Best Global Health Programs

[nanku]

I am interested in doing an MPH in Global Health and I am wondering if anyone knows which schools have the strongest global health programs. I have looked at Yale and Emory's programs and they look very interesting. I know some schools like Harvard and JHU are ranked highly, but their global health courses do not appear to be as strong from the course content. I was also told HSPH is still formulating it's global health curriculum. Can someone please tell me which Universities are good in this concentration.

I know this concentration is relatively new in most Universities I know Yale just started theirs last year. Does anyone know which school has the oldest program. I'm just curious.

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[GHadvocate]

Hi there, I noticed this thread a while ago and was hoping someone would post their opinions in answer to this question. I thought I'd bump it up and add my own thoughts. Hopefully it will encourage others to join in

Nanku, I definitely agree with you about Emory having an interesting GH program. The variety of classes and faculty connections there are pretty amazing. I also heard the same thing as you about Harvard having a relatively new program. In terms of Yale, I felt like they didn't have that many specific GH classes, on top of which I read tons of mixed reviews about the program. I've got to stick up for Hopkins though - their international health department looks pretty legit. The classes look interesting, but the main advantages I see in the program are the crazy amount of international connections among the faculty (JHSPH has a hand in all kinds of health development projects all over the world), as well as the fact that you can take up to a year to do your field work for your thesis (only applies to the MSPH route). That year of work could potentially lead to employment after graduation, and even if it doesn't, you'll be well ahead of your competition from other schools because you will have had a head start with practical experience (other schools offer semesters abroad for this kind of experience).

Those are my two cents. If anyone's got different thoughts (or agrees) I'd love to hear!

 

[JMM051]

That year of work could potentially lead to employment after graduation, and even if it doesn't, you'll be well ahead of your competition from other schools because you will have had a head start with practical experience (other schools offer semesters abroad for this kind of experience).

Ehhh I don't know if I would go that far. You could spend a year abroad working on a terrible project and get nowhere while someone else spends 3 months somehwere and has an amazing experience that nets contacts, publications, etc.

I believe that UNC does a good deal of international work and Tulane is definitely recognized worldwide. What I can personally speak to is Emory's GH department. From work in the department along with a roommate and friends in the department I know there is A LOT of work being done abroad. Almost everyone I know in GH (actually, thinking about it, maybe everyone I know) has a summer experience lined up. From Mexico City to Brazil to Kenya to Thailand, India, etc. there are projects going on everywhere. Emory has a program that allocates funds up to 2k for students going abroad for the summer. Also, there are so many ongoing projects during the year that could have you going abroad for parts of the project.

Also to answer Nanku's original question I have heard that Tulane's program is the oldest but I don't know if there is any truth to that.

 

[Deem23]

Quick point about Yale...The concentration is new, but Global Health at Yale is not. It used to be its own major, like Emory, but people felt that Global Health was a bit too esoteric to warrant its own division so the dean came in, shut it down, then relaunched it as a 'concentration' like a minor open to students from all the divisions.

As a member of the concentration, I've been pretty satisfied thus far. Lots of resources, lots of support, etc.

 

[GHadvocate]

Emory has a program that allocates funds up to 2k for students going abroad for the summer.

Hey JMM051, are these funds given on a competitive basis? If so, could you describe the process?

 

[ReproHlthPlz]

Does anyone have any experience dealing with Pitt's Global Health certificate program? I know that Pitt has a pretty good rep in the public health world but does that apply to their GH program as well?

 

[mphbound503]

Does anyone have any thoughts/experience with Columbia's Global Health program?

 

[nanku]

I got this message from someone who was trying to decide between Emory and Harvard last year. I decided to share .. for those who are still trying to decide


I ended up choosing Emory. My concentration was global health, but when I visited Harvard I felt like the classes were very policy-based and I was looking for something more quantitative. I actually ended up switching from just plain global health at Emory to global health epidemiology. Emory's program is awesome especially because it's right next to the CDC and a lot of students (including me) have been able to work part-time there during the school year. A lot of the professors are also from the CDC. Harvard just didn't do it for me...they seemed very cold and not interested in the students, while Emory was super warm and the students are amazing. There are students from a variety of countries with varying backgrounds from physicians to returned peace corps volunteers to scientists etc. If you're interested in having the name Harvard on your transcript then Harvard's program is definitely strong and worth looking at, but if you're interested in what you're learning and getting out of the program, I'd recommend Emory.

 

[JMM051]

GHAdvocate- Here is the website http://www.sph.emory.edu/GFE/

They say that it is competitive and I'm sure it is to some degree but from what I understand almost everything that applies and follows protocol gets some sort of funding.

 

[jaya88]

This is an interesting thread. I recently went though all of the course descriptions at Yale, UIC, Tulane, and BU. Personally, I found the course offerings related to global health at Tulane and BU to be the most exciting. The course offerings at Yale seemed kind of slim. However, I think the benefit with Yale is that you can take courses outside of the school of PH. I kind of at the point in my life that I just really want to like the courses I am taking. For whatever uneducated reason, I never took that close a look at Emory's course offerings until now.

It really makes me wish I would have applied to Emory and BU now--especially Emory. I might be missing something, but it seems from what I read that Emory does review applications throughout the year but spaces fill up quickly and you wouldn't be considered for a merit award, etc after their deadline. Am I just reading what I want to read? I think I will contact them this week, but I am sure I am too late. Ugh.

