Public Health Informatics v/s Global Health

[HopefulMHA]

I am beginning the MHA at UNC this fall and I am extremely excited because the program here offers tonnes of options with respect to electives. I just want to ensure that I pick the right path and I am hoping you guys can help me out with this. I am an international student, and I would want to work in the US for a couple of years at least, and acquire some international experience before I return to my home country. My interest lies in working with international health organizations and NGOs worldwide. I recognize that the MHA is more for hospital administration..but a management degree like the MHA is what I wanted. Basically, UNC offers two certificate programs that I am interested in : Public Health Informatics and Global Health. My impression is that there are more job opportunities in PHI right now, and hence as an international student seeking experience, that's what I should pick to be safe. But global health aligns more with my goals. Do you think the PHI certificate could help me where working in an international health organization is concerned?

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[MolBio]

I am beginning the MHA at UNC this fall and I am extremely excited because the program here offers tonnes of options with respect to electives. I just want to ensure that I pick the right path and I am hoping you guys can help me out with this. I am an international student, and I would want to work in the US for a couple of years at least, and acquire some international experience before I return to my home country. My interest lies in working with international health organizations and NGOs worldwide. I recognize that the MHA is more for hospital administration..but a management degree like the MHA is what I wanted. Basically, UNC offers two certificate programs that I am interested in : Public Health Informatics and Global Health. My impression is that there are more job opportunities in PHI right now, and hence as an international student seeking experience, that's what I should pick to be safe. But global health aligns more with my goals. Do you think the PHI certificate could help me where working in an international health organization is concerned?

Yes, there are definitely increasing numbers of projects in global health informatics and technology these days, it's a "hot" topic in global health. A lot interest in m-health (using mobile devices and cell phones for global health purposes), building and linking health information systems, etc. If this is the topic you want to pursue, I would head in that direction and see if you can get on a UNC PHI project in a LMIC. Since a lot of these systems are going into health facilities, an MHA isn't really a huge stretch for this type of work. However, I wouldn't pick a topic just because of a current trend if you weren't actually interested in it as a career.

You could probably get the global health certificate if it allowed the flexibility to work on a PHI project and take some classes related to PHI, I don't know how UNC's certificates are structured or how flexible they are.

Either way, try to get on a project related to your interest.