# Anyone work in public health?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-work-in-public-health/363657>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [July 8, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-work-in-public-health/363657 "2006-07-08T19:38:56Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-work-in-public-health/363657/1 "2006-07-08T19:38:56Z")

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After doing some internet research, to my surprise I can actually see myself going into public health as a career and liking it (or at least not hating it). I understand that a master’s in public health is the degree most people need to work in this field. How are the job prospects? Should I get experience before I apply to grad school and if so, where would I look? How much does program accreditation matter? Thanks.

(I don’t _think_ this belongs in GQ because I think it’s a matter of informed opinion.)

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**Author:** ![monstro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@monstro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/monstro)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-work-in-public-health/363657/2 "2006-07-08T21:22:29Z")

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**you with the face** works in public health and she loves it.

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**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\
**Post date:** [July 8, 2006, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-work-in-public-health/363657/3 "2006-07-08T21:30:39Z")

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The MPH by itself doesn’t carry much weight, unless it goes with a subject-specifc MS, PhD or MD.

There are lots of MD MPH or MD PhD combinations that do well. Having said that, there are plenty of MS, PhD or MD-only people out there who do just fine.

The BSRN MPH or MSRN MPH is also good.

Program strength is important … some MPH programs are rather … fluffy.

If you want full accessibility in the public health field, you really need some sort of doctorate. But an MPH will get you into the trenches, if you have the right sort of undergraduate degree.

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**Author:** ![Arien](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e0b2c6/32.png) [@Arien](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Arien)\
**Post date:** [July 9, 2006, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-work-in-public-health/363657/4 "2006-07-09T22:14:06Z")

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[QUOTE=cerberus]  
The MPH by itself doesn’t carry much weight, unless it goes with a subject-specifc MS, PhD or MD.

There are lots of MD MPH or MD PhD combinations that do well. Having said that, there are plenty of MS, PhD or MD-only people out there who do just fine.

The BSRN MPH or MSRN MPH is also good.

Program strength is important … some MPH programs are rather … fluffy.

If you want full accessibility in the public health field, you really need some sort of doctorate. But an MPH will get you into the trenches, if you have the right sort of undergraduate degree.  
[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the response, **cerberus**.What sort of undergraduate degree do you mean? I have a bachelor’s in psychology and sociology, but that’s probably not it. What about the MS degrees in certain fields of public health like epidemiology? Are they more or less marketable?