Question about having a MD and MPH

[TypeSH07]

I'm really interested in getting a MPH before going to medical school. I would want to concentrate on international health. However, I have questions on what you can do after obtaining both degrees. Would you still able to be a physician at a hospital while being invovled in public health or is it a one way street where you're entire time is committed to the public health realm? Any information would be appreciated. Thanks.

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[Adcadet]

You can really do whatever you want. The MD and MPH degrees are not job training so much as education. Both are very flexible. There are docs with an MPH who practice medicine full time. There are docs with an MPH who only do public health/research and never see patients. And there are many who are somewhere in the middle. And it's usually very possible to shift your focus over the course of a career. The only caveat is that I think it would be hard, but not impossible, to spend a few years doing only public health and then going back to clinical medicine. I think some fields require a certain minimum amount of time to remain competent, and I think the broader the field the more time you need to spend with it, but it all depends. The MD/PhD folks talk about the time spent in research vs. practice - their discussions might be of interest to you.