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Opinions on pursuing a dual degree in PA and Public Health


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Hello,

 

I'm a Pre-PA student looking for opinions and advice from people who have received a dual degree in Physician Assistant Studies and Public Health. What are the pro's and con's of choosing this option? Has it improved your skills as a clinician? Has it opened up more opportunities for working internationally, etc.

 

Any information and/or advice is highly appreciated!

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I recommend the dual pa/mph for folks interested in global or public health as well as future teaching. much easier to do both together than to try to get the mph before or after.

I am doing a doctoral program in health science & global health right now while working full time and the time management aspect is certainly challenging. a public health degree definitely gives you more options for future employment both in the civilian and govt sectors.

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An MPH can cost upwards of 30K even if completed as a dual program. If you are unsure why you want it ... I would use caution.

CON OF THE DUAL PROGRAM: less ability to specialize with public health usually it is just a general degree as opposed to one focused in biostats or epidemiology etc, I found much value in networking during my part time public health education after being established as a PA in the community - I knew what I wanted to do and was able to attach myself to faculty and projects which were interesting, Not many MPH/PA dual programs I would pay attention to schools that offer an MPH without an actual public health school they can be of low quality and money mills, and people in the field know this very well (just like PA is becoming I fear), hospitals will often give money towards staff to obtain further education maybe even 5-10K

PRO OF THE DUAL PROGRAM: Cheaper, dual programs usually require less coursework than sep. programs. and probably will not have to author two thesis.

 

I am not so sure a general MPH will be a meal ticket for an academic career. I think it will provide you access to public health careers, hospital and other administrative roles. PA schools are moving towards doctoral degree for many faculty positions. This is a slow process and I doubt will become absolute anytime soon. Public health academia, unless you are talking about being a lecturer, a doctoral degree is often necessary. You need to figure out what you may want to do with the degree before you spend all that money. Just as important is figuring out where you will be studying, if it is a general degree or not, how much time/money will you save.

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can be of low quality and money mills, and people in the field know this very well (just like PA is becoming I fear)

 

Glad to see I'm not the only one worrying that the field is going to be flooded with under educated, under experienced and poorly representative PAs. Hope is that the good ones will retain their marketability, I suppose.

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public health is going through a weird transition right now. I am not able to comment on it. It is becoming a certified profession (just like everything). This started as I was finishing. Essentially people who want to work in the government or in public health may in the future need to take a certification exam. AND pay the fees that go with that ha. I had some classmates start preparing for this exam. I wonder if the dual MPH lets you sit for this exam ? But to be honest I do not see any PA MPH working a public health job that would require this cert bc of financial reasons. would be interesting if someone here could commend on that exam and cert. I would not worry too much about it. When I first heard about it I became frustrated ... just another obstacle for people to work, and I doubt it equates to anything more than a paycheck for those adminsitrating it. But then again I will be the first to admit I know little about it.

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