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Anyone here have a degree in Public health???

only_logic

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don't do it. It is one of the most useless degrees out there, even a MPH is useless. You'll end up filing paper in a medical department or do social work.
 

Plumbus

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This seems to be a popular choice nowadays. I'm going into epidemiology, but I've noticed a lot of people interest din public health have no idea what public heath is nor what the concentrations are. Someone told me they wanted to get into epidemiology because it sounded cool.

I'm getting into epidemiology because I actually have an interest in diseases. Like everything, make sure you're getting into something because you're interested in it, not because it's the new hottest thing to get a degree in.

You'll only find money in biostatistics, so don't get into it for the money. I've done a lot of lab work over dead things in my undergrad (worked underground where there was an ossuary) so I really enjoy doing research/lab work. I find it calming.

Research! See if you can shadow someone to see if you like it.
 

boomboom12

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No but I really really wanted to do that before I got I before I got into IT.

With public health the sky really is the limit especially if you continue with graduate and doctorate degrees. My cousin who is a specialized doctor, actually sparked my interest to PH because you can do so much with it.
Working overseas for health orgs, private companies, hospital/clinical admin, consultant, etc

And obvious with extended education and experience you commanding 150k at least and upwards. Your making as much, or more as doctors without having to deal one on one with patients, fluids, etc
 

naturalheart

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I would encourage you to look at the field career hiring in the field ur intetested in.... Make sure u dont major in something where u cant get hired.
 

MORENITA

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Don't listen to naysayers, do your research. I was going to get my MPH but my Bachelors degree isn't in PH or Social work, and I don't have experience in that area so it would've been useless.

Job and position availability, including salary depends on the industry you choose to work in and the state/city you live in. In DC there's TONS of non-profit PH jobs in a variety of different positions. I interned at a non-profit that had PH educators and they ventured out into neighborhoods educating the public, they put together presentations and studies, etc. Also everyone that I know that has PH degrees have jobs and are getting their MPH, one of them works to educate WIC recipients and she LOVES her job. And everyone LOVED what they were doing, I was a bit jealous.
 

Plumbus

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No but I really really wanted to do that before I got I before I got into IT.

With public health the sky really is the limit especially if you continue with graduate and doctorate degrees. My cousin who is a specialized doctor, actually sparked my interest to PH because you can do so much with it.
Working overseas for health orgs, private companies, hospital/clinical admin, consultant, etc

And obvious with extended education and experience you commanding 150k at least and upwards. Your making as much, or more as doctors without having to deal one on one with patients, fluids, etc

Not really. Biostaticians are the ones making the money, and they start around $80,000. A small percentage of PH professionals are making $150K. A safe average is $50-75K a year.

You're not going to be loaded, but you'll be on the lower end of the upper middle class.
 

only_logic

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No but I really really wanted to do that before I got I before I got into IT.

With public health the sky really is the limit especially if you continue with graduate and doctorate degrees. My cousin who is a specialized doctor, actually sparked my interest to PH because you can do so much with it.
Working overseas for health orgs, private companies, hospital/clinical admin, consultant, etc

And obvious with extended education and experience you commanding 150k at least and upwards. Your making as much, or more as doctors without having to deal one on one with patients, fluids, etc

What planet are you living on?

Most people with MPH work in hospital administration but in a small capacity like patient liaison, patient educator or maybe as a research support. those are $40k a year job that you do not a public health degree for.

The jobs paying close to $100k requires you to augment that public health degree with some form of health care administration degree or decades of experience in administration.
 

only_logic

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Not really. Biostaticians are the ones making the money, and they start around $80,000. A small percentage of PH professionals are making $150K. A safe average is $50-75K a year.

You're not going to be loaded, but you'll be on the lower end of the upper middle class.

The strange thing is most people in MPH programs are not competent statisticians. Most department hire a trained statisticians even for the epidemiology research.
 

Plumbus

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The strange thing is most people in MPH programs are not competent statisticians. Most department hire a trained statisticians even for the epidemiology research.

I find that odd since the typical prerequisites for an MSPH in biostatistics is an undergraduate degree in mathematics. Epidemiology doesn't have a specific degree requirement, so that may explain why they're not the BEST at math.
 

only_logic

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I find that odd since the typical prerequisites for an MSPH in biostatistics is an undergraduate degree in mathematics. Epidemiology doesn't have a specific degree requirement, so that may explain why they're not the BEST at math.

