PhD online? Your thoughts...

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MPH 2010

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I am currently doing my MPH online and curiousity got the best of me--is it possible to do a PhD online. The answer I found out was yes, but at great costs $75K-$100K. The degree I was looking at was PhD in Public Policy and Admin. Please let me hear your thoughts!
 
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hahahahahahah...i sure hope you are not serious. When your school sends you a .pdf attachment instead of a paper diploma it is not a good sign.
 
And then you are going to apply to medical school? I'm assuming so, considering this is the forum for that....

I think it would be a waste. Finish your MPH and then apply for medical school. I'm not sure why you would need the additional PhD.
 
If you complete a PhD online, no one will take you seriously. They will laugh at you. I'm not trying to sound mean, but any PhD that takes less than 3.5 years (or comes from a program that averages less than 4 years) and/or requires you to pay and/or is online is a scam.

*Time in years includes research that counts towards the thesis but was complete in advance of matriculation and rotation/class time completed in the med school portion of md/phd programs. The exception is if you are brilliant and complete your thesis quickly with a solo first author paper in a journal equivalent at least to science in your field.
 
--is it possible to do a PhD online. The answer I found out was yes, but at great costs $75K-$100K. The degree I was looking at was PhD in Public Policy and Admin. Please let me hear your thoughts!

$75K-$100K for a "PhD" acquired online is both a scam and disgrace. :laugh:
 
If you complete a PhD online, no one will take you seriously. They will laugh at you. I'm not trying to sound mean, but any PhD that takes less than 3.5 years (or comes from a program that averages less than 4 years) and/or requires you to pay and/or is online is a scam.
I have now met one person with an online PhD who vehemently insisted on being called "doctor." Unsurprisingly, he is a psych patient, so I was willing to humor him. :laugh:

OP, in all seriousness, please do not waste your time and money on an online PhD. I don't know all that much about business PhDs, so I can't tell you where the best programs are that would fit your needs. But if you're serious about wanting a PhD, there must be hundreds of legitimate brick-and-mortar institutions that would be able to train you properly. You should look into those so that you can earn a degree that would truly be an asset to you in the future.
 
All sorts of entirely credible, predominantly bricks-and-mortar schools offer the MPH by distance learning with many with CEPH accreditation, the MBA or MMM by distance learning, including I think every ACPE-approved program designed specifically for physician executives, master's degrees in medical education, health informatics, epidemiology, patient safety, pharmaceutical regulation, etc., etc. My family physician, who held a senior academic post, has a postgraduate Master's of Clinical Science in Family Medicine from the University of Western Ontario. It may have been part-time on-the-ground at the time but today it's delivered by distance learning.

Now there's much more activity at the master's than the doctoral level, but there are still unimpeachable, substantial, usually bricks-and-mortar schools with relevant doctorates by distance. The DPA from Valdosta State University. The DSc in information systems with healthcare IS emphasis from Dakota State University. The DHA from Central Michigan University. These are public universities. The DHSc, DBA, DPA or EdD from Nova Southeastern University or the DHSc and DHEd from A.T. Still University; these are non-profit universities which also house accredited schools of osteopathic medicine, dentistry, and others. Nova is the largest private university in Florida, ATSU the founding school of osteopathic medicine.

Whether self-funding a hugely expensive degree - in public policy and administration! - from what I'm guessing is a mostly- or entirely-distance learning school, probably for-profit, probably with a very small academic footprint, if any, is the right thing to do for the OP is one question.

But more generally, there absolutely are doctorates, numerous relevant to medicine, delivered wholly or in large part by distance, that are as rigorous and credible as doctorates delivered in larger part more traditionally.
 
I am currently doing my MPH online and curiousity got the best of me--is it possible to do a PhD online. The answer I found out was yes, but at great costs $75K-$100K. The degree I was looking at was PhD in Public Policy and Admin. Please let me hear your thoughts!
It is possible. As was mentioned, Valdosta State University has a Doctor of Public Administration program that's available entirely online and is as little as $10,000 total. If that potentially interests you, though, you'd better hurry, as their application deadline for Fall is April 15 and they only have one intake per year.

Nova Southeastern University has a Doctor of Health Science program that's available online. My understanding is that they're a bit more expensive, but still not $75,000.

As for the naysayers, it's true there are a lot of online doctoral programs that aren't worthwhile. But there are a few that are, as you already know from your MPH experience.

Good luck,

-=Steve=-
 
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