<p>Hi there! I’m getting my PhD in public health (sociomedical sciences) and I’m also interested in mental health.</p>
<p>There’s no one answer to your question, because there are many routes you can go in studying community mental health:</p>
<p>-A PhD in the social/behavioral sciences in public health (like mine. Most schools of public health have one)
-Social epidemiology (Harvard has a great department)
-Social policy (Brandeis has this program, as does Princeton)
-Health policy (most schools of public health have one; may be combined with health management. Some business schools and schools of public administration or affairs may have one)
-Community psychology
-Sociology (although you’d have to take some sociology classes first)
-Human development and family studies (Penn State has an excellent program, and I think UT-Austin does as well)
-Some other specialized programs (Vanderbilt has a PhD program in Community Research and Action)</p>
<p>I suggest that you take a look at all of these kinds of programs, and think about what you want to do and the kind of research and department that you want to find yourself in. Things will differ depending on that. A social epidemiology program is likely to require more quantitative skills, whereas a program like Vanderbilt’s may not require any at all. A community psychology program is going to have more of a disciplinary focus, whereas a HDFS department will be far more interdisciplinary. You’ll be able to answer the same research questions at any of these departments, but the approach you take and the techniques and theories you are taught are going to differ depending on what kind of program you take. Me, personally, I wanted a traditional psychological lens colored with the social justice sociological/anthropological approach of public health, so I chose an interdisciplinary program that allowed me to study social psychology and public health at the same time. I think I would’ve been just as happy in a social epidemiology program, a social policy program or a community psych program, but the Vanderbilt one might’ve driven me crazy.</p>
<p>In general, most PhD programs want a high GPA, 2+ years of research experience in your field (although not necessarily exactly what you want to do in graduate school), strong recommendations from 3 professors who know you and your work well, and high GRE scores. In my experience, programs that focus on social issues and community health also like to see experience in the field. Work experience is valued in our field(s), unlike other fields that prefer a straight line of only research. The women in my cohort did varied things before they came to do their PhDs - one worked at an NGO in an African country for several years, one worked on political economy issues in South Asia, one worked with Mexican migrants. I was the only one who came straight from undergrad, and honestly I wouldn’t do that again if I were to do it over. Your study abroad experience would most certainly have a positive impact on your graduate admissions, especially if you are interested in studying Latin American issues when you reach graduate school. Even if not, it shows that you are a broad thinker who has been exposed to things outside of the US.</p>
<p>Your majors are certainly appropriate (I was a psychology major in undergrad myself). Generally, PhD programs look for a 1200+ on the old GRE - I’d say that’s probably around 80th percentile plus on the new exam. If you do qualitative research, your quant scores will be less important. Your research experience sounds delightfully interesting and will probably pique interest.</p>
<p>Also, as a side note - many PhD programs in public health require an MPH first. Mine (the PhD program in Sociomedical Sciences at Columbia) does not. If you are interesting in coming here, please PM me and I can talk you through the vagaries of applying - it’s a quirky program.</p>