<p>Hey there. I’m pursuing both concurrently which is kind of crazy but also really cool, in my opinion.</p>
<p>There are some general schools of thought:</p>
<p>1) Get MPH then get MD: this seems to be most common for applicants who are interested in public health and either apply to med school but don’t get in or want to take a break year or two. I’d estimate 10% of my class of 100 came to med school with an MPH.</p>
<p>2) Get an MD then get an MPH: you can work on your MPH during residency, during fellowship, or beyond. A benefit here is that you can almost always get your program to fund your MPH–no additional debt!–but a drawback is that you have to “wait” until you’re done with med school to work on your formal MPH training.</p>
<p>3) Get an MD and an MPH from a dual-degree program: some (many?) med schools offer dual degree programs–MD/MPH is a common one, as is MD/MBA. Usually this involves doing some amount of med school (first 1-3 years), taking a break to do MPH (or MBA) work, and then resuming med school where you left off. Many programs insert the MPH or MBA work in between preclinical and clinical years, which was unattractive to me since I don’t want to postpone my clinical training. Other programs (Northwestern comes to mind) tack on MPH classes at night and spread them out over a few years, with both degrees typically finished in 4 years. This means he’d have both an MD and an MPH after 4-6 years (with 5-6 being the most common) depending on the structure of the program and what he does with his summer(s) before and during med school. I’d say this is a pretty common route for getting an MD/MPH, and one benefit is that he’d be surrounded by people in both programs and in a school that is familiar with students like him. </p>
<p>4) Get an MD and an MPH concurrently but not in a dual degree program: My school doesn’t have a dual degree program currently, so this is the route I’m going. Basically, it means I’m enrolled in both med and grad school, and I take MPH classes as they fit in (I’ve developed a plan with the deans of both schools). Many of my med classes fulfill MPH requirements, which is convenient. In the end, I don’t know if I’ll actually finish the MPH, or if I’ll just end up with a certificate, or if I’ll end up with just some cool classes under my belt (and could finish the MPH later on in my career). Regardless, I enjoy the classes and I enjoy learning about the context of health care through the lens of public health. </p>
<p>You should be able to find out what’s available on the schools’ websites. If you can’t find your answers, just email profs or deans or anyone else you can find. If you find a prof’s name but not a corresponding email address, try googling the university + directory (or something similar) so you can search his name to get his address. I’ve used this work around about a million times. </p>
<p>And I love that he’s interested in public health! There’s so much out there right now about it that it’s a fantastic time to be learning about everything. Regardless of the path he chooses, I hope he maintains his interest!</p>
<p>Good luck to both of you!</p>