A Few Questions!

[Iridium]

Hiya! It was a big coincidence... I was typing in MPH for a question that I had and suddenly this forum popped brand-new! I think SDN is psychic. Anyway, I have a few questions:

I'm a sophomore in college (Bio/Pre-Med), and I've suddenly become very interested in Public Health, especially epidemiology and biostats. I'm taking a few courses in Epidemology and Stats next semester, and am trying to get an internship at the Dept of Health for next summer, but I had a few questions:

1) What are the advantages/disadvantages to getting an MD/MPH as opposed to just getting a straight PhD/Masters in Epidemology or Biostatistics?

2) I've seen residencies that come with the MPH built in (Preventive Medicine I believe). Now, is that different from the MD/MPH program, or the same thing. I was under the impression that in the former, you get the MPH after you get the MD, while in the MD/MPH program, you get the MPH during.

3) One of the biggest concerns with getting an MD is that I may not be able to take the insane hours that are required. I mean, I consider 40 hrs/week a full week of work, but the 80-100 hr/week just boggles my mind. This may not have to do with the MPH too much, but should I consider 80-100 that daunting?

4) Any other ideas on how to explore the fields, and should I post this in another forum (Pre-allo or allo)?

Thanks in Advance,
~Iridium

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[exmike]

Originally posted by Iridium
Hiya! It was a big coincidence... I was typing in MPH for a question that I had and suddenly this forum popped brand-new! I think SDN is psychic. Anyway, I have a few questions:

I'm a sophomore in college (Bio/Pre-Med), and I've suddenly become very interested in Public Health, especially epidemiology and biostats. I'm taking a few courses in Epidemology and Stats next semester, and am trying to get an internship at the Dept of Health for next summer, but I had a few questions:

1) What are the advantages/disadvantages to getting an MD/MPH as opposed to just getting a straight PhD/Masters in Epidemology or Biostatistics?

2) I've seen residencies that come with the MPH built in (Preventive Medicine I believe). Now, is that different from the MD/MPH program, or the same thing. I was under the impression that in the former, you get the MPH after you get the MD, while in the MD/MPH program, you get the MPH during.

3) One of the biggest concerns with getting an MD is that I may not be able to take the insane hours that are required. I mean, I consider 40 hrs/week a full week of work, but the 80-100 hr/week just boggles my mind. This may not have to do with the MPH too much, but should I consider 80-100 that daunting?

4) Any other ideas on how to explore the fields, and should I post this in another forum (Pre-allo or allo)?

Thanks in Advance,
~Iridium

Those 80 hours is during residency. you wont do that after you're done.

A MD/MPH isnt going for the same role as a DrPH or PhD. You need to decide what you want.

With a MD/MPH you're going to focus on public health issues with a clincal viewpoint. With a doctorate in Public HEatlh you'll probably be going into hardcore epi/biostats or policy making, and not having much clinical work.

 

[Adcadet]

Originally posted by flindophile
A biostats guy told me this one...

Q: What is the difference between an epidemiologist and a biostatistician?
A: About 100k/yr.

I'm guessing about the same thing can be said for a PhD and an MD/MPH. If your interests slant more toward the clinical side, the MD will be very helpful.

I was at a conference recently that was a mix of medicine and public health (see below in sig), and there definitely seemed to be an aire about the MDs - it seemed they simply carried more respect, and could (with appropriate effort) do everything a PhD could do and more.

 

[Adcadet]

Iridium - it's awesome that you're taking epi and biostats now. From what I've seen, epi is not taught in undergrad at all. People take chem, bio, stats as undergrads, but so few take epi. No wonder most people are clueless about epi and PH. Anyway . . .

I finished my undergrad coursework a semester early and spent spring semester in the U of M SPH, which was the best thing I could have done. If you can, I'd definitely make it a point to spend some significant time with hard-core epi/biostat people to learn about the "culture" of public health (if you can, hang out in a SPH - not sure if you're taking your courses in one now, but if you're in RI you're definitely not far from BU, Harvard, U Mass, UMDNJ, all of which have accredited SPH's), and do the same with medicine people. Don't only let MD's teach you about PH, and don't only let public health people teach you about medicine. Public health has been the bastard child of medicine for a long long time and people often seem to miss the fact that public health has a distinct culture - different philosophies, different methods, different ways of thinking, etc. Investigate both the world of medicine and public health and see where you belong. If you end up hating PH go med. If you hate med go PH. If you like both, then do both!

 

[Iridium]

The Stats one isn't a Biostats course, just a regular math stats course. Also, the Epidemology is under the Health Policy and Management major they have at the college. I'm looking at things to do over the summer (internship-wise) and have thought about a job at the RI Dept of Health, or possibly a summer at a university. (Gotta start getting forms and stuff over break!)

Do you have any recommendations of books or resources for someone considering public health? I'm a traditional Bio major, and I'm still considering the MD, but public health seems to be a very interesting area. Thanks!