Public Health or Counseling?

[positive psyc]

Hi, I know people usually hate these long individualized threads but I washoping someone had some insight or experience that would help in my minorquarter-life crisis.

Currently I'm a senior at small New England college majoring inRehabilitation Studies (Concentrating on Substance Abuse Counseling) and doublemajoring in Health Science. I started taking graduate classes at my college inRehabilitation Counseling also focusing on Substance Abuse Counseling andPsychiatric Rehabilitation with the ultimate goal of going right into a PhD programfor Counseling Psychology or Rehabilitation Counseling.

I would like to do research and maybe have the opportunity of teaching.

I started thinking of Public Health a few times because I have thebackground in Health Science and I have a strong interest in research but don'thave that much experience due to attending a smaller school.

My question is first is anyone has any insight onto what road might lead tomore opportunities?

Secondly, if I do go the Public Health route most of the deadlines alreadypassed do I wait until the fall to apply or go the online route? Our onlinedegrees looked at as equally as campus degrees?

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[Epi19]

Some schools have dual degrees in MPH/MSW, that definitely might be something you want to look into. Obviously these are professional programs, not research degrees, but you could get your masters, work for a few years, and then go on to get a PhD in Psychology or in Public Health discipline. Some public health schools have PhDs in Epidemiology with a mental health focus (I believe Hopkins does), but these programs are competitive, and your chances will be better if you have a masters and/or work experience first.

 

[MPHandPsych]

You might want to look into Health Psychology...the field combines a lot of public health concepts with psychology, which seems like something you're interested in. Also, a master's or doctoral level program in health psychology will most likely be research focused, which again sounds like a good fit for you.