Stethoscopes & Yoga...and Public Health
10/16/17
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While you often see pictures of my medical training, I rarely get to post about the public health side of my education. So here it is as my first blog post! Our program is a bit different as we also get a second degree: Masters of Public Health (MPH). When looking for schools to apply to, I was only looking at those with the dual degree. Spoiler: there aren’t many!
Why the MPH? I was a researcher + Clinical Laboratory Scientist (CLS) in my past life (aka before school). Public health didn’t spark my interest until an internship at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in Atlanta, Georgia. At the time, The Walking Dead was a huge hit so people would always associate that to my job. No, there weren’t any zombies around..at least not near our lab! |
My internship & later employment was great; I spent my days doing data collection/analysis, program implementation, and working with community based organizations on how to improve surrounding environments so as to promote health.
Needless to say, it was an eye opener. I realized that health is much more than just the absence of illness. It is impacted by factors (determinants of health) such as education, health policy, access to healthy foods & quality care, zip codes, immigration status..the list goes on. Our current health care system is overly reactionary, curing diseases, but leaving those who have unequal access to care and preventive care knowledge stranded.
I knew that if I wanted to be a clinician, I also needed a foundation in Public Health.
How many extra courses are needed for the MPH?
Every dual degree program is different, but our school requires these nine courses (ten if you count the exam prep course). We have 2 different tracks available--community or global health, each focusing on different aspects of Public Health. I chose Global Health!
**courses specific to global health option
What is the schedule like?
The schedule will test your time management skills. You must gauge how much time you spend on studying for your medicine courses vs public health.
The first semester was probably the hardest but we all got through it.
8 classes total; 4 medicine courses, 4 public health courses.
Mon-Thurs: 9:00am-9pm
Fridays 9:00-5:00pm.
Weekends: no life (haha)
The rest of the semesters were much more manageable with ~2 public health courses per semester in addition to our medicine courses. Once we finished out first semester, our study habits were much more focused & we acclimated to the amount of work pretty fast.
Is there a public health rotation? exam? project?
We are required to take the Certified Public Health Exam (CPH) prior to our graduation. The CPH tests core areas of public health--Epidemiology, Biostats, Environmental health, Healthy policy and Social/Behavioral Sciences--along with general principles and cross cutting areas (e.g. Program planning, Public Health Biology). The majority of students in my class and I chose to take it the week before starting our medicine rotations. I passed the CPH in February! :)
There is a public health rotation at the end of our medicine rotations. As mentioned, I chose Global Health & will be going to Bolivia next year. There is also a final project/paper after our public health rotation.
What do you plan to do with the MPH afterwards?
My initial plan was to go into the Epidemic Intelligence Service through the CDC. It is open to individuals with dual degrees. Still considering this. But no matter where I work, I plan on using my PH degree for data collection/analysis & program development, etc.
Do you suggest the dual degree?
I definitely think everyone would benefit from the public health degree, but also realize that this isn't feasible. You have to balance out the time & cost (yes, don't forget your finances!). Our program is ~3 years without summer breaks & it is a bit more expensive. But...for me, the public health degree has given me a new perspective and I've loved it so far!
Needless to say, it was an eye opener. I realized that health is much more than just the absence of illness. It is impacted by factors (determinants of health) such as education, health policy, access to healthy foods & quality care, zip codes, immigration status..the list goes on. Our current health care system is overly reactionary, curing diseases, but leaving those who have unequal access to care and preventive care knowledge stranded.
I knew that if I wanted to be a clinician, I also needed a foundation in Public Health.
How many extra courses are needed for the MPH?
Every dual degree program is different, but our school requires these nine courses (ten if you count the exam prep course). We have 2 different tracks available--community or global health, each focusing on different aspects of Public Health. I chose Global Health!
- Biostats
- Behavioral/social aspects of public health
- Epidemiology
- Environmental health
- Emerging Health Threats**
- Health Policy and Management
- Essentials of Global Health**
- Research Methods
- Program Evaluation & Needs Assessment
**courses specific to global health option
What is the schedule like?
The schedule will test your time management skills. You must gauge how much time you spend on studying for your medicine courses vs public health.
The first semester was probably the hardest but we all got through it.
8 classes total; 4 medicine courses, 4 public health courses.
Mon-Thurs: 9:00am-9pm
Fridays 9:00-5:00pm.
Weekends: no life (haha)
The rest of the semesters were much more manageable with ~2 public health courses per semester in addition to our medicine courses. Once we finished out first semester, our study habits were much more focused & we acclimated to the amount of work pretty fast.
Is there a public health rotation? exam? project?
We are required to take the Certified Public Health Exam (CPH) prior to our graduation. The CPH tests core areas of public health--Epidemiology, Biostats, Environmental health, Healthy policy and Social/Behavioral Sciences--along with general principles and cross cutting areas (e.g. Program planning, Public Health Biology). The majority of students in my class and I chose to take it the week before starting our medicine rotations. I passed the CPH in February! :)
There is a public health rotation at the end of our medicine rotations. As mentioned, I chose Global Health & will be going to Bolivia next year. There is also a final project/paper after our public health rotation.
What do you plan to do with the MPH afterwards?
My initial plan was to go into the Epidemic Intelligence Service through the CDC. It is open to individuals with dual degrees. Still considering this. But no matter where I work, I plan on using my PH degree for data collection/analysis & program development, etc.
Do you suggest the dual degree?
I definitely think everyone would benefit from the public health degree, but also realize that this isn't feasible. You have to balance out the time & cost (yes, don't forget your finances!). Our program is ~3 years without summer breaks & it is a bit more expensive. But...for me, the public health degree has given me a new perspective and I've loved it so far!
“We’ve been wrong about what our job is in medicine. We think our job is to ensure health and survival. But really it is larger than that. It is to enable well-being.”
-Atul Gawande in "Being Mortal"