friendlyghost Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 Does anyone have any experience with or feedback for MPH programs abroad? It seems like an attractive option give that a lot of them are 12 months. The expense seems worth it as a Plan B. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Beef Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Does anyone have any experience with or feedback for MPH programs abroad? It seems like an attractive option give that a lot of them are 12 months. The expense seems worth it as a Plan B. Thanks! What is the tuition for an MPH degree abroad? You have to look at what your return on investment is. If you are going to spend $30-40k as an international student and come back for a $50-60k Health Promotion job it may not be worthwhile. Also hiring is a bit light at the moment in the Public Health sector ... you wouldnt want to come back with crushing debt into a anemic job market and be unemployed. I was pretty pissed years ago when I came out of school with $60k in student loan debt (2 undergrad degrees) with a starting salary of only $47k ... you have to weigh those considerations; job market, salary ranges, upward mobility, future career aspirations. Dont blindly go into these things. Of course with my credentials; MPH, etc, now things look very good on the career and income front with or without med but there are a couple of years that are very difficult when you have incurred ++ debt when going into a career stream that starts you at only $50-60k. You will be very burdened by the debt and will not be able to buy a house, have financial comfort, nice car for a long long time. Things to consider. Beef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friendlyghost Posted January 5, 2012 Report Share Posted January 5, 2012 Thanks Real Beef! I do have a professional degree and I'm pretty confident I could return to my field if I couldn't find anything in public health, and I've been working long enough to not have any debt and have some savings. I'm trying really hard not to be someone who says "Well, I'll just do a masters" and doesn't understand all the pros and cons. I'll have to talk to the schools with the specific grad pools to see if its acceptable. Do you have any feedback about an MPH abroad making my application more competitive? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Real Beef Posted January 7, 2012 Report Share Posted January 7, 2012 Do you have any feedback about an MPH abroad making my application more competitive? No I have no experience or feedback from ad coms re: the merits of taking an MPH abroad. There is certainly no reason to assume that it would weaken it if you did well and earned your degree. Each school of course would view a graduate degree through their own school's lens so what level of change in your application strength would be based on what their school's policies are on graduate degrees (i.e. do they add points to your overall GPA, put you in a seperate pool of applicants, etc.). These would apply to domestically earned graduate degrees as well as those earned abroad that are recognized. What med schools are you interested in? Once you provide a list perhaps someone more rehearsed in the various medical schools can chime in on their opinion on how it may affect you application. I have groomed my med school application to be a one-trick pony (NOSM) so I cant help you much beyond what I have done for that application ... my med school application is sort of a "hummingbird" of applications so that my application or 'beak as it were' wouldnt be able to feed off of any other med school 'flowers' ... LOL. Seeing as I have a house in Northern Ontario that is how I have planned it. Beef Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
friendlyghost Posted January 8, 2012 Report Share Posted January 8, 2012 Quite honestly, any school and every school that I think I have a chance at....I definitely have a lot of research to do on my own, but thank you so much for your help! Good luck with your applications too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
psj Posted March 27, 2013 Report Share Posted March 27, 2013 Picking up an old thread here... I was recently accepted to a few different MPH/MSc Epi programs and I am not sure how to choose... I am looking for solid training in methods and a "stimulating learning environment"... Anybody who could share pros and cons of: UofT MPH Epi UofO Msc Epi UofA Msc Epi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thalie Posted May 1, 2013 Report Share Posted May 1, 2013 psj, thanks for picking up the thread; hope it's ok to tag on another question.. (and hope you get your answer!) Yeah epidemiology is a huge part in public health, but so is qualitative research, so you can certainly find opportunities in like aboriginal health, addiction, STI awareness, etc that do not require epi work. In which contexts is qualitative research taken seriously? And who in public health is best placed to do it? MD/PhD Epis? Nurse/MPHs? My sense is that the number-crunching side of things is most valued, most places. Fieldwork would be fab - does that happen outside of situations requiring a biostatician (who I guess would be taking samples)? Like another poster, I'm put off by the idea of sitting at a computer all day. On the other hand, am more interested in research (esp qual research, or research design), or even policy development, than health promotion. (Love talking to people, but prefer asking questions, negotiating, and problem-solving to teaching [effectively]. Though that's fun, too.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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