OHSU and accreditation

[thockenb]

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Does anybody know anything about the Oregon MPH Epid/Biostats program at OHSU? I know the Community Health program is ranked #2, the university is considered prestigious for the North West, and the campus is just beautiful.

I was a little concerned that the program was not accredited by CEPH. It turns out that it is but is not ASPH accredited.

After discussing accreditation with a CEPH employee, it seems it is beneficial to go to a CEPH school.

A few benefits:
1. Certain branches of the government will only hire people from CEPH schools
2. The state of California will only sponsor students from CEPH schools
3. Certain fellowships and funding are only eligible to students from a CEPH school.
…

Now, the program is not ASPH accredited. I know there are many fellowships available for students from these schools. People at OHSU say that getting internships are not a problem for students; they didn't much to say about fellowships though.

Should I be concerned about this?

 

[AspiringDoctor9]

Does anybody know anything about the Oregon MPH Epid/Biostats program at OHSU? I know the Community Health program is ranked #2, the university is considered prestigious for the North West, and the campus is just beautiful.

I was a little concerned that the program was not accredited by CEPH. It turns out that it is but is not ASPH accredited.

After discussing accreditation with a CEPH employee, it seems it is beneficial to go to a CEPH school.

A few benefits:
1. Certain branches of the government will only hire people from CEPH schools
2. The state of California will only sponsor students from CEPH schools
3. Certain fellowships and funding are only eligible to students from a CEPH school.
…

Now, the program is not ASPH accredited. I know there are many fellowships available for students from these schools. People at OHSU say that getting internships are not a problem for students; they didn't much to say about fellowships though.

Should I be concerned about this?

Hihi!

Well, let's see... You're perfectly right - some schools are CEPH accredited but not ASPH accredited. A good example of this is Dartmouth's CECS program. In order to be ASPH accredited, you need to be a FULL school of public health (with all of the normal departments available - biostatistics, epidemiology, community health, health education/behavioral science and health services administration). Some schools that offer public health programs run them out of their medical school and thus can be CEPH but not ASPH accredited. Generally speaking, ASPH accredited schools will have a broader array of classes and opportunities offered due to pure size alone (as compared to a one-department general public health program run out of a medical school like USC).

I think you should ask the school about fellowships - if you want to seriously go into public health and not just use it to obtain another degree (MD/DO I see is most common), I'd seriously check into this. Fellowships are great things to add to your resume while getting paid and continuing your training at the same time. It'll make you more marketable in the end, and they will be more lax about having no work experience than other employers since they know that you're fresh out of school. Internships are easier to get so don't be fooled - some fellowships are really prestigious and competitive. Good luck!

 

[fantasty]

Just to tag along on the thread, could you also comment about other much research collaboration goes on at Oregon between their public health-oriented departments and other medical departments. I looked at their website, and I see they have a medical informatics & clinical epi department separate from their public health & preventive medicine department.

I plan on going into academics and want to practice in internal med while doing clinical/epidemiologic research, and I would love to live in Portland. I've heard that the epi teaching is really good at OHSU but I haven't heard much about their research strengths.