 

[werd814]

To quickly (midterm season's eating up my free time) add on to what Deem said:

I absolutely love the global health concentration here. And as Deem noted, the concentration may be new, but (according to Betsy Bradley, the director of the Yale Global Health Initiative), Yale's global health major was among the first of its kind when it was developed in the 90s. But as far as the important things go, Jaya hit the nail on the head: we actually have a decent smattering of global health courses offered at YSPH, but the ability to access global health and internationally-geared courses at Law, Med, the College, etc. gives YSPH students a pretty decent breadth of options. Here are most of the global health courses offered at Yale (though I notice that at least one course that I'm taking isn't listed... so who knows how encompassing it is, hah):

http://publichealth.yale.edu/global/curriculum/mph/curriculum.aspx

http://publichealth.yale.edu/global/curriculum/electives/index.aspx

A quick comparison to Rollin's course offerings shows Yale (University) offering somewhere close to less-than-half. Man, Emory's got an impressive pool of course offerings:

http://www.sph.emory.edu/cms/departments_centers/gh/descriptions.html


The funding for global health internships at Yale is phenomenal. Yale offers ~ 18 "full-funding" grants (remember, we have 32 Global Health students in our class) of up to $7,000 for students to perform research abroad over the summer through the Downs Fellowship Program; several grants of up to $5,000 for an individual and $15,000 for a team of students (open to all University students, though-- not just YSPH); and many more for general internships (global health and non-global health related... so the competition is a bit higher) ranging $2,000 - $5,000 that are not mutually exclusive (i.e. a student can concurrently qualify for more than one grant). While there's a good chance you'll get it, funding isn't guaranteed-- I'm not sure if the $2k at Emory that JMM mentioned is guaranteed every GH student (if so, that's AWESOME... Yale Forestry has a program like that, but YSPH doesn't; boo.). Check out the funding opportunities here:

http://publichealth.yale.edu/career/internship/funding/ysph.aspx

http://publichealth.yale.edu/global/internships/index.aspx


I also have found that the Yale name, connections and location (~ 2 hours from NYC, the UN and Boston) attract stellar guest lecturers and speakers ( http://calendar.yale.edu/cal/ghi ). The GHI (global health initiative) is an entire University (not an exclusively-YSPH) thing, and that has both its pros and cons.

So those are some of my thoughts on the Yale program. But seriously, take a look at the courses you want to take and the research you want to do. Yale may have the general prestige you look for, but not the courses, research or initiatives. In that case, it's almost certainly not worth your money/time. On the other hand, it may not offer hundreds of global health courses, but offer exactly the courses you want to take (and/or have profs conducting research in your area of interest and/or the specific types of global health initiatives that interest you). In that case, give it a harder look.

Cheers, and best of luck!

werd

 

[MPHMelissa]

I see that no one has mentioned the UW Global Health program yet. Anybody with thoughts or direct experience with this program?

 

[Big Dog]

...for globabl/international health. While we in the States tend to pooh-pooh prestige (bcos its politically incorrect), the simple fact is that prestigious names open doors on the international stage. Thus, the two H's should be your first choices.

 

[vaidyascurse]

...for globabl/international health. While we in the States tend to pooh-pooh prestige (bcos its politically incorrect), the simple fact is that prestigious names open doors on the international stage. Thus, the two H's should be your first choices.

While the "two H's" certainly have top programs, here is my list for the best public health schools involved in global health work based on my research and word of mouth:

1. John Hopkins University
2. Harvard
3. UNC
4. Emory
5. University of Minnesota
6. University of Washington
7. Yale
8. Columbia
9. USF
10. Tulane
11. University of Michigan
12. University of Texas


I would happy/thrilled to go to any of these schools for an MPH and to do global health work!

 

[intlhealth2010]

While the “two H’s” certainly have top programs, here is my list for the best public health schools involved in global health work based on my research and word of mouth:

1. John Hopkins University
2. Harvard
3. UNC
4. Emory
5. University of Minnesota
6. University of Washington
7. Yale
8. Columbia
9. USF
10. Tulane
11. University of Michigan
12. University of Texas


I would happy/thrilled to go to any of these schools for an MPH and to do global health work!

Why is U Minn. on that list? They don't have a Global Health track for MPH.

 

[Awapi]

I guess this can just show how opinions and experiences vary by person and who you talk to. As a Peace Corps Volunteer I came into contact with a lot of people working internationally in public health. When talking to them about getting an MPH, Johns Hopkins, Emory, and Tulane were the three schools that came up regularly and all of them had nothing but good things to say about the graduates they had met/worked with (in fact, my country director holds an MPH from one of these three). However, every single one of them said that Harvard was the place to go if you wanted a degree with the name Harvard on it not if you wanted to actually do field work (not to say that you can't get a job with a degree from Harvard, I'm sure that you can and that people do, but the people I talked to working in the field were not impressed with the graduates they had met and worked with and the quality of education those people had received). This also only applied to Global Health for them, not any of the other concentrations from Harvard. Coincidentally, I had lunch with a professor from Emory, I asked him "So, do you think Emory is the best public health institution there is" and he said "No, actually, I don't, but I think it is the best institution there is for certain things, I believe it depends on the student and their plans for the future..." He went on to say that for someone like me, wanting to work in Global Health in the field, he believes Emory is the right place for me to be. He then explained that for other people Harvard, UW, UNC, etc might be the right school, he gave some reasons the other schools might not be a good fit for someone in global health and for Harvard he said "You go to Harvard for the name of Harvard, not for the Global Health education you would get there."

