<p>What are the top schools to apply?</p>
<p>It really depends on your background, what area of public health you're interested in, and what kind of training you want (research vs. professional degree). The MS is a research degree that is useful (and in some cases necessary) as a stepping stone to the PhD/DrPh/ScD or for research type careers in public health/pharmaceuticals/medicine whereas the MPH is a professional degree useful (and in some cases necessary) for a career in public health practice e.g. with NGOs, governmental agencies and departments, healthcare management firms. At some schools, MPH or MS admissions require previous clinical work (e.g. applicants should already hold an MD, DO, OD, DVM, or PhD in science). Some programs are better at certain fields within public health: a great example is Emory for epidemiology since their department has research connections with the CDC. If you're looking for a list to get started with your search, I'd recommend looking into the following:</p>
<p>Harvard - MPH requires previous MD or other clinical degree
Johns Hopkins (Bloomberg) - MPH requires previous MD or other clinical degree
UNC Chapel Hill
Emory (Rollins)
Columbia (Mailman)
Yale - MS requires/recommends previous MD or other clinical degree
Dartmouth - MS geared towards outcomes research
Minnesota-Twin Cities
Really the list goes on...try googling CEPH (for a list of all certified programs in public health) and ASPH (for a list of all certified schools of public health) and also check out the MPH forum at studentdoctor.net</p>
<p>Thanks so much for your reply. The girl I was asking for did her undergrad at Harvard, after grad did clinical breast research in CA and wants to pursue a Masters in Public Health. Just wondering if anyone had any thoughts out there for the best schools - Again, thank you!</p>
<p>leejwwc,</p>
<p>Where did you get your information? I do not think it is accurate. For example, Bloomberg (Hopkins) does NOT require a MD. From their website:
[quote]
The Master of Public Health (MPH) is a degree program which provides integrated training in the core competencies of the field of public health. The MPH program is targeted toward professionals with a minimum of two years of prior experience in the health arena with a population perspective on health who wish to address current or emerging public health challenges. Medical students are also eligible for the program after the completion of their second year of medical school. MPH graduates of the Bloomberg School include people from a wide variety of professions such as clinicians, attorneys, social workers, researchers, teachers and social scientists.
[/quote]
</p>
<p>Please, let's make an effort to be accurate with our posts, and not state as "fact" things we are not sure about. Otherwise, these boards lose credibilty, or worse, mislead posters.</p>
<p>newmassdad, Hopkins does in fact require an MD or other clinical degree for admission to their MPH program:</p>
<p>"What are the MPH admission criteria?
The Master of Public Health program seeks qualified applicants with clearly identified career goals that are consistent with the anticipated training. Successful applicants must have a strong academic record and relevant academic preparation, as well as impressive references that state the potential for success. All students must possess a baccalaureate degree and either two years of post-baccalaureate health related work experience or a doctoral degree in a field underlying public health.
Those without prior relevant professional training or experience should consider other master's programs."
