What advantages are there to having an MPH?

[Blain77]

I have the opportunity to attend a med school that offers a special program where you get both your MD and MPH in 4 years. Seems like that the additional work involved could be a pain at times when you're just trying to keep up with your MD work, but are there any real advantages to having that MPH?

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[Droopy Snoopy]

I have the opportunity to attend a med school that offers a special program where you get both your MD and MPH in 4 years. Seems like that the additional work involved could be a pain at times when you're just trying to keep up with your MD work, but are there any real advantages to having that MPH?

Seems like it'd be of use in certain fields, like Infectious Disease or... nope that's the only one I can come up with. Maybe if you had aspirations for working in government working with Medicaid or coming up with policy or something.

 

[troopa]

If you're going into research, having background in epi would put you in high demand.

 

[Forthegood]

Also networking... depending on where you go and what you do.

 

[thedelicatessen]

The MPH isn't really necessary for most jobs for physicians, but if you're interested in public health, doing the combined degree program can provide additional perspective as you go through your schooling. I'm enjoying it so far.

 

[fuzzywuz]

I don't want to sound like "I'm in it for the money," but honestly... would the MPH increase earning potential? Or is the income difference negligible?

 

[troopa]

I don't want to sound like "I'm in it for the money," but honestly... would the MPH increase earning potential? Or is the income difference negligible?

It's hard to say because there are just so many types of jobs you can have with the MPH and there's really no database that tracks stuff like that. You outta check out the "controversial" CA state workers salary database http://www.sacbee.com/statepay/
If you look under Dept of Public Health, and job title "health officer" (of which I'm nearly 100% sure are all MD/MPHs) you'll get good idea of how much you can make in the public sector aka California.

 

[bigpharmD]

I have the opportunity to attend a med school that offers a special program where you get both your MD and MPH in 4 years. Seems like that the additional work involved could be a pain at times when you're just trying to keep up with your MD work, but are there any real advantages to having that MPH?

It depends on what you want to do. If you want to be the run of the mill FP or pediatrician then it would not be necessary or help. If you think that you might want to pursue a non-clinical career or even a partial clinical career someday then it would definately open up a lot of doors. Maybe you decide instead of helping 10 patients each day you want to do something that may help thousands. If you get into epidemiology there are many jobs availabe to MD/MPH that are high paying (150,000+) maybe even 200,000 + with big pharma. I would not just look at government jobs when looking at salaries. You can also move up in the FDA and CDC quickly with an MPH.

 

[Dr Lyss]

It depends on what you want to do. If you want to be the run of the mill FP or pediatrician then it would not be necessary or help. If you think that you might want to pursue a non-clinical career or even a partial clinical career someday then it would definately open up a lot of doors. Maybe you decide instead of helping 10 patients each day you want to do something that may help thousands. If you get into epidemiology there are many jobs availabe to MD/MPH that are high paying (150,000+) maybe even 200,000 + with big pharma. I would not just look at government jobs when looking at salaries. You can also move up in the FDA and CDC quickly with an MPH.

if you decide you want to go into the public sector & work for the government, can you get your MPH at a later time? I'm strongly considering getting an MPH while I am in medical school but I'm not really sure if it's worth it yet. Do I have to make that choice while I'm in medical school?

 

[lucero]

if you decide you want to go into the public sector & work for the government, can you get your MPH at a later time? I'm strongly considering getting an MPH while I am in medical school but I'm not really sure if it's worth it yet. Do I have to make that choice while I'm in medical school?

you can certainly go back and get your mph later, i know several doctors who are now getting their mph and its my understanding that there are mph programs specifically designed for MDs.

however, i think its important to note that an md/mph is not only useful if you want to go into the public sector or work for the government. a lot of medical programs are encouraging their students to get an mph to gain a broader perspective on health care.

a friend of mine recently interviewed for med school and was told that they encourage med students to go for the mph because it helps the students see how the treatment of a patient has a larger effect on the community.