Anyway, just like everyone else who has posted on this thread, this is just what I have heard from people I have spoken with, but obviously everyone's experience with speaking to people in the PH field may be different and you'll find differing opinions everywhere you go or there would only be 5 PH schools instead of 55.

 

[intlhealth2010]

Hmm.. as someone who is also interested in Global Health I'd like to add my thoughts:

So I've never been to graduate school, or done anything beyond undergrad, but just talking to friends who've gone on to do various professional degrees such as MPH, MBA, MPP etc. I get the sense that the opportunities outside the classroom are what make these programs worthwhile.

Realistically, MPH programs take 1 or 2 years to complete, and we will have to confront the job market afterwords. So while I agree learning and taking stimulating courses should be a primary concern, international job prospects post-graduation, for me at least, are also of utmost importance.

Also, I think specific agencies/ngo's/firms have close relationships with certain schools? I'm just speculating but I'd venture a guess that the CDC might look at an Emory MPH most highly. And Peace Corps might look highly at schools like Tulane/JHU that allow their practicum requirement to be met by serving in the PC. NYC based agencies might actively seek Columbia grads. And so on...


People seem to be focusing a lot on course-work offered, just thought I'd share a different perspective

 

[vaidyascurse]

Why is U Minn. on that list? They don't have a Global Health track for MPH.

I put this on my personal list because U Minn. does have a good immersion experience/faculty relations with Uganda, plus the public health experience overall is very good at U Minn, it is a top ten public health school.

I guess for everybody it is a mix of factors. Some public health schools which spout their international health tracks are more about marketing IMHO.

 

[vaidyascurse]

"So, do you think Emory is the best public health institution there is" and he said "No, actually, I don't, but I think it is the best institution there is for certain things, I believe it depends on the student and their plans for the future..." He went on to say that for someone like me, wanting to work in Global Health in the field, he believes Emory is the right place for me to be. He then explained that for other people Harvard, UW, UNC, etc might be the right school, . . ."

It really depends on the person and who you want to work with, or what type of work you want to do. You can only figure this out by really studying the schools and talking to faculty, let's face it: a public health educational program is just two years long, but the contacts and projects you become involved with will affect the trajectory of your career for decades.

 

[ReproHlthPlz]

Sooooo... no one has an impression of Pitt's global health certificate program?

 

[happynhopeful]

This is a subject I've been thinking a lot about lately as I try to decide where I should go. So, thanks for this discussion thread. It's provided good food for thought.

I'm seriously considering JHU specifically because I'm interested in global health. However, I'm a little worried that the condensed MPH program will leave little time for anything but studying. I'm hoping that during the course of my education I'll create contacts and be involved in projects that (as vaidyacurse says) will affect the trajectory of my career for decades.
Will there really be time for getting to know my professors?
Will it be hard to stand out in the crowd?
But there must be a reason why the program is so highly ranked, so maybe I'm over thinking this?

On the other hand, a two year program may leave time to attend journal clubs and seminars, get to know the work and research happening within the school, and really explore career options.
But, will I miss out on opportunities because "global health" isn't a central focus?

What do you guys think?

 

[vaidyascurse]

This is a subject I've been thinking a lot about lately as I try to decide where I should go. So, thanks for this discussion thread. It's provided good food for thought.

I'm seriously considering JHU specifically because I'm interested in global health. However, I'm a little worried that the condensed MPH program will leave little time for anything but studying. I'm hoping that during the course of my education I'll create contacts and be involved in projects that (as vaidyacurse says) will affect the trajectory of my career for decades.
Will there really be time for getting to know my professors?
Will it be hard to stand out in the crowd?
But there must be a reason why the program is so highly ranked, so maybe I'm over thinking this?

On the other hand, a two year program may leave time to attend journal clubs and seminars, get to know the work and research happening within the school, and really explore career options.
But, will I miss out on opportunities because "global health" isn't a central focus?

What do you guys think?

I think if you do JHU's condensed program you really need to have a firm idea of where you are going after getting the MPH as wouldn't you need to interview for jobs or future positions during the spring anyway? Sounds like you would get excellent connections just because it is JHU though, so your "second year" could be spent working on a project in a more in depth manner.

That being said, I think the condensed is good for people who are health care professionals taking time off to get an MPH to augment their career/work, but has some disadvantages for those who exclusively want to do public health as one year isn't a lot of time to work on a project/get to know faculty. If you have a firm idea of what you want to get out of JHU beyond the general direction of global health then I think it wil work out. In an ideal world you would have unlimited time to go to research seminars and work on a couple good research projects, but this probably wouldn't happen in a single year.

 

[happynhopeful]

I think if you do JHU's condensed program you really need to have a firm idea of where you are going after getting the MPH as wouldn't you need to interview for jobs or future positions during the spring anyway? Sounds like you would get excellent connections just because it is JHU though, so your "second year" could be spent working on a project in a more in depth manner.

