Sunday, March 25, 2012

Looking for A Master of Public Health


Do you not know what programs are available for those who want to earn a public health graduate degree? There are many public health masters programs available, both professional and academic, at master and doctoral levels. Two kinds of degrees can be obtained in this field namely an MS in public health or a master of public health.

An all-encompassing knowledge on public health is what people can expect to develop if they consider taking a Master of Public Health. When it comes to MPH programs, these are centered on public health and graduating from these courses can lead to a job in the public health sector. When it comes to this, you can choose to specialize in areas like occupational health, epidemiology, or community health if you prefer.

There is more than one major area in public health and core courses in these areas need to be completed by someone taking an MPH. Without any sort of culminating requirement may it be a thesis or practicum, a student will not be able to graduate. It is the Graduate School of Public Health that is in charge of granting a Master of Public Health degree to a student.

Students can have varying undergraduate disciplines and still be able to participate in such programs. Many students directly come from undergraduate studies. There are schools that offer an MPH degree to doctorate degree holders only.

Depending on the school that you choose, admission policies might differ. Some schools have an acceptance rate of eighty percent. An aspiring student should obtain at least a 50th-percentile on every GRE section and an undergraduate GPA of at least 3.0.

If you will be studying as a full time student, you can complete a Master of Public Health degree in two years. Some schools offer one-year accelerated programs for professionals already holding a doctoral-level degree. Grants and other methods of funding might not be applicable when it comes to professional degree courses.

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. Even if you choose to participate in a certain specialization, your coursework will not be limited to that area of expertise. Although the Master of Science in Public Health degree involves PH courses, it is still first and foremost a research endeavor.

You should rethink taking up the Master of Science if your intention is to become a professional in public health. What you have here is a career path that requires you to have the necessary interdisciplinary education. Dissertations are always part of the game when it comes to this.

Options like academic doctoral programs such as PhD or ScD can be valuable to someone with an MS program in mind as the focus will be somewhat similar. Two years is what you need for the coursework and there is a dissertation prior to graduation. For a masters of science degree, it is the School of Art and Sciences that grants the credentials to graduates.

Since the course is really tougher not to mention more competitive, MS programs are harder to get into compared to Master of Public Health programs with the rates of admission being lower than 35%. The acceptance rate still varies from school to school. When it comes to MS degrees, a student can get the necessary funding from his or her home company under what is called a training grant.