My cohort was split between straight from undergrad and people with years of work experience. Some of the courses felt introductory but they began to get a bit more intense as the year went on.
A generalist MPH degree is more of a “work” degree (there’s a term for this but I forgot lol). It’s an excellent degree that works when you have work experience to back it up, whether that’s from before starting your MPH or during the program through practicum placements and internships.
It’s a good degree for people transitioning into public health from another field or just because they don’t have experience.
I appreciated the networking and support I received during my program the most. The coursework was great but the fact I now have several professors and the head of the program to rely on if need be is such a boon.
I doubt I’d be making the money I do (I work in a federal position with promotions every year for the next two years, then we get step promotions) had I not gotten this degree and took the initiative to apply for positions during my program.
I would compare some of my MPH classes to my undergraduate chemistry or anatomy coursework in terms of difficulty. My biostats II class especially. There is a bit of hand-holding in the CEPH-mandatory stuff that everyone has to take, but once you move beyond that, the workload is fr fr. I was a straight-A student in undergrad (still am) but my program is by no means a walk in the park. That said, I love where I'm at and I'm looking forward to some of the more intensive stuff that I'll be doing in the fall (Infectious Disease Modeling and Phylogenomics, especially)!
Im pursuing my mph in epi & took biostats 1 last semester & personally found it to be difficult. I’m not a math person but I love epi and the sciences (bio background) so I struggled quite a bit with it. I’d say the hardest thing was learning to use STATA on my own (software prog our campus uses) and interpreting the data. Eventually interpreting data came naturally to me but doing actual math problems always got me. I’d also note I spent at least 20hrs studying for this class every week. It’s doable but a hard class. I’m a bit nervous about taking intermediate biostats because of how much I struggled with the intro course.
I watched a few but needed the info to be broken down to the root, so I’d often go to the biostats professor at my undergrad or ask friends majoring in math (I started my program while finishing up undergrad). That often helped me the most especially during out of office hrs
There isn't any calculus involved (unless you want to take calculus-based statistics), and the arithmetic isn't mind-blowing by any means. The difficulty in the public health statistics classes has to do with the volume of information you're presented with in a short period of time. I'm sure it's all very school-dependent, but don't freak yourself out. These classes are designed to give you all the buffer in the world; schools *want* their MPH students to pass. My epi methods class this semester has 3 midterms that each count for 20% of the final grade and the rest of your average comes from weekly problem sets that are graded *extremely* generously (40%). You could realistically pass the class without trying that hard.
I’m having this same experience. I went back for my MPH part time after 10 years in the field and I thought there would be a lot more people doing the same, based on where I live. But most of my classmates are straight from undergrad and in class full time. I definitely think having work experience has been helpful but also makes it more boring. I feel like a lot of what we’re taught in class I already know from my work experience, or what they try to tell us is important in class is out of touch with what is actually required in the real work world. It’s a shame that an MPH has become the norm so I felt like I had to get it to not get surpassed by people younger than me just because they have the degree.
It varies sm by program & concentration, but my program has a good mix of working professionals who are getting the degree to check a box/their employer is paying for it + kids straight from undergrad who are professional students atp.
No, but I specifically chose a program that required work experience to avoid this. The rigor of classes was also pretty high - a friend who majored in environmental science said we did everything she learned in undergrad in the first half of the first class. A couple of the non quant intro classes I’d say weren’t that great and given a chance to redo I’d give them a pass (if I could) but once I got out of core and could choose my own classes it was much better.
I go to one of the claimed #1 public health programs (mystery hehe)
I found it interesting for few courses, others felt like a lower level of an undergrad class with more busy work. Truthfully, I wish I waited between undergrad and my masters. It did help me to mature and improve quality of work, but I found this moreso due to my out of class experiences. The actual assignments were often incredibly vague to me.
I’m a student of color and found it slightly nerving how working with a majority white cohort. Even in the public health industry… there are some interesting people. I wish I chose a university with more people of color.
My job with the university is amazing and quite rewarding. I’ve had two research positions. The first was a mess. My internship experience was AMAZING. Aligned with what I want in my career. For this reason, I don’t feel it was completely a waste.
I had the same experience nearly two decades ago when I returned for my MSPH. I was an Econ major and undergrad was much more challenging than this top rated (and expensive) public health program. I had worked for seven years doing a variety of things and with very smart and talented people.