That being said, I think the condensed is good for people who are health care professionals taking time off to get an MPH to augment their career/work, but has some disadvantages for those who exclusively want to do public health as one year isn't a lot of time to work on a project/get to know faculty. If you have a firm idea of what you want to get out of JHU beyond the general direction of global health then I think it wil work out. In an ideal world you would have unlimited time to go to research seminars and work on a couple good research projects, but this probably wouldn't happen in a single year.

Thanks, vaidyascurse! I do have interests and work experience more specific than simply "global health." I just don't have the degree or the contacts to continue developing my career. The opportunity to attend JHU is wonderful. However, I'm more focused on the opportunities I'll have after graduation.

I'm still collecting opinions so keep 'em coming!

 

[espre]

This is a subject I've been thinking a lot about lately as I try to decide where I should go. So, thanks for this discussion thread. It's provided good food for thought.

I'm seriously considering JHU specifically because I'm interested in global health. However, I'm a little worried that the condensed MPH program will leave little time for anything but studying. I'm hoping that during the course of my education I'll create contacts and be involved in projects that (as vaidyacurse says) will affect the trajectory of my career for decades.
Will there really be time for getting to know my professors?
Will it be hard to stand out in the crowd?
But there must be a reason why the program is so highly ranked, so maybe I'm over thinking this?

On the other hand, a two year program may leave time to attend journal clubs and seminars, get to know the work and research happening within the school, and really explore career options.
But, will I miss out on opportunities because "global health" isn't a central focus?

What do you guys think?

Hopkins is an amazing place in all ways. For those who want to do international work, the possibilities are tremendous. You can easily get to know professors, and they are very accessible. Many students have worked on global health projects. There is a 5 week winter break, and quite a few students went overseas with faculty and did impressive work. The short program is a great feature, and allows one to become employed much sooner (this saves a lot of tuition money, relative to attending longer programs). If you want more time, then stay at the school for a follow-up year working on a project with faculty - this won't cost any tuition, and you might be on a grant and get paid. If you got into Hopkins, then give extremely serious thought to attending. About 1/3 of the MPH class is international, so you'll meet people from a great many countries, and they will be your future colleagues.

 

[knockdoc]

Hi everyone,
i'm new to this forum and saw incredibly good job everyone is doing to help others.
I am almost finished with undergrad(mbbs) and doing my internship now. I have been planning to do MPH in (management and policy planner ) right after i finish with my internship (finishes in April, 2012). For that i want to do it in England and been quite impressed with and want to go to The University of Sheffield and they have exactly the kind of program that i want to do and job placement is good. But came to know from a few PH practicer that Liverpool university and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine are better option for that. Like i have a positive feedback from all my senior doctors about it and they are telling me to go ahead as i don't want to be a medical practicer and work as a doctor.

what can you all suggest about that..
Thanks

 

[Glamdring]

Hi Knockdoc,

Are you from India (MBBS?) ? In any case, depending on what you want to do with your career afterwards has a huge impact on where you choose to do an MPH. Do want to finish your MPH and work in the UK? Do you want to train in medicine further in the UK? Are you thinking about writing the USMLE and doing residency in the US ? Do you want to work in public health in India?

Answering all these questions will help you fine tune where you should apply. As far as institutional merit in the UK goes, there is no place to compare with the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. It is definitely a world leader in public health, and they have an MSc in Public Health for developing countries - http://www.lshtm.ac.uk/prospectus/masters/msphdc.html

All the best.

 

[Glamdring]

Hey everyone,

I could really use some help deciding on where I end up going. As of now the three programs I have in hand are

1. Emory's Global Environmental Health MPH
2. GW's Health Design, Monitoring and Implementation Global Health MPH
3. UCSF's Global Health Sciences program.

I have spent the last few months at Emory as a researcher and am fairly impressed with the program. Have had an opportunity to interact with some of the faculty and plan on attending their visit day.

I'm impressed with GW's focus on program planning,monitoring and implementation, apart from the fact that I think being in DC will be great in terms of exposure to Intl Health organizations.

UCSF's program sounds great on paper, but if I'm not mistaken, is fairly new.

Could anyone out there shed any light on this for me? Particularly with regards to some potential first hand info on GW and UCSF.

Thanks!

 

[elloello]

Hey everyone,

I could really use some help deciding on where I end up going. As of now the three programs I have in hand are

1. Emory's Global Environmental Health MPH
2. GW's Health Design, Monitoring and Implementation Global Health MPH
3. UCSF's Global Health Sciences program.

I have spent the last few months at Emory as a researcher and am fairly impressed with the program. Have had an opportunity to interact with some of the faculty and plan on attending their visit day.

I'm impressed with GW's focus on program planning,monitoring and implementation, apart from the fact that I think being in DC will be great in terms of exposure to Intl Health organizations.

UCSF's program sounds great on paper, but if I'm not mistaken, is fairly new.

Could anyone out there shed any light on this for me? Particularly with regards to some potential first hand info on GW and UCSF.

Thanks!

