBT12]

.

 

[WantAnMPH]

I went to Emory for epi and came from a social sciences (very little math/bio) background. I had taken AP stats in high school and that definitely helped. While I think I worked a little harder than my classmates with a strong math/stats background, it wasn't much harder and I finished with a 3.9 GPA. That doesn't mean it was easy - we all worked pretty hard. I'd say taking a foreign language class and working 20 hrs/week would be pushing it. I worked about 15 hours/week (which is all you're allowed if you don't want to use up your 'work/study' money too fast).

From what I've heard talking with non-Emory epi folks, the Emory program is quite a bit more intense and methods focused than most other schools. I've heard the epi MPH degree compared to a biostats degree at other schools and that's certainly been my experience with co-workers from non-Emory programs. It's served me well, though. At CDC Emory epis are very well respected because we have such a strong methods background.

 

[ebp]

While looking over a sample schedule for Emory's MPH program, I started freaking out a little. In between classes, internships, etc. do students have any free time? Do they sleep or are they up all night doing massive amounts of work?

Could anyone give me insight into the typical schedule/life of an MPH student. Thanks!

I think the work itself is not too difficult - biostats being the exception for me personally. What is difficult is the group work. I'm not sure how much this is the case at every school, but GW LOVES group work. I have group projects in almost every class. The most difficult part is communicating and scheduling between 3 different groups in one semester just to get projects and papers done. I never did group work like this in undergrad, so it is definitely a challenge for me.

 

[ms newyear]

I would say the workload is not too bad especially compared to my undergraduate school. However, I think that there is more pressure to get straight A's. Getting B's and A-'s are easy but straight A's requires more work and many people strive to get that 4.0...at least that's what I have observed.

So my opinion, yes workload is less intense but pressure's on to do really well.

edit: I don't attend Emory.

 

[JMM051]

I attend Emory and I agree with everything Ms. New Year said.

 

[OneDay81]

I think the work itself is not too difficult - biostats being the exception for me personally. What is difficult is the group work. I'm not sure how much this is the case at every school, but GW LOVES group work. I have group projects in almost every class. The most difficult part is communicating and scheduling between 3 different groups in one semester just to get projects and papers done. I never did group work like this in undergrad, so it is definitely a challenge for me.

Thank you for bringing that up. I despise group projects and didn't even think to look into it as I considered schools/programs.

 

[Stories]

I found my time as a MPH student to be a big sigh of relief compared to undergrad. I had so much more free-time than I did as an undergrad because I didn't have the 20+ hours a week I would spend doing benchwork for my research. Rather, it was much more statistical and data oriented, which you could really do from anywhere which was a big plus.

Additionally, the professors were much more lenient with grading than I was used to, so that was also really nice 🙂

Overall, there's no more "weeding out" as we experienced in undergrad. Less trying to prove yourself.

 

[Awapi]

If you are asking about Emory specifically then I would agree with WantAnMph and that it depends on your concentration...It might help if you specified the department you are going to be in to get more applicable information.

I think it also depends on what you want to get out of your experience. I'm a Global Epidemiology student at Emory and our concentration's course load is pretty heavy, in addition to that I'm very involved in things outside of coursework (I work, volunteer, was elected president of a student organization, and am a member and active in other organizations). With that load I feel like I have VERY little time for anything else. I go out on the weekends sometimes, but I'm often working really late on coursework (10 to 11) after a full day of class/work/organizations/meetings. It's not necessarily more difficult than what I had to do in undergrad, but there's plenty of it! Like Ms Newyear said, the pressure is on to get A's. I'm also in my second semester which is supposed to be our hardest/most demanding for Epi. Point being I think that you can be as busy as you want to be.

All that said, I absolutely LOVE Emory and wouldn't trade all the work for anything. I think if you're really passionate about what you are studying then it won't seem like that much work to you!

Also, OneDay81, I've had very few group projects at Emory 🙂 haha

 

[JMM051]

As someone said it depends on the concentration. Like Awapi, I attend Emory. I, however, have had my fair share of group projects.

 

[Etude]

If you are asking about Emory specifically then I would agree with WantAnMph and that it depends on your concentration...It might help if you specified the department you are going to be in to get more applicable information.

I've been accepted to Global Health. Would anyone from that department like to weigh in?

 

[epinerd]

Can anyone comment on how time-consuming/demanding the MPH practicum is? I've noticed that some schools have the practicum in the summer while others have it in the fall of second year, along with a full course load. I can see the latter approach being extremely demanding. On the other hand it would free up your summer for working full-time, which would be beneficial both financially and building up your public health CV. I'm not sure if this should be a significant factor in my decision-making.

 

[MPHandPsych]

Can anyone comment on how time-consuming/demanding the MPH practicum is? I've noticed that some schools have the practicum in the summer while others have it in the fall of second year, along with a full course load. I can see the latter approach being extremely demanding. On the other hand it would free up your summer for working full-time, which would be beneficial both financially and building up your public health CV. I'm not sure if this should be a significant factor in my decision-making.

This depends on the school and department...at GW for instance, your practicum can be something as easy as an internship or a full blown part time job (there are a certain number of hours you must complete to fulfill this requirement). They recommend completing your practicum over the summer since you're taking less classes (usually) and you have more time to commit. If you're getting paid for your practicum, this is most definitely the case since those positions will require more time compared to most of the unpaid practicum opportunities. The Culminating Experience (CE) at GW is more intense as this is more of a research project, than an internship/work experience. Some people didn't complete ridiculously difficult CE's, but still gained a lot of experience & it required a lot of time. Others, myself included, conducted a research study that required TONS of time, and ended up being my first job post graduation. If you're concerned about this, I would research more and try asking about past practicum experiences from the students since the requirements will vary from school to school.

 

[Awapi]

I've been accepted to Global Health. Would anyone from that department like to weigh in?

Hey Etude, I originally applied to the GH department and didn't switch to Global Epi (glepi) until after I got to school. In my opinion the same rules still apply, several of my GH friends are taking one or two of the epi courses required for the Epi department as well as an advanced Biostats class this semester to gain the extra skills, Emory has amazing GH classes and most of them can't help but also take a few electives on top of that to take advantage of the opportunities. Most of them work, volunteer, are on SGA, are officers in organizations, etc. From my experience, in global health, you do have the option to take a lighter load, but most GH people I know are highly motivated and end up taking more hours and are very busy. For illustration: for glepi, I have 9 hours of specific required epi and biostats courses this semester which are time consuming outside of class, so if I want to take an elective or two then I'm getting up there in hours...GH has more movement in their required hours - Spring has one specific required course, but the rest you get to choose from certain categories - so you have room to take more classes, but you could choose to take less if you wanted as well. There's a lot of wiggle room to take really interesting electives in GH, it's a great concentration. There's also a lot of opportunities to work with refugee communities, the Emory Global Health Organization (EGHO), and there is always some amazing GH talk going on at school, so you will definitely be busy if you want to be...but it's a good busy, one that makes you feel like you've accomplished something (in my experience).