Frequently</a> Asked Questions about MPH</p>
<p>I may not have been exact with my answer but I did allude gluemom to more accurate sources (SDN forums, CEPH and ASPH sites) and suggest the list as a means to get started with her search. Even if I were completely wrong, there is no need to be so critical in your remarks since no one is immune from making a mistake from time to time.</p>
<p>Off the record, I recently completed the admissions process to public health programs and know from contact with admissions/talk with other students and prospective students, that the MPH at Hopkins prefers such experienced individuals. Those applying from undergrad are urged to pursue an MS or MHS at Hopkins instead of the MPH which is geared more towards those with previous doctoral work.</p>
<p>leejwwc, I won't debate the fine points of parsing qualifications. We'll leave that to the Clintons. :)</p>
<p>I will say that I work in DC, and there are lots of Bloomberg MPH degree holders here that have rather ordinary academic backgrounds. What they did have was health care work experience, often through Peace Corp or other NGO work.</p>
<p>So I will agree that they look for relevant clinical experience, not a clinical degree.</p>
<p>Any good admissions news?</p>
<p>very well, we'll leave that to them, haha.</p>
<p>Yes, I will be going to Yale in the fall for their MS program in epidemiology. I want to get my MD afterwards in order to practice and to do research on therapeutic effectiveness of treatments in population subsets. Do you work in the field of public health?</p>
<p>lee, I am on the edges of it professionally. I worked for a global health NGO for 1-1/2 years before burning out on the travel. Now I work for a government agency that runs the world's largest health care system (a test here: care to guess the agency?)</p>
<p>Epi is a great field, and the MS should position you well to critique much of the medical literature. Just remember to not argue with the faculty too much when you get to med school. :)</p>
<p>wow - "burning out on the travel" - I only wish I had the chance to travel more now :) as for a guess, maybe the HRSA?</p>
<p>Actually, the world's largest health care system (aside from maybe the Brits?) is the Department of Veterans Affairs, aka the VA.</p>
<p>Yes, travel when you are young and don't have a family, because two week trips 12 time zones away get tiring later in life. Fascinating, but tiring. Keep in mind, too, that business travel is not sightseeing. You only get to see what you see from the cab as it goes from hotel to meeting. And better hotels have a sameness worldwide, although the service levels of the better Indian hotels are superb, at least when the power is on.</p>
<p>Sorry to jump into this thread, but newmassdad it would be great if you could provide some insight.</p>
<p>I am deciding between getting a degree in Intl Health Systems at Hopkins or getting a degree from the Dept of Population and Intl Health at Harvard. At this point I want to work in the areas of healthcare access and delivery and want to travel a lot. But eventually I'd want to get into consultancy or something like that. For international stuff Hopkins is great (and I get a a very good feeling from the folks at Hopkins about the program which is kind of like an MBA from a public health persepective), but the fact that I might want to eventually end up working in NYC/Boston/DC makes me wonder if I should just go to Harvard for the connections and networking opportunities?</p>
<p>I previously did some research into MPH programs and the only one I found that REQUIRED a previous clinical degree or PhD was Harvard. (fyiw: I did not find that Hopkins or Yale did)</p>
<p>It was also the only program at a major university that I found that was 1 year long. (fwiw: Hopkins and Yale were 2 yr programs)</p>
<p>FV, I believe your analysis of networking opportunities etc. is correct. But even more, the reason location matters is because face to face contact is how the best networks are built, and it is a lot easier to attend a symposium, talk or meeting if you can drive there, so Boston leads to a network in the NE, while Hopkins leads to a network from Philly to DC, more or less. Lots of exceptions to this, though.</p>
<p>If you really want to get an idea of what's going on, go to the websites of some orgs you like and look at the bios of their management. It is a good way too see what they value by way of background. </p>
<p>BTW, I would not equate a Hopkins MPH degree with an MBA. Different beasties, and employers are well clued into these differences. Hint: entry requirements are different, as are the kinds of student attracted. Employers hire certain degrees not just for the learning from the degree, but because of the kind of students that particular program attracts (and get admitted). In other words, employers "outsource" some of the HR screening function to grad program admissions committees.</p>
<p>Hi everyone,</p>
<p>I have a related question, if you guys don't mind.</p>
<p>For PhD programs in Epidemiology, are applicants with clinical backgrounds viewed more favorably than those who don't?</p>
<p>From Peterson's I saw that many programs have admission rates of 40-50%, even for schools like Johns Hopkins and Harvard... But the average age of applicants is around 30. Is this because these people are applying with many years of experience under their belt already (and/or with MD degree)? Also, why is the admission rate so unbelievably high?? O_o</p>
<p>Thanks a lot for answering my questions!</p>
<p>Tulane has a reputable public health program. The School of Public Health campus is downtown too, so you'll always find something to do in your spare time if you have any.</p>
<p>My dad recomments either a MS or Ph.D. in epidemiology. The job market is better than for a non-MD Public Health grad</p>
<p>bcheese-
you are right, the applicant pool can be self-selective depending on the program. also that acceptance rate is for all programs (PhD, MS, and MPH). The PhD accepts far fewer applicants (often <10%) since they need to be funded while the Masters degrees don't.</p>