I'd also be interested to hear what others have to say about this. I'm into the exact same programs as you are at Emory and GW, as well as International Health at BU and having a really rough time making a decision

 

[roboyce]

Hello everyone,

I am currently pursuing an MSc at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine while on leave of absence from medical school in the US (UNC). I will be happy to answer any questions about LSHTM if anyone's interested. For what it's worth (biased sample), I think the program here is top-notch. The academics are rigorous and the diversity/experience of the student population is humbling. We are also very fortunate to have links with many academic and international organizations, such as LSE, NICE, ICRC, and WHO. Even the CDC comes here to recruit international field staff.

I chose to come to LSHTM for a number of reasons (great travel!), but the foremost reason was the emphasis on global health across all disciplines. In other words, there is no confined "global health track" here. Instead, the issues of the developing world permeate everything we do, from epidemiology to economics. The school has a very strong mission and I believe that's why LSHTM received a Gates Award for Global Health in 2009.

Before applying, I went to see the MD/MPH advisor at UNC. We discussed my career goals, after which he suggested that LSHTM was the right place for me...powerful statement coming from the guy in charge of MD/MPH at a place like UNC. In the end, however, he was right. My classes have been outstanding and I've made many connections with potential employers. For example, I'll be working in collaboration with WHO for my thesis, an opportunity that just fell on my doorstep because of our ties.

As I said, if you have specific questions let me know.

Best,
R

 

[Glamdring]

Hello everyone,

I am currently pursuing an MSc at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine while on leave of absence from medical school in the US (UNC). I will be happy to answer any questions about LSHTM if anyone's interested. For what it's worth (biased sample), I think the program here is top-notch. The academics are rigorous and the diversity/experience of the student population is humbling. We are also very fortunate to have links with many academic and international organizations, such as LSE, NICE, ICRC, and WHO. Even the CDC comes here to recruit international field staff.

I chose to come to LSHTM for a number of reasons (great travel!), but the foremost reason was the emphasis on global health across all disciplines. In other words, there is no confined "global health track" here. Instead, the issues of the developing world permeate everything we do, from epidemiology to economics. The school has a very strong mission and I believe that's why LSHTM received a Gates Award for Global Health in 2009.

Before applying, I went to see the MD/MPH advisor at UNC. We discussed my career goals, after which he suggested that LSHTM was the right place for me...powerful statement coming from the guy in charge of MD/MPH at a place like UNC. In the end, however, he was right. My classes have been outstanding and I've made many connections with potential employers. For example, I'll be working in collaboration with WHO for my thesis, an opportunity that just fell on my doorstep because of our ties.

As I said, if you have specific questions let me know.

Best,
R

Wow. That sounds fantastic. I have been contemplating applying for their MSc in Developing Countries MPH - but have nearly dropped the idea thinking that US employers would find it hard to recruit from England. I guess I was wrong considering what you mentioned about the CDC. Could you tell us more about the MSc in Developing countries course per se? Also, I was a little concerned that the extent of actual field work was less than what a lot of US programs had on offer. Whats your take on that?

Thanks!

 

[Glamdring]

I'd also be interested to hear what others have to say about this. I'm into the exact same programs as you are at Emory and GW, as well as International Health at BU and having a really rough time making a decision

Are you planning on attending Emory or GW's visit days? I believe GW's is the day after Emory's. How have you stacked the two programs up against one another?

 

[roboyce]

Wow. That sounds fantastic. I have been contemplating applying for their MSc in Developing Countries MPH - but have nearly dropped the idea thinking that US employers would find it hard to recruit from England. I guess I was wrong considering what you mentioned about the CDC. Could you tell us more about the MSc in Developing countries course per se? Also, I was a little concerned that the extent of actual field work was less than what a lot of US programs had on offer. Whats your take on that? Thanks!

I'm actually in the PHDC MSc. As far as the amount of field work, I would make a couple points. First, in order to even apply to PHDC, you have to have at least two years of public health experience in developing countries. Thus, the emphasis of the program is expanding theoretical skills (epi, stats, econ, etc) rather than gaining primary exposure. Second, there are plenty of opportunities to do field work here (a number of my classmates are currently involved in research abroad), but the limiting factor is the academic calendar. It is very difficult to do ethical research in developing countries on a compressed timeframe. Unless you're piggy-backing on an existing project, you'll probably spend 2-3 months just getting IRB approval. Thus, I would be somewhat suspicious of programs that sell their field-work as anything other than professional exposure. If you're really looking to be involved in research, then you should probably pursue a PhD level degree.

 

[Glamdring]

Thanks for the advice Roboyce!

 

[jaya88]

Werd, thanks for posting that link to Yale's course offerings in GH. I must have missed that particular page during my search and it was really helpful since i am trying to weigh things out between Yale and Tulane. This has assuaged some of my concerns that there were limited classes in global health in general.

 

[elloello]

Are you planning on attending Emory or GW's visit days? I believe GW's is the day after Emory's. How have you stacked the two programs up against one another?

hey glamdring, ill pm you with more details as to not overtake the thread i'm in the process of researching more about gw but from what i've heard about emory (in no small part thanks to awapi) it's looking really really good.

 

[luckyt66]

Bump

 

[sweet chick]

Wow. That sounds fantastic. I have been contemplating applying for their MSc in Developing Countries MPH - but have nearly dropped the idea thinking that US employers would find it hard to recruit from England. I guess I was wrong considering what you mentioned about the CDC. Could you tell us more about the MSc in Developing countries course per se? Also, I was a little concerned that the extent of actual field work was less than what a lot of US programs had on offer. Whats your take on that?