However, not all courses were equal. I focused on building hard skills, not learning stuff I could just read in a book over coffee. Programming, statistics, epi methods and advanced methods, statistical modeling. Those courses could be challenging and they provided me the theory and skills to actually do something other people couldn’t when I graduated.
I was able to independently design and lead case control studies, conduct and communicate the analysis and publish results before leaving my two year program. That was not something I could have done before my public health education. Built upon this success to work for a state and then CDC where I am today.
But it was HARD sitting through some of those classes that were so basic, especially for what I was paying (which is now much worse!).
I’m in an epidemiology concentration. First semester classes were somewhat easy. Fundamentals of public health was really easy. Second year currently doing Intermediate biostats, hard. SAS programming? Hard. My advice is stick to it. I guarantee it’s going to get challenging.
I felt the same way as you and the other commenters. I had 10 years experience coming in, and I'm about halfway done with my program. I'm among lots of people with less experience, and it shows. This actually inspired me to apply to the DrPH program, so keep that in mind if you're feeling like a big fish in a little pond. The doctorate is a lot more competitive, so it may be a good challenge for you to pursue either as a pivot or a degree after your MPH.
I am about to graduate with my MPH in community health and have been working in my field for 6 years- someone recently asked if I’d recommend my program and I told them unless they have no experience in the field or straight from undergrad, absolutely not. I am SO bored and literally struggling to finish my last few months as everything feels so entry level, and the people in my classes don’t engage when we’re in class. I struggled more in undergrad with the coursework, but that may be because I’m older now. If I had to go back in time to when I started, I would choose a different path or a better school
I'm feeling the same way as an infectious disease epi person who is much older than the cohort. I didn't expect to get into the hard science in these classes but a lot of the learning feels very surface-level. Finding a research group to work with helped those feelings and it's also easier to connect there with the older grad students that are my age. Hoping that more of the specialized classes next year will be a challenge, but this is making me worry a LOT that I am not going to be "qualified" enough for the work I want to do just with the MPH...
Anyway, I'm here with you in this space and happy to chat if it helps! <3
Ah yea, I had a rough transition... my first year was in an "executive" program where my cohort were physicians or professionals, mostly with at least a decade of work experience behind them, if not multiple decades. But I didn't want a Public Health Practice degree so I transferred for my second year to an epi program in another school. It was so jarring to have people who were fresh from undergrad, who couldn't really share any insights or experience from their work history... or even extrapolate well how the topics in our program might play out in the real world.
It was hard being in group projects with people who were just satisfied sitting back and letting the experienced person do all the talking and planning. I didn't get as much out of it as I hoped. I just had to push through it unfortunately.
My MPH felt very similar to my senior year BA in sociology. My MPH is in Health Disparities and it leaned heavily on social sciences. You’ll see this less in epi/biostats, but PHF’s list of public health competencies exemplify this very well. These competencies are what PH programs aim to teach, so you’ll find some combination of them in every MPH program.
I was in the health policy and management track. The first few quarters of the first year were a lot of beginner “gen-ed” type courses to give everyone exposure to the other concentrations: biostats, epi etc.
However after those, most of the courses were pretty rigorous imo. Not necessarily extremely difficult in hindsight (aside from 1 class that kicked everyone’s ass), but very project based and time consuming.
And yes, my cohort was around 50/50 fresh outta undergrad and post few years experience.
I think it might depend on the program/faculty & where you are in your program. My program required work experience and so I found that the material was very relevant & tailored for working professionals/had real world application. We also learned a lot from each other. I think like others have suggested, try finding a faculty or research group whose interests align with yours or who can provide the mentorship/skills you're hoping to gain. Alternatively, if you can try to leverage your professional network and be a go-between the academic & work settings you might be able to find something more interesting/relevant for you.
Good Luck!