I am aware that stats and experimental design is supposed to be a significant portion of MPH degrees but at the two major research hospitals i've been in an engineering or stat major will get any research intensive jobs over an MPH. MPH competes with psych, social work and public policy majors for jobs

I am not against MPH but it seems like too many people buy the hype and do not know exactly what they want to do with that degree till it is too late.
 

chelley

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I'm in 2nd year of my doctoral program (epidemiology). I also have my MPH in Epi.
The great thing about public health, you can delve into any field, epi, community health, environmental health, health policy, maternal and child health, law, etc. The sky truly is the limit. Its safe to say, most PH professionals don't get into it for the money, but you can make a lot of money.

As an epidemiologist (when I only had my MPH and previous internship experiences), I worked in the military as a contractor, researching mental health in the armed forces. Since I worked for the government, I made a lot of money, including fringe benefits, at 24 years old. I left that to pursue my doctorate and I can expect 6 six figures after I graduate. But most importantly, I'm in a field that I enjoy and can make a difference in. It sounds cheesy, but thats most important. You don't want to be locked into a career for 20+ years without feeling passionate about it or just going through the motions.

Feel free to PM me for more info, i.e. fellowships, internships, or general advice
 

CaramelnMotion

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I have my MPH and I manage a program, write grants, write research proposal, write program reports, provide outreach, conduct data collection & analysis. Know this:
-biostatistics is a core; if you are someone who is not great at math/stats, this will be a challenge.
-take a program evaluation class, even if you want to go the MD route or think that you will just be an entry-level research assistant before doing something different. You never know if your career plans may change. It's very useful.
-no matter how big the reading assignments, always be prepared. Classes call for detailed discussions & possible summary assignments.
-there is great emphasis on group assignments & activities. Study groups & friends are encouraged
-professors are willing to sit with you if you need additional guidance
-if in a 2-year program, the last year will be dedicated to developing a thesis.
-any freetime you have, it is best to start on big assignments early. The program will assume that you can manage your time very well.

My program was competitive in the sense that most of us applied for the same positions and opportunities; we would often times see each other at interviews or during our practicums (internships). It is best to get in good with a professor in your field/profession of interest--when you identify one, they will be great mentors.

I may have more to suggest later. Excuse my typos.
 

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Can you tell me of your experience in the field? What did the schooling mostly consist of?

Congrats

I would suggest you do some internships to get a feel of things. Anything from the local health dept, to the CDC, American Cancer Society, etc.

As far as classes, we learned how to write grants, plan and evaluate a health program from start to finish, analyze data using different programs such as SPSS and some more stuff I'm forgetting right now. I'm preparing to take the CHES soon.
 

ICUWatchinMe

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I thought about an MPH and then saw all the Stats and was like "fµck No!"

But now in this PhD, it's nothing but Research and Stats and now I'm like "fµck No!" :disdain:
 

boomboom12

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What planet are you living on?

Most people with MPH work in hospital administration but in a small capacity like patient liaison, patient educator or maybe as a research support. those are $40k a year job that you do not a public health degree for.

The jobs paying close to $100k requires you to augment that public health degree with some form of health care administration degree or decades of experience in administration.

Girl, it honestly depends on where you live. I know someone who got her ba in health admin and is double majoring and gets paid 80k per year without a degree. The administrators at my cousins hospitals make on avg 300k per yr not including bonuses. Its where you live, what you know and experience.

There are even jobs here in(as I said I was interested in the field) offering 100k-150k. It depends on where you live among other things. But yes those jobs are out there
 

MrsTresvant

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You can get an MBA with a concentration in Healthcare Management or a graduate certificate in public health.


The handful of people I know with MPH's wish they had gotten MBA's instead. These people went to Tulane, Emory, and other top state schools.

None of them did anything in the field and as I have mentioned numerous times before, degrees in careers that rely on public funding is a bad investment at the current time.


If people are getting foreclosed on left and right, that decreases property taxes and federal taxes paid because they sometimes don't have a damn job.

Decreased tax revenues = decreased vacancies in state, county, city, federal agencies and hiring freezes. Public health is subject to so many budget cuts its absurd, from a management and public safety perspective. Neighborhood clinics close all the time.

That goes for education, public administration, criminal justice, sociology, etc...the government is the largest employer of black people in most of the above fields. When the Fed is broke, the State is broke, the County is broke. Its a trickle down effect.




