Practicality of BSN + MPH degree?

Published Sep 21, 2014

33 Posts

Hi all,

I'm currently a pre-nursing student at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in Birmingham, Alabama.

I have about a year of prerequisites left before I can enter the actual nursing school. Something cool that I found my school does is that it has a program where undergraduates can get a head start on a Masters in Public Health degree during their junior year, and spend their "5th year" in grad school, leading up to an MPH degree. The School of Public Health has told me that students from all majors (including nursing) have participated in this program.

My question is, would this be a worthwhile endeavor? Would potential employers look down on a new-grad BSN with a graduate degree? Or is it smarter to gain work experience and then go for the graduate degree?

Thanks in advance!