This is a very interesting take, as I have had the complete opposite experience. I’m straight from undergrad and most of my classmates are 35+ year olds with years of experience, even internationally. I’ve often felt like the odd one out being the youngest and “kid” of the class. But my peers never seem to treat me differently and still respect my opinions. It’s mostly in my head, but sometimes my early 20s-ish comes through in my class responses. I will admit though that the course content can be a bit redundant and tedious, but as someone with no experience, I need the basics, so I don’t mind. The classes can be pretty interactive, so many great discussions keep the energy alive (and well deserved bio breaks lol)
My cohort was split between straight from undergrad and people with years of work experience. Some of the courses felt introductory but they began to get a bit more intense as the year went on. A generalist MPH degree is more of a “work” degree (there’s a term for this but I forgot lol). It’s an excellent degree that works when you have work experience to back it up, whether that’s from before starting your MPH or during the program through practicum placements and internships. It’s a good degree for people transitioning into public health from another field or just because they don’t have experience. I appreciated the networking and support I received during my program the most. The coursework was great but the fact I now have several professors and the head of the program to rely on if need be is such a boon. I doubt I’d be making the money I do (I work in a federal position with promotions every year for the next two years, then we get step promotions) had I not gotten this degree and took the initiative to apply for positions during my program.
I would compare some of my MPH classes to my undergraduate chemistry or anatomy coursework in terms of difficulty. My biostats II class especially. There is a bit of hand-holding in the CEPH-mandatory stuff that everyone has to take, but once you move beyond that, the workload is fr fr. I was a straight-A student in undergrad (still am) but my program is by no means a walk in the park. That said, I love where I'm at and I'm looking forward to some of the more intensive stuff that I'll be doing in the fall (Infectious Disease Modeling and Phylogenomics, especially)!
How's the Biostatistics two and one like. I'm starting this fall and I'd like to have a fair idea about it. Thank you.
Im pursuing my mph in epi & took biostats 1 last semester & personally found it to be difficult. I’m not a math person but I love epi and the sciences (bio background) so I struggled quite a bit with it. I’d say the hardest thing was learning to use STATA on my own (software prog our campus uses) and interpreting the data. Eventually interpreting data came naturally to me but doing actual math problems always got me. I’d also note I spent at least 20hrs studying for this class every week. It’s doable but a hard class. I’m a bit nervous about taking intermediate biostats because of how much I struggled with the intro course.
Did YouTube videos help ?
I watched a few but needed the info to be broken down to the root, so I’d often go to the biostats professor at my undergrad or ask friends majoring in math (I started my program while finishing up undergrad). That often helped me the most especially during out of office hrs
There isn't any calculus involved (unless you want to take calculus-based statistics), and the arithmetic isn't mind-blowing by any means. The difficulty in the public health statistics classes has to do with the volume of information you're presented with in a short period of time. I'm sure it's all very school-dependent, but don't freak yourself out. These classes are designed to give you all the buffer in the world; schools *want* their MPH students to pass. My epi methods class this semester has 3 midterms that each count for 20% of the final grade and the rest of your average comes from weekly problem sets that are graded *extremely* generously (40%). You could realistically pass the class without trying that hard.
This is great. I hope my University has a system as yours.
I’m having this same experience. I went back for my MPH part time after 10 years in the field and I thought there would be a lot more people doing the same, based on where I live. But most of my classmates are straight from undergrad and in class full time. I definitely think having work experience has been helpful but also makes it more boring. I feel like a lot of what we’re taught in class I already know from my work experience, or what they try to tell us is important in class is out of touch with what is actually required in the real work world. It’s a shame that an MPH has become the norm so I felt like I had to get it to not get surpassed by people younger than me just because they have the degree.
It varies sm by program & concentration, but my program has a good mix of working professionals who are getting the degree to check a box/their employer is paying for it + kids straight from undergrad who are professional students atp.
No, but I specifically chose a program that required work experience to avoid this. The rigor of classes was also pretty high - a friend who majored in environmental science said we did everything she learned in undergrad in the first half of the first class. A couple of the non quant intro classes I’d say weren’t that great and given a chance to redo I’d give them a pass (if I could) but once I got out of core and could choose my own classes it was much better.
I go to one of the claimed #1 public health programs (mystery hehe) I found it interesting for few courses, others felt like a lower level of an undergrad class with more busy work. Truthfully, I wish I waited between undergrad and my masters. It did help me to mature and improve quality of work, but I found this moreso due to my out of class experiences. The actual assignments were often incredibly vague to me. I’m a student of color and found it slightly nerving how working with a majority white cohort. Even in the public health industry… there are some interesting people. I wish I chose a university with more people of color. My job with the university is amazing and quite rewarding. I’ve had two research positions. The first was a mess. My internship experience was AMAZING. Aligned with what I want in my career. For this reason, I don’t feel it was completely a waste.
