Temple D.P.M./M.P.H. Degree Program

[crhoody12]

Has anyone done this? What are its advantages (or disadvantages/reasons not to do it)? Though the website says its a 4+1 year program, most students complete it during their normal 4 years of podiatry school. Any input on it would help. It doesn't have to be Temple [FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular][FONT=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular]D.P.M./M.P.H. Degree related but if other schools offer it, why you did/may choose it. Thanks..

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[Dr_Feelgood]

If it is a 4+1 program than it is a complete waste of time. I know of a few people who have been throught the program at DMU and I'm not sure its value. I feel an MBA or a MHA is more important. The MPH may help if you want to get involved in large scale research, teach or work for a government agency.

 

[JEWmongous]

When on the tour of temple, I think the admissions person mentioned this program. I believe its 2 years of basic sciences, then a year for the masters (no pod stuff) , then 2 years of clinical sciences. It seemed a bit odd to have a year separation between the basic sciences and clinic.

 

[Feli]

If it is a 4+1 program than it is a complete waste of time. I know of a few people who have been throught the program at DMU and I'm not sure its value. I feel an MBA or a MHA is more important. The MPH may help if you want to get involved in large scale research, teach or work for a government agency.

I agree a 4+1 is a waste that would just put you more in debt and do the average pod very little good. Even a dual degree completed during the 4yrs needs to have a pretty good reasoning behind it.

If the dual can be completed during regular 4yrs of pod school and you truly are interested in the degree subject matter and going to put in effort, then it would save you time and $ as opposed to doing it before/after pod school. As was said, if you want to do education or research, MPH might not be a bad idea. You have to put in work, though... MPH programs as a whole are pretty notorious for grade inflation, and you can probably get through at many of them without doing or learning a whole lot. If you're just thinking of doing it to have more letters on your business card or to look better for residencies, I'd save your $ and just perform better in pod coursework.

Most pod school dual degrees require a good undergrad gpa or a decent first year pod gpa to begin. Pod programs have a pretty high attrition rate as it is, so adding the stress of a dual degree, even a minimally demanding one, is not for everyone and should be thought through. I was considering doing the DPM/MPH, but decided not to due to cost and I'm pretty glad I didn't. Even as a pretty strong pod student, I think there's always more journal/book reading to be done or experiences to be had just within my podiatry courses and clinicals.

You can always read a book (http://www.amazon.com/Public-Health...3442863?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1186787050&sr=8-2) or do an MPH degree later on if you get more time or master every single aspect podiatry . Additionally, some academic pod residencies will let you complete a MPH or Masters of Clinical Investigation during your PG training, or you will just participate in and publish enough research that you'll get virtually the same or better public health EBM, prevention, and ethics knowledge/experience to the point where hardly anyone would question your research or educational abilities anyways...

 

[Dr_Feelgood]

I always believe it is better to do well in the DPM program than anything else. Many programs look at your class rank well before they look at other degrees.

 

[crhoody12]

is anyone in the MBA program that Temple (or if any other school offers it). Again, advantages? disadvantages? What would make it worth it? Is it 4+1? Do you have to apply to Fox School of Business (at Temple)?

 

[Feli]

is anyone in the MBA program that Temple (or if any other school offers it). Again, advantages? disadvantages? What would make it worth it? Is it 4+1? Do you have to apply to Fox School of Business (at Temple)?

My school offers MBA, and I think a few of the pod schools do. It's roughly the same schedule as MPH here...one or two evening/Saturday courses each semester. It is completed during the regular 4yr podiatry program. Barry's DPM/MPH can be entered if you had a 3.25 in undergrad or a 3.0 after first year of pod classes. You'd have to talk to Temple about their program to see about scheduling and reqs.

I think an MBA would be pretty applicable for most DPMs. A lot of podiatrists are in private practice and you'd get at least a basic background in accounting, marketing, networking, hiring staff, etc. If nothing else, seeing it on your resume might let a group practice know you will bring a few ideas to the table and that they shouldn't try to slight you in your contract. Most podiatrists I've seen, especially the best earners, have an office manager for billing/coding anyways so that they can spend their time with patients, but at least you might know how to find a good one or to monitor if they are doing their job well.

http://www.podiatryonline.com/main.cfm?pg=students&fn=evans

Again, it comes down to what you really want to get out of it. If you're barely getting the grades you want in your podiatry classes and just going through the motions or reading your pathology notes while sitting in MBA classes, then you probably should've saved your time and $ and just focused more on your pod coursework. As was hinted at above, saying, "but I was doing a dual degree," certainly doesn't make up for not knowing podiatric anatomy or articles during your externship or residency interview. However, if you're a strong student, want to run your own practice, and will put effort into both programs, then the MBA will save you $ and might put you a bit ahead of some of your peers in the long run.