What do you do with an MPH?

[Anonymous]

My DD is a junior majoring in psychology. She has a particular interest in adolescent psych, especially as related to sports and exercise, body image, eating disorders, and substance abuse. She's looking at MPH programs, an area that neither DH nor I have any knowledge about (we're lawyers). I'd love to hear from those who are familiar with these programs and possible career paths for graduates. If you're going to post with the assumption that we're helicopter parents, please rest assured that we are not and that our DD, as well as her two older brothers, feel comfortable about asking for advice from us, knowing full well that we will not expect them to take it.

[Anonymous]

Psychology then pouring more money into MPH.

Are you rich? then go for it.

[Anonymous]

Fed govt or non-profit job. Or, prepare for med school while doing MPH.

[Anonymous]

I have a JD and do health policy work. I work with a lot of MPH and MPPs that are either in government, advocacy organizations, or consulting firms.

[Anonymous]

That is the primary professional degree in public health. While psychology considers individuals, public health takes them and their social and physical environments into account (=population level health). Even though many people do not realize this, we are all heavily influenced by our environments.

Public health has five core disciplines: environmental health, health services and policy (administrative), biostatistics, epidemiology and the more psychological component (variously called Health and Social Behavior, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Health and Society, etc).

If your daughter specializes in the latter, she will learn what influences our health-related behaviors (such as what we eat, whether we exercise, smoke, wear a bike helmet, etc). She will learn how to design and evaluate programs designed to change health-related behaviors. She could work for the government (such as the CDC), a college, a corporation (less common), a non-profit (focused on one disease, for example, such as the American Heart Association).

It is an interesting, important field. You should be proud that she wants to help people.

[Anonymous]

With those interests I would think going to school to be a mental health counselor, psychiatric nursing, adolescent nurse practitioner, etc., etc. would make more sense. MPH is much more about policies (I am a RN with a MPH). She could not really do what she wants in terms of direct patient contact with just an MPH and does not need one to do what she wants.

[Anonymous]

COVID was a great example of the complexity of influencing health-related behaviors (masking, vaccinations, social distancing, etc).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:That is the primary professional degree in public health. While psychology considers individuals, public health takes them and their social and physical environments into account (=population level health). Even though many people do not realize this, we are all heavily influenced by our environments.

Public health has five core disciplines: environmental health, health services and policy (administrative), biostatistics, epidemiology and the more psychological component (variously called Health and Social Behavior, Behavioral and Social Sciences, Health and Society, etc).

If your daughter specializes in the latter, she will learn what influences our health-related behaviors (such as what we eat, whether we exercise, smoke, wear a bike helmet, etc). She will learn how to design and evaluate programs designed to change health-related behaviors. She could work for the government (such as the CDC), a college, a corporation (less common), a non-profit (focused on one disease, for example, such as the American Heart Association).

It is an interesting, important field. You should be proud that she wants to help people.

we all help people. that's ultimately where the money comes from.

[Anonymous]

I have an MPH and I am a director level at an NGO that does what is called Social and Behavior Change. Look up that term and you’ll find some good info. Much of the work under that term is international, with the domestic work often being called something else (health marketing, behavior change, health communication).

My degree was a great investment, and I’d do it all over again.

[Anonymous]

It's the new hot thing - I think I know 4 or 5 kids going to get their MPH after college graduation.....sounds interesting to me, don't know much about it but definitely popular.

[Anonymous]

My husband is an MD who got his MPH later in his career. Then he switched from medicine to consulting. He's making a ton more money in consulting and actually enjoying it more than medicine.

[Anonymous]

Big picture: public health focuses on prevention (keeping people healthy) versus medicine which focuses on making sick people better. The former also uses a population Lense, whereas medicine (or any clinical role) usually uses an individual Lense.

[Anonymous]

Poorly paid and disrespected

[Anonymous]

I work in healthcare administration, and a number of my colleagues have this degree (typically if they come from a non-clinical background).

[Anonymous]

My friend’s daughter got one and works for Hopkins in Native American mental health.