Unless you are into epidemiology and biostats like Satan said...the money and jobs just aren't there. I can't speak on nonprofits and international health agencies.
 

MrsTresvant

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Don't listen to naysayers, do your research. I was going to get my MPH but my Bachelors degree isn't in PH or Social work, and I don't have experience in that area so it would've been useless.

I have never seen an MPH program that had a specific bachelor's degree requirement nor an experience requirement.


Maybe you need to do your research. :disdain:


MPH programs are a dime a dozen and dozens of programs are now online.
 

Terriann

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I have a MPH degree, and i dont think for a second that its a useless degree.

My only advice is that I would urge people who are considering this degree to research the potential career possibilities open to them upon graduation. The real meat and bones of public health is getting out and working in the field.

Public Health has sub-fields in research (stats and epidemiology, medicine), policy (grant writing, community organizing, economics), business (management, program development).

With a degree in public health you can work for the NIH, CDC, local city and state health depts, hospital, community centers, etc.

The possibilities are endless, and for some it may seem like there is no direction because the path is not clear cut as something like Nursing, but its your job to make it your own and find your niche, and the best time to do that is while you're in school doing internships, fellowships, building connections with classmates and professors.

My background is in research and policy, and I've worked for a major government agency and a private organization thus far using my MPH degree.

ALSO, I dont recommend big name schools. with an MPH you will most likely be working for a public agency or on with public ties, meaning that you will probably not be making 80K outta graduation so theres no need to go into crazy debt.
 

MORENITA

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I have never seen an MPH program that had a specific bachelor's degree requirement nor an experience requirement.


Maybe you need to do your research. :disdain:


MPH programs are a dime a dozen and dozens of programs are now online.

Maybe you need to go back to school to improve your reading comprehension skills. I NEVER said that MPH degrees have Bachelors degree requirements, I said that my Bachelors didnt have anything to do with PH so it would've been useless for ME. Fact remains that GOOD graduate schools recommend that you have a Bachelors in PH or Social work AND that you have some work experience in PH in order to have better career opportunities when you graduate. Get your facts straight because the term 'requirement' wasn't used in my post. :stop:
 

Plumbus

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Maybe you need to go back to school to improve your reading comprehension skills. I NEVER said that MPH degrees have Bachelors degree requirements, I said that my Bachelors didnt have anything to do with PH so it would've been useless for ME. Fact remains that GOOD graduate schools recommend that you have a Bachelors in PH or Social work AND that you have some work experience in PH in order to have better career opportunities when you graduate. Get your facts straight because the term 'requirement' wasn't used in my post. :stop:

I would have to disagree with you on this one. The majority of universities with graduate programs do not have a social work or whatever requirement for MPHs. Any degree will suffice. The only field I saw where there were requirements, and rightly so, was biostatistics, environmental health and occasionally epidemiology. Environmental concentrations ask for science backgrounds or an undergrad in environmental studies, etc. Biostatistics asks for mathematics. Epidemiology sometimes asks for a background in science and math, but not all the time.

What universities are you speaking of, if you do not mind me asking?
 

MORENITA

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I would have to disagree with you on this one. The majority of universities with graduate programs do not have a social work or whatever requirement for MPHs. Any degree will suffice. The only field I saw where there were requirements, and rightly so, was biostatistics, environmental health and occasionally epidemiology. Environmental concentrations ask for science backgrounds or an undergrad in environmental studies, etc. Biostatistics asks for mathematics. Epidemiology sometimes asks for a background in science and math, but not all the time.

What universities are you speaking of, if you do not mind me asking?

Where are you guys getting requirements from?? Again, MPH degrees have no requirements. Recommendations and requirments aren't the same thing, in my response I also specifically said I wasn't referring to requirements. One of the schools I was referring to was the University of Maryland, ANYONE with a degree, good GRE scores and professor recommendations can apply. But for the MASTERS program they recommend some type of educational or professional experience in PH, by no means is it a requirement. I can apply right now and be accepted and my degree is in business, but that doesn't mean it will be useful towards my career goals.
 

Plumbus

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Where are you guys getting requirements from?? Again, MPH degrees have no requirements. Recommendations and requirments aren't the same thing, in my response I also specifically said I wasn't referring to requirements. One of the schools I was referring to was the University of Maryland, ANYONE with a degree, good GRE scores and professor recommendations can apply. But for the MASTERS program they recommend some type of educational or professional experience in PH, by no means is it a requirement. I can apply right now and be accepted and my degree is in business, but that doesn't mean it will be useful towards my career goals.