Thanks!

wow, am so glad i read this. I have just been offered a MPH place at LSHTM! I come here to read views all the time and the punters only ever list the American school as world's best 10 blah blah....
It has been very difficult to get a feel for the worth of this school. Am no freshie, am 29yrs old and a practising clinical pharmacist accross 2 continents so i know a UK MPH is a fab idea but its so nice to see that other people know that there is a world beyond the google list of "world's best 10 MPH schools".
I got an offer from manchester too but i guess the london school wins - but manchester one is much cheaper and the course look good - dont get that!
My current job roles are way too pertinent too become a full time student all over again, so iam a good advocate for the web-based options.

 

[sweet chick]

wow, am so glad i read this. I have just been offered a MPH place at LSHTM! I come here to read views all the time and the punters only ever list the American school as world's best 10 blah blah....
It has been very difficult to get a feel for the worth of this school. Am no freshie, am 29yrs old and a practising clinical pharmacist accross 2 continents so i know a UK MPH is a fab idea but its so nice to see that other people know that there is a world beyond the google list of "world's best 10 MPH schools".
I got an offer from manchester too but i guess the london school wins - but manchester one is much cheaper and the course look good - dont get that!
My current job roles are way too pertinent too become a full time student all over again, so iam a good advocate for the web-based options.

 

[Jamesmarton]

Hi,
I am interested to doing MPH feild and this is wondering for school and other medical department.The Global Health Fellows Program (GHF) is an international corporate volunteer program that places Pfizer colleagues in three to six month assignments with.

 

[J U I C Y]

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

 

[lillaregn]

Interesting that Harvard has such a weak rep. I'm not in the global health concentration, but I'm impressed with the number of field opportunities available, even to me, as a non-GHP student.

I am a non-GHP student at Harvard, with a strong interest in Global Health.

If you intend to go into academic Global Health, I do not have a doubt in my mind that Harvard is the right place to be. The research faculty are among the best in the world. You will be able to get unique training in research methods by taking econometrics courses from the econ department at the faculty of arts and sciences, courses on causality taught by some of the field's leading thinkers in the epidemiology department, courses on decision theory and cost-effectiveness taught by Macarthur fellows, development courses at the Kennedy School, etc.

Because of this, the GHP department seems to have made a decision not to offer a lot of methodology courses; they know that even if they did, many of their most ambitious students would take the courses offered elsewhere on campus anyway.

Instead, they seem to have made a decision to offer courses for practitioners, which are designed to be more suitable for MPH students. However, judging from the course evaluations and from the two courses I've taken myself, they don't seem to be doing a very good job at it. This is probably partly because most of their faculty are economics PhDs, not practitioners.

If you want to be a practitioner of Global Health, I would consider this closely before choosing to come to HSPH. One could perhaps instead consider getting a MPA/ID at the Kennedy School, or attending another School of Public Health with a more developed curriculum on global health issues.

 

[splik]

This is a fairly controversial statement with as many people disagreeing as agreeing but global health is a bit of non-concentration.

In our increasingly internationalized society the distinction between local and global has been blurred: we witness a world that is constantly at war, natural disasters occur more frequently than at any time in history, displaced individuals, refugees and asylum seekers have become a regular feature, the next pandemic is around the corner, TB, HIV, and malaria are issues in the developed world, whilst non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, mental illness and diabetes take center stage in the agenda for developing nations, health reform is a national issues for the US, UK, China, emerging economies and low income countries... put simply all public health is global health.

With this in mind, it would be far more useful to concentrate on policy, economics, management, environmental health, epidemiology, biostatistics, the social determinants of health, health behavior change and education considering issues in a global context. Any school of public health worth its salt will challenge you to do this. I tend to advise people not to choose global health as their concentration and instead choose one of the core disciplines of public health to focus on. This will be much more useful and make you far more marketable upon graduation.

You will find there will be plenty of opportunities to do field trips abroad, to consider global health issues locally, to engage critically with these issues, to meet with like minded people in the field, and to take part in the plethora of student organizations and activities that consider global health, human rights, and humanitarianism. In fact, what you do outside the classroom is far more important that what you do inside. This is just one perspective (and I'm sure others will disagree) but I would urge all those considering global health to concentrate in one of the core public health areas with a global health gaze rather than to concentrate in global health.

 

[emsha]

This is a fairly controversial statement with as many people disagreeing as agreeing but global health is a bit of non-concentration.

In our increasingly internationalized society the distinction between local and global has been blurred: we witness a world that is constantly at war, natural disasters occur more frequently than at any time in history, displaced individuals, refugees and asylum seekers have become a regular feature, the next pandemic is around the corner, TB, HIV, and malaria are issues in the developed world, whilst non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, mental illness and diabetes take center stage in the agenda for developing nations, health reform is a national issues for the US, UK, China, emerging economies and low income countries... put simply all public health is global health.

