s/o Is an MPH a useless degree?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
| I figured I would start a new topic instead of asking this in the "Do you regret getting an MPH" thread. So anyway, I was talking with a friend of mine the other day and we were discussing a friend of ours that got laid off from her job earlier this year and is having trouble finding work. So my friend asked me what is her degree in and I said it's in Public Health. His response was, "Oh well no wonder she can't find a job". I asked him what was that suppose to mean and he said she got one of those useless degrees. He said an MPH is as useless as someone getting a Masters in Art or History. I'll be honest and say that I don't know much about the Public Health field, but I'm wondering if he's right, is an MPH useless? |
Anonymous
| With all of the health issues that require a public response in the United States and abroad - HIV/AIDS, diabetes, obesity, immunization, domestic violence, youth violence, food safety and others I don't think its a useless degree. I think you do have to be creative about how to apply it - working for a health department is not the only route. If you have any skills in quantitative analysis, evaluation and research there are jobs, especially in the DC area. |
Anonymous
| As far as I know, my friend's background is all research. I don't think she's ever worked for a health department or the government...I could be wrong though. |
Anonymous
|
Absolutely not. You don't have to work strictly for a public health organization. I, for instance, work for a military agency in the environmental field. My concentration was environmental health, but I took several courses in pertaining to environmental laws (i.e. NEPA, CERCLA, RCRA, etc). My SIL is a physician and recently graduated with her MPH. I have a colleague who did a rotation as a DHHS scholar and is now a public health analyst doing exactly what she wanted. Three very distinct careers. If it matters to some, my colleague and I received a B&M degree and my SIL received her hybrid (half classroom, half online) degree from a top B&M public health school in the nation.
When it comes to govt jobs, a grad degree can put you over the edge for some jobs. It's exactly what happened to me. Once my grad degree hit my resume, I started getting almost 100% referrals for the target grade I wanted. This degree, along with several other 'terminal' degrees', doesn't just pigeonhole someone in one arena. I don't apply all of my training in my daily work, but I didn't get the degree for that. It's what you make of it. Expecting this degree to bring job offers and make a career is probably why someone isn't getting the results they want. It's a broad field, which in my opinion, means someone has to mold their resume, work experience, and qualifications to a particular job/field. |
Anonymous
| The government will hire the worthless like public policy and poly sci majors |
Anonymous
|
It can be applied in many ways to many different fields, industries, sectors, so I would say it is far from useless.
Now, that said, there are some schools of Public Health that seems to just be MPH farms spitting out grads like nobody's business - kind of like law schools. There are some folks who suggest that clinicians or wish-to-be clinicians get an MPH as a way to set them apart in applying to medical school for example, but that is really not a good reason to get one. In that sense I guess it could be useless for some, but in general no, it isn't useless. And yes, I have an MPH so there is a bias, but I've yet to find a good, longterm job or career in public health where an MPH would not come in handy, if not be required. I've worked in government, private sector, research, etc. |
Anonymous
| No MPH here but I have 2 cousins that are getting it. From the sponses here, a MPH sounds like an MBA lite non-technical. Only usefull if your current job will allow you to move up with it or if you get it from somewhere prestigous. |
Anonymous
Some "tracks" or concentrations within MPH programs are extremely technical - Epidemiology and Bio/statistics for example. Folks in these tracks graduate with very applicable technical skills such as in research methods and analysis software. Surely some MBA concentrations are similarly technical (Finance maybe?)? With a broad, multi-disciplinary degree it always comes down the major/track/concentration/focus. While I wouldn't argue that an MPH in Sexual and Reproductive Health is as marketable as one in Biostatistics, I would argue that it is more valuable to most (not all) public health agencies and organizations than not having one at all. |
Anonymous
|
MPH in reproductive health here. I'm an expert in women's health and extremely marketable.
|
Anonymous
PP who first spoke of Rep Health. I think that's great - not at all being sarcastic. I suppose I meant marketable in the sense of specific technical skills that other PP was curious about (believing MPH degrees are non-technical). Do you mind sharing (again, not being sarcastic here) what the more technical aspects of the Rep Health part of your MPH program were? Also I suppose the marketability and technical offerings would depend on the strength of that school's MPH program, too, not just what concentration was pursued. |
Anonymous
| What if it's a general MPH (no concentation)? |
Anonymous
Pp, do you mind sharing the organization you work for, and whether they might be hiring recent grads? Global or domestic reproductive health? |
Anonymous
| An MPH degree is the most useless degree. The biggest regret and mistake of my life. I am 38 years old and pretty much on unemployment! I graduated from Drexel school of public health....a fucking retarded school that mislead their students! DO NOT GET THIS DEGREE. ITS A FRAUD. you will end up unemployed. I should have been a dentist. This MPH degree was the biggest mistake of my life JUST SAY NO KIDS!!!!!!!! |
Anonymous
|
You must be doing something wrong PP. It is not a useless degree. With ACA happening and health systems needing to focus on prevention there are a lot of jobs - again you have to figure out ways to apply it.
Also to another PP - and MPH is nothing at all like an MBA. Not even a little bit. |
Anonymous
Well, on the face of it, you wouldn't qualify for any jobs requiring decent writing skills or basic empathy (are you really an adult using the word "retarded" as an epithet?), so I'm not sure which advanced degree would have been the ideal choice for you. |