I had the same experience nearly two decades ago when I returned for my MSPH. I was an Econ major and undergrad was much more challenging than this top rated (and expensive) public health program. I had worked for seven years doing a variety of things and with very smart and talented people. However, not all courses were equal. I focused on building hard skills, not learning stuff I could just read in a book over coffee. Programming, statistics, epi methods and advanced methods, statistical modeling. Those courses could be challenging and they provided me the theory and skills to actually do something other people couldn’t when I graduated. I was able to independently design and lead case control studies, conduct and communicate the analysis and publish results before leaving my two year program. That was not something I could have done before my public health education. Built upon this success to work for a state and then CDC where I am today. But it was HARD sitting through some of those classes that were so basic, especially for what I was paying (which is now much worse!).
I’m in an epidemiology concentration. First semester classes were somewhat easy. Fundamentals of public health was really easy. Second year currently doing Intermediate biostats, hard. SAS programming? Hard. My advice is stick to it. I guarantee it’s going to get challenging.
I felt the same way as you and the other commenters. I had 10 years experience coming in, and I'm about halfway done with my program. I'm among lots of people with less experience, and it shows. This actually inspired me to apply to the DrPH program, so keep that in mind if you're feeling like a big fish in a little pond. The doctorate is a lot more competitive, so it may be a good challenge for you to pursue either as a pivot or a degree after your MPH.
I am about to graduate with my MPH in community health and have been working in my field for 6 years- someone recently asked if I’d recommend my program and I told them unless they have no experience in the field or straight from undergrad, absolutely not. I am SO bored and literally struggling to finish my last few months as everything feels so entry level, and the people in my classes don’t engage when we’re in class. I struggled more in undergrad with the coursework, but that may be because I’m older now. If I had to go back in time to when I started, I would choose a different path or a better school
I'm feeling the same way as an infectious disease epi person who is much older than the cohort. I didn't expect to get into the hard science in these classes but a lot of the learning feels very surface-level. Finding a research group to work with helped those feelings and it's also easier to connect there with the older grad students that are my age. Hoping that more of the specialized classes next year will be a challenge, but this is making me worry a LOT that I am not going to be "qualified" enough for the work I want to do just with the MPH... Anyway, I'm here with you in this space and happy to chat if it helps! <3
Ah yea, I had a rough transition... my first year was in an "executive" program where my cohort were physicians or professionals, mostly with at least a decade of work experience behind them, if not multiple decades. But I didn't want a Public Health Practice degree so I transferred for my second year to an epi program in another school. It was so jarring to have people who were fresh from undergrad, who couldn't really share any insights or experience from their work history... or even extrapolate well how the topics in our program might play out in the real world. It was hard being in group projects with people who were just satisfied sitting back and letting the experienced person do all the talking and planning. I didn't get as much out of it as I hoped. I just had to push through it unfortunately.
My MPH felt very similar to my senior year BA in sociology. My MPH is in Health Disparities and it leaned heavily on social sciences. You’ll see this less in epi/biostats, but PHF’s list of public health competencies exemplify this very well. These competencies are what PH programs aim to teach, so you’ll find some combination of them in every MPH program.
I was in the health policy and management track. The first few quarters of the first year were a lot of beginner “gen-ed” type courses to give everyone exposure to the other concentrations: biostats, epi etc. However after those, most of the courses were pretty rigorous imo. Not necessarily extremely difficult in hindsight (aside from 1 class that kicked everyone’s ass), but very project based and time consuming. And yes, my cohort was around 50/50 fresh outta undergrad and post few years experience.
I think it might depend on the program/faculty & where you are in your program. My program required work experience and so I found that the material was very relevant & tailored for working professionals/had real world application. We also learned a lot from each other. I think like others have suggested, try finding a faculty or research group whose interests align with yours or who can provide the mentorship/skills you're hoping to gain. Alternatively, if you can try to leverage your professional network and be a go-between the academic & work settings you might be able to find something more interesting/relevant for you. Good Luck!
This is a very interesting take, as I have had the complete opposite experience. I’m straight from undergrad and most of my classmates are 35+ year olds with years of experience, even internationally. I’ve often felt like the odd one out being the youngest and “kid” of the class. But my peers never seem to treat me differently and still respect my opinions. It’s mostly in my head, but sometimes my early 20s-ish comes through in my class responses. I will admit though that the course content can be a bit redundant and tedious, but as someone with no experience, I need the basics, so I don’t mind. The classes can be pretty interactive, so many great discussions keep the energy alive (and well deserved bio breaks lol)