With this in mind, it would be far more useful to concentrate on policy, economics, management, environmental health, epidemiology, biostatistics, the social determinants of health, health behavior change and education considering issues in a global context. Any school of public health worth its salt will challenge you to do this. I tend to advise people not to choose global health as their concentration and instead choose one of the core disciplines of public health to focus on. This will be much more useful and make you far more marketable upon graduation.

You will find there will be plenty of opportunities to do field trips abroad, to consider global health issues locally, to engage critically with these issues, to meet with like minded people in the field, and to take part in the plethora of student organizations and activities that consider global health, human rights, and humanitarianism. In fact, what you do outside the classroom is far more important that what you do inside. This is just one perspective (and I'm sure others will disagree) but I would urge all those considering global health to concentrate in one of the core public health areas with a global health gaze rather than to concentrate in global health.

Thanks for your post splik! I have been debating between HPM and global health for a while now, and some other people that I talked to (public health professionals) had a similar opinion.

Could you or anyone else tell me how Harvard's HPM program compares to Columbia's and Emory's HPM program? Also how is JHU's one year MPH compared to the others I've mentioned above?

 

[splik]

They are all good schools but I only know about Harvard and I would say they are very strong on policy here as the school of public health and harvard medical school have health policy departments, and there is also the kennedy school. For those interest in management there is a lot of cross-talk with the business school and they have some great classes there.

The main thing I would say about Harvard is that many of my colleagues and myself included only applied here and nowhere else. I think that says something. You will find people here who you wouldn't at any other school of public health. I don't mean that in a snobby way and the people at the school of public health are very down to earth, but there are many extremely accomplished and impressive individuals who will be your classmates (e.g.people who are ministers of health in their own country, who have worked at the WHO etc) and they are the biggest asset. There is a lot of networking and there is crosstalk and collaborations between the school of public health, harvard business school, kennedy school of government, MIT, Tufts etc. which makes for a rich experience, as well as links with Brigham and Women's, MGH. Children's Hospital etc. The careers office is excellent and very proactive with lots of events (though they seem to be more for non-physicians).

The first semester your courses are pretty much set but in the spring you can pretty much do anything and the choices are dizzying. The school of public health has hundreds of course to choose from including projects in China, India, Chile, Africa etc., and you can also do classes at HMS, HBS, HKS, GSAS, MIT, Tufts, and Brown if you so wish.

The faculty tend to be very involved and responsive especially in HPM and there are many VIP speakers who come here who probably you don't get elsewhere. You can also meet up with anyone here in any of the schools or affiliated hospitals to arrange a project, discuss career intentions/prospects, or even just chew the fat. Rightly or wrongly Harvard opens many doors. For example (and I find it disgusting but it is an example) McKinsey and other such companies come here and actively recruit and interview and sadly a few of the HPM have ended up with jobs at McKinsey after only being at Harvard for a month! I have had random opportunities such as to work for the Ministry of Health in Guyana or Swaziland etc.

 

[MPH prospective]

This is a fairly controversial statement with as many people disagreeing as agreeing but global health is a bit of non-concentration.

In our increasingly internationalized society the distinction between local and global has been blurred: we witness a world that is constantly at war, natural disasters occur more frequently than at any time in history, displaced individuals, refugees and asylum seekers have become a regular feature, the next pandemic is around the corner, TB, HIV, and malaria are issues in the developed world, whilst non-communicable diseases such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, mental illness and diabetes take center stage in the agenda for developing nations, health reform is a national issues for the US, UK, China, emerging economies and low income countries... put simply all public health is global health.

With this in mind, it would be far more useful to concentrate on policy, economics, management, environmental health, epidemiology, biostatistics, the social determinants of health, health behavior change and education considering issues in a global context. Any school of public health worth its salt will challenge you to do this. I tend to advise people not to choose global health as their concentration and instead choose one of the core disciplines of public health to focus on. This will be much more useful and make you far more marketable upon graduation.

You will find there will be plenty of opportunities to do field trips abroad, to consider global health issues locally, to engage critically with these issues, to meet with like minded people in the field, and to take part in the plethora of student organizations and activities that consider global health, human rights, and humanitarianism. In fact, what you do outside the classroom is far more important that what you do inside. This is just one perspective (and I'm sure others will disagree) but I would urge all those considering global health to concentrate in one of the core public health areas with a global health gaze rather than to concentrate in global health.

You make an excellent point! A few months ago I went to visit my old public health prof. from undergrad for advice and I told him I was interested in Global Public Health not Public Health. And he laughed, telling my that ALL PUBLIC HEALTH IS GLOBAL HEALTH. I was baffled but it makes complete sense. This has caused me to really think about what to pursue in the field of Public Health in general and the schools I decide to pick. Thanks for your insight. And good luck to the OP.

 

[mphresidency]

Hey everyone,

I could really use some help deciding on where I end up going. As of now the three programs I have in hand are

1. Emory's Global Environmental Health MPH
2. GW's Health Design, Monitoring and Implementation Global Health MPH
3. UCSF's Global Health Sciences program.

I have spent the last few months at Emory as a researcher and am fairly impressed with the program. Have had an opportunity to interact with some of the faculty and plan on attending their visit day.

I'm impressed with GW's focus on program planning,monitoring and implementation, apart from the fact that I think being in DC will be great in terms of exposure to Intl Health organizations.

UCSF's program sounds great on paper, but if I'm not mistaken, is fairly new.

