r/publichealth • u/SadBreath PhD/MPH • Aug 28 '19

ADVICE School and Jobs Advice Megathread Part III

All job and school-related advice should be asked in here. Below is the r/publichealth MPH guide which may answer general questions.

See the below guides for more information:

  1. MPH Guide
  2. Job Guide
  3. Choosing a public health field
  4. Choosing a public health concentration
  5. Choosing a public health industry

Past Threads:

  1. Megathread Part I
  2. Megathread Part II
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u/ohmycash Sep 29 '19

MPH VS Second Bachelors in Nursing

I'm a 2013 graduate in Natural Resources Management/ Environmental science emph. on GIS. I want to work in a position where I have more direct interactions with the community in fields like community health, HIV/std awareness, nutrition, and even environmental health.I met an RN with an MPH, and their work as a public health nurse looked so awesome. She said her combination of degrees allowed her to do a wide range of jobs. I would love to do both, but I am not sure if it’s worth the opportunity cost.

MPH would be an easier switch and probably would be shorter compared to becoming an RN.Would an MPH allow me to find a role where I work more directly with people? I've heard it’s harder to find work now with an MPH. Do you feel limited with your MPH?

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u/throwitawaybyee Public Health Social Worker Oct 01 '19

If you want direct work with people, good salary, high demand, aaand you’re willing to do a bsn over mph, i would take the bsn any day. Mph jobs where i live are mostly research, you get paid peanuts, and nurses without a mph degree prolly do more front line public health work than you ever will (with just an mph). I have a BSW and i make more money/do more front line work than the folks i know who just have an mph. They are mostly employed as data analysts, research assistants, research associates etc which is great if you want to do work at that level, but it happens to be more hands-off. I would sooo recommend going the clinical route

I would also look into dual bsn/mph if those are offered anywhere.

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u/tacoz4 Oct 15 '19

I feel limited with my MPH in the sense that there are, without a doubt, fewer jobs when you’re comparing against nursing. However, I applied for quite a few jobs (maybe 5-6) that would have been direct person/patient contact, and got interviews for 3 of them. The PHNs that I’ve worked with haven’t really had the opportunity within their positions to work broadly outside of their clinical nursing duties. If you’re interested in being boots on the ground, in the field, working with health education, nutrition, and environmental health (speaking my language, all my interests), an MPH is definitely the move.

Obviously, more credentials are better, so if you could get a dual degree with both then go for it, but the fields you described being interested in don’t have much real world, career overlap with nursing and you’ll be able to find more opportunities to work in those fields with an MPH.