Sunday, March 25, 2012

Workers and A Master of Public Health


Are you confused when it comes to viable options for a public health graduate degree? A number of different programs can be considered by individuals who want to take up a public health masters programs. There is such a thing as a master of public health and an MS in the same field but both programs differ.

The Master of Public Health is a professional terminal degree aiming to provide comprehensive public health master’s education. There are various concentrations in public health that can be considered by the people who are able to complete various MPH programs. When it comes to this, you can choose to specialize in areas like occupational health, epidemiology, or community health if you prefer.

A couple of core subjects have to be taken by people who engage in MPH degree courses. Here is where students are required to complete internships or prepare a final thesis before the program can be completed. Something like a Master of Public Health is actually awarded by the Graduate School of Public Health to students who complete the program.

Even if your undergraduate discipline is not related to public health, you can enroll in this master's course. Here, most course enrollees are all undergraduates. In some cases, MPH degrees are reserved to the people who are holders of doctorate degrees.

The stringency of admission to MPH programs may vary from institution to institution. In general, admission rates range from 35% to 80%. An aspiring student should obtain at least a 50th-percentile on every GRE section and an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0.

About 24 months is needed to complete a Master of Public Health degree if you are a full time student. If you are a working professional armed with a PhD, you can engage in an accelerated program that lasts for 12 months. Similar to most professional degree programs, students are normally not accommodated with considerable grant or scholarship options to fund their education.

For those who want to delve into professional research efforts, a master's of science in forms such as MS, MSc, ScM, or MSPH is available. A particular focus can be chosen at first but students can delve into things outside of their specialization. The thing about a Master of Science in Public Health is that it focuses mainly on research but several PH courses are included in the program.

If you want to be a professional in the public health industry, the Master of Science is really not a good degree to consider. Something that will be required from individuals is interdisciplinary education if they want to make a career out of this. What you have here may require a defense from each student before graduation.

When it comes to an MS program, you can pursue further studies without deviating from the original coursework through academic doctoral programs such as PhD or ScD. Here, courses will last for 24 months and then you will finish with a thesis. The MS is often conferred by the School of Art and Sciences or any applicable name at universities rather than School of Public Health and hence, the admission requirement will vary than a MPH applicant.

The thing about these courses is that both of them are relevant but MS programs are simply more intense than Master of Public Health programs and the acceptance rate for the former is smaller as well. The acceptance rate still varies from school to school. Financial aid is rarely provided when it comes to post grad programs but in the case of MS students, the necessary funding may be provided by their companies.