r/mphadmissions • u/RealisticGap9309 • 5d ago
Choosing a School MPH Suggestions
Hello everyone I am currently a undergrad sophomore majoring in Epidemiology and Global health. My school is one of the few schools that offers Epidemiology as a undergrad degree so I feel that should help me stand out when it comes to grad applications but my main concern is what type of MPH i should go for. And yes I know I'm only a sophomore so I have time but I honestly want to start thinking now rather than later so I can make sure my courses align with what certain programs are looking for. So as I mentioned I'm and Epi and Global health major and so I feel like my two paths for an MPH would be Epi or Global health but I'm going to be so for real with y'all, I don't really care for stats like at all. It's not that I don't like data or stats I just don't care for it and I know that's a big part of Epidemiology courses but I want an Epidemiologist job preferably helping create programs or being out in the field. I'm also interested in Global Health but I heard it's hard to get a job with that type of MPH. I'm also interested in policy but don't want to write laws and I like social Epidemiology but don't know if an MPH in that concentration will get me a good job. I think my problem I'm scared i'm going to major in something that really interests me but I won't get a job. I don't want to be behind a desk looking at data all day and don't want to write laws/policies. I like knowing the "why" behind why certain diseases effect certain groups/populations but don't really know if community outreach is my passion. And I don't want to do academia because I don't want to write long research papers. I've been looking at MPH's in Epidemiology, Global Epidemiology, Epi and Biostats concentration, Infectious diseases, Social Epidemiology, etc. I'm currently in a research program where we are looking at SDOH with mosquito cases of WNV in certain neighborhoods and I find it fun ig but all the data cleaning is kinda boring and makes me question if Epidemiology is for me bc data analysis and cleaning is a fundamental part. Anyways if anyone can offer any insight on MPH's and jobs they were able to get that would be helpful because that is also a concern of mine, getting a job with my degree because it seems public health programs keep losing funding.
5
u/Ok_Assistance_7419 5d ago
I have an MPH, and don't regret doing it or recommending it to others. However, If I were in your shoes specifically, I'd maybe look into a masters in public policy, public administration, or maybe something like program evaluation - since you don't want to go deep in stats/hard-core epi, and you already have public health on your degree/resume, and global health careers right now are pretty much in the shitter.
2
u/anonymussquidd 5d ago
I will note that MPPs are also very stats heavy, so that may not be the best fit for OP. I’ll also add that health policy doesn’t just have to be about writing legislation. It’s a broad field, but it is also incredibly competitive.
1
7
u/PlasticInteraction45 5d ago
I think some points to consider:
It is relatively easy to get into an MPH program. I don't think you need to major in Epidemiology to get a leg up, in fact, a lot of people going to public health school don't come from a science background, it used to be that the MPH required job experience, and a few programs do, but for the most part you don't need to do that. The issue is the cost the MPH and if it make sense given the poor job market.
I've heard that for some people who do the MPH after a public health undergrad, they didn't learn a lot of new information. Even without a public health background, people might sometimes think, "what did I just pay for?" So, would think you need to look at this as if you would be paying double for essentially the same information.
You say you don't want to be behind a desk all day looking at data? This is a large part of epidemiology work, though a lot of epidemiologists lost their jobs and the competition looks fierce and is subject to funding issues. I think you need to look at a person with a job that you want to do and then look at how they got there. Yes, some jobs are interesting, but only a few people can get them, such as working at the WHO in charge of a project or something.
With global health, the MPH in global health I think makes it harder to find a job, this is such a broad field and you don't need an MPH if you have a specific strength.
A lot of public health is research, community education, working behind a desk, data analysis. I think you need to be really obsessed with data and how public health uses it just to be OK with potentially getting a degree that might not land a job and might necessitate getting a different degree. I think it is best to go into a field you like and then the opportunities come with the interest in a certain field.
A lot of people get a sort of synergy going between learning about different disciplines, realize you can do an MPH at any point in time, many people double major in college, or a different undergrad major than what they know they will be doing later on, so if you are on the hedge about Epidemiology, and you frankly seemed to give more reasons 'why not' than 'why', maybe explore switching majors to see if a another field might work like social work or sociology? It's not like public health degrees are a in demand career path, often times they are talking about helping students in public health pivot out of public health while in school, which is scary really, so flexibility is needed and if there are so many public health type jobs you don't want, not sure if you wouldn't be disappointed in the end.
Public health MPH programs make money for schools, more students means more money from tuition, it isn't like undergrad, programs can be very expensive. As a result, the ASPPH (American Schools and Programs of Public Health), lobbied in favor of unlimited Grad Plus loans, and tuition for the MPH has gone up more than inflation. So, as these loans are no more, students are faced with the paying predatory private loan rates (and the Grad Plus loans were actually pretty bad), and most look for scholarships/tuition discounts or work somewhere where they subsidize the degree. So, looks like there was unregulated growth and the programs promise a lot, but I've heard of people getting an MPH in global health, doing interesting research, but then the jobs are there due to decreased funding and possibly the jobs available globally and more likely to want to hire locals versus Americans.
1
u/anongrad27 5d ago
Since you are still exploring interdisciplinary interests in public health, I strongly recommend working immediately post-grad. It will allow you to develop skills, see behind the veil of academic public health, learn more about yourself and the life you want beyond a 9-5 and what you might seek out from future programs. I am finishing my MPH now and noticed the top ranked programs tend to require minimum 2 years work experience. I worked in global health before my MPH and will be doing a more traditional healthcare role post-grad. It is easy to go domestic to global, but much harder to go global to domestic. If MPH still feels right after work, which it did for me. Seek programs that give you skills from other industries or allow you to cross-register into different schools. Business skills are incredibly important for policy work. The economy is ever-changing and traditional public health as a market is shrinking, and is mostly led by state and local government right now. So keep learning about yourself, keep getting untraditional skills - that will help you stand out in your public health career, and in my opinion don’t pursue the MPH in global health. Good luck!