Oh. I don't consider UMD to be a great school. When you say great, I'm thinking a top university. I've looked at their program since I used to live in MD and they're less strict than say: UCLA, Berkeley, UCD, etc. which actually do have requirements for some of the concentrations that I listed above.

The universities I'm interested have zero requirements minus a bachelors, so you're right in that aspect when you exclude top universities.
 

MORENITA

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Oh. I don't consider UMD to be a great school. When you say great, I'm thinking a top university. I've looked at their program since I used to live in MD and they're less strict than say: UCLA, Berkeley, UCD, etc. which actually do have requirements for some of the concentrations that I listed above.

The universities I'm interested have zero requirements minus a bachelors, so you're right in that aspect when you exclude top universities.

LOL! Satan I didnt say it was great I said it was good (not great but not bad), and fact remains that UMD is one of the top public schools in the east coast. I personally can't afford private schooling or to move somewhere else, so for the area that I live in and for the price and it's listing amongst other public schools, it's good to me.



But thank you for also correcting the other poster that said there are no requirements for MPH programs, I didn't even know some schools did have stipulations.
 

CaramelnMotion

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You can get an MBA with a concentration in Healthcare Management or a graduate certificate in public health.


The handful of people I know with MPH's wish they had gotten MBA's instead. These people went to Tulane, Emory, and other top state schools.

None of them did anything in the field and as I have mentioned numerous times before, degrees in careers that rely on public funding is a bad investment at the current time.


If people are getting foreclosed on left and right, that decreases property taxes and federal taxes paid because they sometimes don't have a damn job.

Decreased tax revenues = decreased vacancies in state, county, city, federal agencies and hiring freezes. Public health is subject to so many budget cuts its absurd, from a management and public safety perspective. Neighborhood clinics close all the time.

That goes for education, public administration, criminal justice, sociology, etc...the government is the largest employer of black people in most of the above fields. When the Fed is broke, the State is broke, the County is broke. Its a trickle down effect.




Unless you are into epidemiology and biostats like Satan said...the money and jobs just aren't there. I can't speak on nonprofits and international health agencies.

That's why it's best for newbies in the field to consider "corporate" positions at institutions with thousands of employees, especially those who have been there for a long time & were allowed to study/take medical leave/become a caregiver and come back to the institution. They should consider hospital, college/university positions that work with the non-profits/community-based orgs but doesn't tie your salary into temp work & grants.
 

CaramelnMotion

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ALSO, I dont recommend big name schools. with an MPH you will most likely be working for a public agency or on with public ties, meaning that you will probably not be making 80K outta graduation so theres no need to go into crazy debt.

Depending on the city, the big name school may allow you to get your foot in the door faster and at a higher salary/promotion rate than your peers at other schools. But, your career opportunities also depends on your work ethic, attitude, skillset, etc. It may just depend on what the job position is asking for.
 

Iamscenic

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Is anyone working in the field of public health? Is it a stable job market??
 

Plumbus

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Use the search function, this has been discussed to DEATH or go to student doctor.
 

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Good question OP bumpin so you get some answers.
 

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Double-posting to add that it might not be a horrible idea to post this topic a second time in the Education forum which I assume gets more traffic, and the question IS somewhat education-related in nature. You might be more likely to get answers there.
 

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I almost didnt post, because the OP is looking for real info and not just a ton of yeah I like that question, but yeah I like that question!


I'm in an un related field, but Masters In Public Health was my dream.

I hope OP gets all the info she needs.
 

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I don't know about the job market, but I have two friends who are in the mid-to-uppercrusts of Health Administration with a masters in PH, not to be confused with Health Information Administration; two very different fields.

One is in LA and the other is in Bellevue WA, both pretty much got jobs instantly - but this means nothing. It would be interesting to hear what you find out.
 

Plumbus

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I almost didnt post, because the OP is looking for real info and not just a ton of yeah I like that question, but yeah I like that question!


I'm in an un related field, but Masters In Public Health was my dream.

I hope OP gets all the info she needs.

Like I said, this has been discussed to death. And she'll more likely find more help at the Student Doctor forum underneath Public Health. I'm applying to public health programs and that's pretty much where my ass has stayed for the past 3 years to prepare for my applications and right now (during applications).
 

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