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Real Advantages of Dual Degree Programs


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Hello!

 

I am preparing to apply next cycle and I am looking at some dual degree programs, such as Campbell University (Physician Assistant/MS Public Health). For anyone that is practicing, what advantages have you gained because you have both degrees? I ask because since there are so few programs offering dual degrees, I am having a hard time finding information on the benefits of having both. 

 

Thank you for your time! :)

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Sorry Shay, don't agree. Unless you have plans of going into healthcare management or teaching somewhere down the road, it is a massive tuition sink and a waste of your time. My program had a dual MPH/MMS track and all 8 or 9 of them said (at the end) what a waste of time it was. An extra year, and no employer in their right mind is going to pay you MORE than a standard PA to do the same work.

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If you are thinking about an MPH in terms of increased salary you should probably not consider it.  I would imagine PA's with an MPH unlikely have a different long term economic situation. Especially if the student took loans out to pay for that education. Review some of my prior posts on the dual degree PA/MPH.

 

Unless you have a clear reason to pursue the dual MPH which could include immediate professional goals or the dual degree offers something you cannot obtain later time or logistical reasons. For example if Campbell had the best health policy department in the country and you felt this was a unique exposure opportunity because you were moving back to California then it might be something to consider.

 

I am sure you have done this already but make sure you figure out how much the MPH will cost you after factoring interest in over loan repayment program.

 

MPH (like PA these days) is a nice revenue stream for a University. This is partly why so many schools have created public health degrees in the last 10 years. Unlike the PA profession public health has been vocal about this concern and has worked hard to control this and created standards of education in order to be credentialed etc. Not all public health schools are created equal and make sure whatever institution you are going to study provides you the education you want.

 

If you have no idea what you are going to do with his MPH wait until you graduate and figure it out. Many dual degree MPH are "general" public health degrees and not specialized in any area. As you develop your career you may find epidemiology over policy is more a career trajectory for you. The specialization is not the most imperative component of employment in public health but it is nice to have skills that match up with a job and interview for said job.

 

Many jobs will offer tuition reimbursement for related studies. My job will give me 5k a year if I wanted to do an MPH. Almost all public health schools (including good institutions like GW who offer online degree study) offer MPH studies part time while you work. In my opinion if you are a practicing PA with masters level work and research experience you should not have much trouble picking the public health program of your choice.

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It depends what kind of work you are interesting in doing. I'm actually not too big of a fan of mph/pa programs because I think it really devalues the MPH since it is all squeezed into one year. Many people in my MPH classes were physicians, nurses, PAs, etc who decided to go back to school to get their MPH because of things they noticed while practicing. I think almost all MPH programs can be done part time which is what the clinicians were doing. I actually had dinner with an OB physician last night who said going back to get her MPH changed her life and the way she practices medicine. I probably wouldn't recommend doing it just to do it unless you have a clear interest in public health such as working in a community health center. Alll MPH programs are NOT created equal and can really influence what you get out of it. Combined with the issue of paying for the degree as well it is a lot to consider. Good luck!

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consider the following as well:

govt jobs for PAs pay 1 step higher if you have an MPH (2 steps for a DrPH or DHSc)

Doctors without borders will use PAs with MPH but not without

You can get a stand alone job in public health with the MPH is you ever decide to leave clinical medicine.

If you have any desire to work for the CDC, FDA, etc the MPH is a big help in landing the job.

If you want to do overseas work having an MPH really helps design/ implement community health initiatives, etc

Occupational health is actually a specialization of public health. want to work Occ med? The MPH will help.

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I have an MPH also. I did the program prior to PA school. While it did boost my application for PA school, it did nothing more.

 

I plan to use it later in my career since I have plans on returning to the Public Health sector once I feel like I'm done with clinical practice.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think it is useful if you know that you are interested in government or any of the other avenues mentioned above.

 

But if you are unsure, it becomes markedly useless and a tuition dump. I got into two programs, one that was dual and one that was one. When I began to crunch numbers, it ended up being a 150-200k difference for one year (another year at a school with high tuition and a year of not having a PA level salary) . I see very few instances where one can justify that much of a financial difference for a degree that in many situations will not benefit you overtly.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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