What kind of surgical career would need a MPH degree?

[tarsuc]

Med student thinking of taking a masters by the side, during my research year.

Just wondering how useful would be a MPH towards my long term goals.

Curious regarding what kind of career in surgery would a MPH more suited to?

Forgive my ignorance,
Would it be useful to anyone planning to work in academics instead of private practise or are surgeons with a MPH a far smaller niche?

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[Jolie South]

Med student thinking of taking a masters by the side, during my research year.

Just wondering how useful would be a MPH towards my long term goals.

Curious regarding what kind of career in surgery would a MPH more suited to?

Forgive my ignorance,
Would it be useful to anyone planning to work in academics instead of private practise or are surgeons with a MPH a far smaller niche?

Depending on the concentration you pick, you can have a leg up on doing stats and epidemiologic type papers. So mainly I see it being useful for academic careers.

 

[Smurfette]

Too be honest, all the surgeons I know with an MPH don't do anything with it. I could see it being helpful for analyzing trauma data or something along those lines, but if you are still a med student you may find your subspecialty interests change drastically during residency. What exactly is your long term goal?
An MBA would probably be more useful as employers love that kind of stuff.

 

[tarsuc]

Too be honest, all the surgeons I know with an MPH don't do anything with it. I could see it being helpful for analyzing trauma data or something along those lines, but if you are still a med student you may find your subspecialty interests change drastically during residency. What exactly is your long term goal?
An MBA would probably be more useful as employers love that kind of stuff.

thank you so much for the reply.
Undifferentiated med student just evaluating my options.

Would an MBA be useful both in academics and in private practice?

Also, is an MHA (Masters health admin) more/less/equally useful than an MBA, considering its more focused?

 

[wholeheartedly]

I have seen a few surgeons do the MPH. How it and if was used depends on your concentration and interests. Often there are options to focus on things like epidemiology, biostatistics, community health education, clinical reasearch, maternal child health, environmental health, behavioral health, etc.

Clinical research, epidemiology, and biostats are probably the most common ones chosen by the surgeons I know. If they wind up using it, it's in an academic setting for things like outcomes research.

Even if you don't use it, it does still add value in giving you better skills in critically thinking about studies you read. I always advise people not to get the MPH unless they know how they're going to use it. However, if this is a mandatory research year and you need to do something and cost isn't an issue then it's worth considering along with the other options mentioned.

You could probably talk to the MPH program and see if they have a surgeon who's completed the program who could talk to you and give you their thoughts.

 

[ACSurgeon]

Med student thinking of taking a masters by the side, during my research year.

Just wondering how useful would be a MPH towards my long term goals.

Curious regarding what kind of career in surgery would a MPH more suited to?

Forgive my ignorance,
Would it be useful to anyone planning to work in academics instead of private practise or are surgeons with a MPH a far smaller niche?

No surgical career “needs” an MPH.

An MPH can be useful in any academic or global health oriented career.

Don’t get the mph unless you have a solid reason for how it’ll help you. Better off getting a masters during residency or as an attending that is geared towards a certain goal (ie assuming by then you have a clearer picture of how a masters would help you).

Finally, I hope you’re not the one paying for said MPH

 

[TypeADissection]

No surgical career “needs” an MPH.

An MPH can be useful in any academic or global health oriented career.

Don’t get the mph unless you have a solid reason for how it’ll help you. Better off getting a masters during residency or as an attending that is geared towards a certain goal (ie assuming by then you have a clearer picture of how a masters would help you).

Finally, I hope you’re not the one paying for said MPH

Agree completely. You don't need an MPH to do anything in surgery. Unless your jam is outcomes research or something public heath/quality related, I just don't see how it helps you unless you already have a specific set of questions you want to research anyway.

 

[dienekes88]

Med student thinking of taking a masters by the side, during my research year.

Just wondering how useful would be a MPH towards my long term goals.

Curious regarding what kind of career in surgery would a MPH more suited to?

Forgive my ignorance,
Would it be useful to anyone planning to work in academics instead of private practise or are surgeons with a MPH a far smaller niche?

Depends on the courses you're taking and the connections you make. You gotta gain the tools to conduct effective surgical research; not all MPHs will provide you with that. Notably, MPHs are designed for public health, which is a field in and of itself. These degrees are not designed for surgeons to become statistical/research wizards.