Reasons to get an MPH (especially if you're already started/finished medical school!)!

Hi everyone! I'm back and I'm still on vacation as you can see. So today I wanted to address a question that I actually got in one of the comments from the earlier videos, which is the MPH year. What was it that prompted me to pursue an MPH year? What did I get from an MPH year? And whether I would recommend it for other people? Well, I would first start by saying that if you haven't watched the video specifically addressing a research year in dermatology, then certainly take a look at that first, because a lot of the pros and cons that come with a research year also apply to an MPH year. Basically, they apply to any extra year that you take during medical school in between your training before you apply for residency, because all the pros and cons still apply no matter what that year might look like. So without further ado, these are all the different reasons why you might want to consider taking an extra year to pursue a master's in public health. Number one, think about health in a different way. In medical school, we're taught to think about health on an individual level. What that means is that when you're faced with a patient, you think about what the research shows on a population level, and then you try to apply that to the person that's sitting in front of you. And I think that that's very important, because obviously, we all went into medical school, hopefully, to take care of patients and to take care of that person who's sitting across the table from us. However, when you pursue a master's in public health or another degree in public health training, what you're really trying to do is to learn about how to approach health on a population level. I still very clearly remember there was a plaque that was hanging in the hallway on the way to the lecture hall when I was getting my MPH, and that plaque said, saving lives millions at a time. And even though that sounds a little bit pretentious, it totally is true. That is what public health is. It's to try to think about how we can enact different policies, how we can think about different ways to approach health on a much grander level than what we're accustomed to on the medical school side. Right now, in the middle of this COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the light that's been shown on racial disparities, especially by the Black Lives Matter movement, is a perfect time to think about how a public health lens differs from a medical school lens. And that's not to say that the two don't cross over. It's just to say that when you get training in one, it's very helpful to get a little bit of training in the other side, too. Number two, learn some statistics. No matter what you concentrate in, no matter what your major or area of study might be in public health, you will learn some epidemiology and biostatistics. Personally, I decided to concentrate in epidemiology and biostatistics specifically because I was interested in exploring my potential path as a clinical researcher in the future. However, it doesn't really matter what you decide to concentrate in. Everyone has to take statistics courses as part of their MPH training. The big takeaway from this is that with an MPH, I do think that it makes you a better judge of good research. However, even though I concentrate in epi and biostats, I certainly know that I have weaknesses in my training. Now, when I pursue clinical research as an academic, I still know that there are weak points that need some extra help. So I still look for statisticians to help me, especially when the statistics are complicated, but the basics now I feel comfortable doing. In other words, no matter how you pursue an MPH, you will get some extra statistics training that's very helpful in the future. However, this is a skill where if you don't use it, you will lose it. So definitely after finishing my MPH here and learning all those biostatistical skills, I had to relearn them again as an attending when I really started to use them again for clinical research. You have to think about the timing of getting an MPH. The reason why I ended up getting an MPH during medical school was because it was actually paid for. I actually got a grant through the NIH to pay for my entire year's tuition. And so for that reason, it really felt like going for it was the right move. Whereas if you don't have it paid for and you're paying out of pocket, you may want to think about delaying your MPH for a time when it's going to be more helpful. And in that sense, maybe getting an MPH during residency would be even more helpful. I will be honest, I have heard some people say that you should never pay for a master's degree after medical school. What that means is that you will almost always be able to work a master's into a residency program, or even as part of your contract when you're getting a job. Number three, think about yourself in a public health career in the future. There's nothing like an MPH year to really make you think about what it's like to delve really deeply into a public health career. What I mean by that is that I had a lot of colleagues who did an MPH year and realized that they really wanted to dedicate their lives to global health, to saving communities overseas, to pursuing positions in the future that really gave them a chance to apply all that population health knowledge in the future. I personally did it and am so thankful for the training I got in biostatistics and epidemiology, but I also knew that at the end of the day, I really missed my one-on-one clinical interaction with my patients. And so if anything, the MPH really allowed me to focus my energies in that clinical training because I knew that at the end of the day, my career was going to focus on patient interaction and patient care. And then the research piece was going to be fueled by the questions that I might come up with with those patient interactions. So the MPH year is a great way to really experiment. If you might want to veer off a little bit toward the public health sector, but be ready to realize and find out for yourself that maybe medical school was the right decision all along and this extra training is really going to make you a better clinician in the future. Number four, get to know some amazing colleagues. Your MPH colleagues are going to be people that are leaders, clinicians, researchers from all around the globe, all different countries that have dedicated one year of their professional lives to studying the concepts of public health. There are going to be a ton of students who are the most impressive people you have ever met. I remember in my class specifically, there were health ministers from overseas. There were people who really dedicated their entire lives to the study of this. I felt just like a third year medical student who was going through the process because I was still exploring what that might look like for myself. But there are people who were already in high up governmental positions of power that were coming back to get a little bit of that training. You can definitely get to know some very interesting people and some very powerful people in the process that can really be some great connections for the future, especially if you start to work more in the public health sector. Number five, and this one I say a little bit tongue in cheek, but it's actually kind of true. Get some extra letters after your name. Yes, a master's in public health is a one year degree. Obviously it's a master's and it's focused on health. And you might think to yourself, it's not that big of a deal. There are a ton of people out there that actually have an MPH. But let me just tell you that having a master's actually is helpful for you when you apply for residency. I remember when I was trying to decide what to do for my gap year, I thought about an MPH year or a funded year of clinical research. I went to a dean and I asked which one I should choose because I had the option of picking one of these. And the dean basically said a clinical research year is going to help you for your residency applications, whereas an MPH is going to help you for the rest of your career because you will always carry those extra letters after your name. As tough as it is to admit it, I do think that getting a master's is helpful for your residency application because it does mean that you've dedicated a year of your life to study something in detail. That's about it. Those are the things that I would think about if you're deciding whether or not you want to take an extra year for an MPH in the future. You know the drill by this point. If you thought this video was helpful for you, please hit like below. And if you think that this content is something that you'd like to hear more about, please consider subscribing to my channel. Thanks again for joining me today. Good luck with your decisions about an MPH year or perhaps a different type of gap year in the future. If there's anything else, any other topics you'd like to see me cover, please drop a comment below. Great to see all of you today. See you later.