Please Give Advice!! Can't Decide on an MPH program!

[Cho231]

Hey Everyone,

I applied and got accepted into 8 MPH programs. I'm having a really rough time deciding on which school... so I'm going to need your advice and poll for your choice. There are really two acceptances i'm looking at:

1) Columbia's MPH in the Department of Health Policy and Management (Global Health Track)

2) Johns Hopkins General MPH program

I'm looking to join an international organization as a health project manager after my MPH. So academic/reputation of school in global health is crucial. I know Johns Hopkins MPH is not focused on global health but there are many opportunities to concentrate in that field.

Money for me is not the biggest concern (though its second to the academic and reputation of the school in global health management). Location and Time are not concerns.

Please help by telling me which you would choose in my position and why! I

Thank you for your help!! I didn't wanna seem arrogant but I really need your help because I can't decide!

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[JMM051]

This thread may help with things you want to consider...

http://forums.studentdoctor.net/showthread.php?t=692727

Are you planning on visiting these schools? If money is not a concern and these are your top 2 I would highly suggest visiting both, talking to current students and reaching out to profs that have similar interests as you.


I think you're not alone in your plight as many people on this board have received admission into a significant number of programs.

 

[beebee0]

I think JH is def more reputable than columbia, in almost all tracks of public health. So will have a better career potential there.

 

[Cho231]

Thanks Beebee.

I won't be able to visit the schools because I currently live abroad and won't be back until late June...

Leaning towards JHU I guess.

 

[Stories]

I would say you should hone in your interest in career path a little more. Health project manager is really broad as it could really mean a number of different things. Are you interested in developing a program which outreaches to people, are you interested in evaluating the efficacy of a health project, are you interested in investigating and managing outbreak control, and on.

Once you've done that, you should really choose the concentration for school which will give you the skills necessary to do that job that you want to do. Without the proper skills (and practicum/internship/experience), you won't have any shot at earning that job you want--regardless of where you get your degree.

 

[Cho231]

Well Stories, I would like to actually be a program officer mainly in evaluating existing narcotic prevention programs in Central Asia I didn't wanna get too specific in the blogs... but you're right that matters.

Stories, which school (Columbia or JHU) do you suggest for something like that? I know this isn't a researched opinion... but from what you have heard from friends, colleague, and family... which has a better academic program that could give me the skills for the job above?

 

[Stories]

Well Stories, I would like to actually be a program officer mainly in evaluating existing narcotic prevention programs in Central Asia I didn't wanna get too specific in the blogs... but you're right that matters.

Stories, which school (Columbia or JHU) do you suggest for something like that? I know this isn't a researched opinion... but from what you have heard from friends, colleague, and family... which has a better academic program that could give me the skills for the job above?

From the sounds of it, you're interested in a social behavioral program: so that's a beginning point. Look for a school with a well established drug social behavior assessment and development record (a school with a good reputation of intervention studies). Unfortunately, this is not an area of expertise of mine, so I wouldn't be of much help there.

 

[wiiturtledove]

From what I understand, JHU's program is new. Are they even accredited yet?

 

[Z1234]

Depending on your interests (and willingness to pay!), JHU might be the better option. I'm currently in school with some grads who were public health majors in undergrad and they LOVED their programs. Said they felt they really learned a lot, and many of them miss it. JHU has a very strong program in public health and very reputable. I'm sure that they will have connections for you in terms of global health so you should inquire further if you are concerned.

As for Columbia, they are famous for having a great global health program, but tuition will be over $80,000 for the year and I visited for a week or so (my friend was doing her third year of med school there) and lived in the SPH dorms/school area. She took classes at their SPH and said that it felt very unorganized and wasn't as good as she'd hoped, a perk was seeing Chelsea Clinton around.

Good luck!

 

[Cho231]

Depending on your interests (and willingness to pay!), JHU might be the better option. I'm currently in school with some grads who were public health majors in undergrad and they LOVED their programs. Said they felt they really learned a lot, and many of them miss it. JHU has a very strong program in public health and very reputable. I'm sure that they will have connections for you in terms of global health so you should inquire further if you are concerned.

As for Columbia, they are famous for having a great global health program, but tuition will be over $80,000 for the year and I visited for a week or so (my friend was doing her third year of med school there) and lived in the SPH dorms/school area. She took classes at their SPH and said that it felt very unorganized and wasn't as good as she'd hoped, a perk was seeing Chelsea Clinton around.

Good luck!

Thank you for the great advice!

 

[leaher77]

Since you have such a specific career path and subjet matter in mind, you should definitely look at the kinds of professors you would get to work with an look in to which of these schools has more of a presence in Central Asia (volunteer projects, annual summer research trips, satellite campus, etc.).

I am not super familiar with the Mailman Health Policy and Management department but I agree with Stories that it sounds like you want more of a socio behavioral program. I'm not sure a Health Policy and Management program is really what you want if you are looking to do program evaluation.

I have heard similar things as Z1234 about the Columbia program from two current Mailman MPH students (not in your department though) I lived with for a summer. Although they have a great reputation for global health I have heard the professors are not as engaged as they should be for $80,000 and that the programs are pretty inflexible (not a lot of ability to take electives in other departments, not a lot of ability to get involved in the research centers). Also, that so much of the money is focused on AIDS AIDS AIDS all the time. Hope this helps!

 

[Randy123SD]

LOL -- nice team America reference.

I also accepted into the mailman's for health policy, but am debating between Columbia and Yale. I'm not exactly sure what I want to do, but the school's reputation and connections are very important to me.

I know Yale wasn't ranked that high in 2007, but how do people think it is doing now compared to the other mph programs? and how much do Yale and Columbia leverage their overall University program and connections?