Could anyone out there shed any light on this for me? Particularly with regards to some potential first hand info on GW and UCSF.

Thanks!

Hi..

I am an MBBS doctor from India. Are you from India too? I am looking at an MPH degree first followed by residency. I am totally new to the MPH scene.

I gave my GRE and TOEFL on dec 14 and 3rd respectively.

I got my GPA evaluation by WES - it is 3.6
GRE
V - 154
Q - 163.

TOEFL - 106

3 letters of Recommendation - one from my mentor at my hospital other two are from my medical school heads of Preventive medicine (community medicine) and Internal medicine

5 international clinical abstracts, 3 national abstracts. A couple of awards at these presentations.

I am looking at Epidem/Biostats. But I also wanted to know as to which other MPH programs can be helpful in the process of securing a residency? I am currently applying to BUSPH, Umich and few others including Drexel. I am going by programs which also have hospitals attached to them offering residency programs. What is your take? What are my chances? Please help me with this.

 

[splik]

1. You should NOT apply for an MPH if you are not interested in public health.
2. An MPH will NOT help you get into a residency program, it will not make you more desirable, it will not increase your chances of matching
3. An MPH is a lot of money to spend if you are not interested in public health
4. If you are interested in epidemiology, clinical research, administration, health policy, global health, program planning/evaluation, environmental health, occupational health and want to pursue a residency in a primary care specialty then it would be a good move
5. You should only do an MPH if you are interested in public health because it won't help you otherwise
6. If you are interested in working in public health, you should attend a school that has a large proportion of MDs such as Harvard, Hopkins, Columbia, Berkley, University of Washington. (Michigan on your list is very good)
7. The most important thing for you is to have clinical experience in the US, if you did not do this as a medical student your options are more limited. You can still do observerships. You are right in thinking it would be easier to do an observership at a Hospital affiliated with the university school of public health. These are not all that helpful but it is better than nothing.
8. If you do decide to do an MPH, the most important things you do during the year are outside the classroom. No one cares about your grades - it is about networking, extracurricular activities, leadership, community volunteering, publications, prizes, attending rounds at the hospital etc.

 

[Sankofa]

I am interested in doing an MPH in Global Health and I am wondering if anyone knows which schools have the strongest global health programs. I have looked at Yale and Emory's programs and they look very interesting. I know some schools like Harvard and JHU are ranked highly, but their global health courses do not appear to be as strong from the course content. I was also told HSPH is still formulating it's global health curriculum. Can someone please tell me which Universities are good in this concentration.

I know this concentration is relatively new in most Universities I know Yale just started theirs last year. Does anyone know which school has the oldest program. I'm just curious.

Hello everyone,

I stumbled across this forum discussing Global Health programs and thought I'd mention the program at Duke University. I'm currently in my second year of the MSc in Global Health program here and it's been an amazing experience thus far.

Duke is very well connected globally and the vast majority of my professors are recognized as leaders in the field by their peers. Our program like many other programs requires fieldwork (for a minimum of 10 weeks). However there are two things that make our program stand out. Firstly, our fieldwork is funded. There is a cap to the funding however if you find additionally sources of fundining or grants you're able to use them in addition to the grant from Duke. Secondly, our program is highly interdisciplinary. My classmates are doctors, medical students, law students, faculty members, philosophers, and come from many more disciplines. Our program is set up in a way that you are able to take courses at other schools here at Duke and still receive credit towards your Masters. For example, several people in the cohort after me are enrolled in several policy courses at the Sanford school of public policy because the classes offered this year did not align with their career interest. They will still receive credit for these courses as a part of the master's requirement. And in response to the demand, my department hired several new professors who work in global health policy.

It's a new program so there's more flexibility than you'd find at other programs and students are able to really interact with their professors on a more personal level.

Overall the program has been phenomenal in providing us with excellent professors, mentors, and opportunities to grow in the field of global health.

I'm happy to answer any questions you might have about the program.

Best wishes to everyone applying to programs this year.

 

[medaficionado]

Global health is an interesting discipline to pursue because unlike other health related fields that have emerged in the past (international health, public health, tropical medicine and hygiene) global health has not emerged with a new set of skills. I like to think of global health practitioners as the general practitioners of the field of public health. Because of this, I think the best global health program, is a program that can give you the broadest perspective of the field of global health and that can stimulate interdisciplinary and transdiciplinary discussion within its curriculum. I may be wrong, but I'd be interested in learning what others think a good global health program should accomplish?

 

[Plane]

Global health is an interesting discipline to pursue because unlike other health related fields that have emerged in the past (international health, public health, tropical medicine and hygiene) global health has not emerged with a new set of skills. I like to think of global health practitioners as the general practitioners of the field of public health. Because of this, I think the best global health program, is a program that can give you the broadest perspective of the field of global health and that can stimulate interdisciplinary and transdiciplinary discussion within its curriculum. I may be wrong, but I'd be interested in learning what others think a good global health program should accomplish?

I think you are correct in that global health is more of being "general on a broader scale" if you will. I believe a good global health program should have the connections YOU want to take advantage of as far as WHERE you want to go and what kind of skill-set you bring to the table that your program and your advisers will put to good use. As far as courses are concerned, I tend to believe that they are all similar in curriculum and information being taught.