? about MPH programs

[persimmonRN]

I am an RN, BSN (who also has BS in dietetics previous to my RN) who has successfully transitioned from critical care to community health. I am currently a health educator at a county health department working on a chronic disease prevention grant and deal mostly with policy and system change. This is something I have always been interested in and I have balked over getting my MPH for over 10 years, since I could not figure out how to break into the field. However, now I can see how a MPH could help me in my career.

My question to those who have pursued their MPH, b/c I am already in the field of community health and have already broken into it. Does it matter how, "good" (reputation) a MPH program is? Unfortunately, there are no local MPH programs to me, either I would have to drive 1.5-2 hrs to get to a program, or I can do the online version. My issue is that I am married with 3 elementary aged-children and working a full time job. So, I feel that this leaves me with the online option. After looking through the different CEPH accredited programs, some programs look like they are from, "for profit" type of online schools. Are those considered a no-no in the field? I have to admit that I am one who wonders what others think of online degrees and whether they are taken seriously by those in the field. My hope is that my MPH will be a stepping stone to our state department of health, in the future, but I don't know if I am making a bigger deal than need be about the reputation of a MPH program, if that makes any sense. I have no desire to ever return to the nursing as a clinician.

Also, I'd also appreciate feedback on MPH concentration. Most likely I would do a, "general" concentration, however, I lean very much toward health education/promotion, but I also would like some management skills as well. I am not interested in focusing on epi or biostats, but acknowledge that some basic classes in those topics are necessary and useful. It is very possible that with my MPH that I could become a department head at our local health dept as well, although it is not really my end goal (our health dept administrators are awful to deal with and I see my dept head struggle with this).

While I do not have the title of, "program manager" of my grant, I am the, "team lead." My dept head is our prgm manager, but other than the budget, she barely has a role in our grant. I fully admit that with grants, what I hate dealing with the most is the budget. So, that is one reason why I feel like it wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing to have some mgmt classes, so I get the budget/finance courses to make myself stronger. My grant team and I feel strongly that at some time, our dept head will need to relent control and let one of us become the prgm mgr, as she has too much on her plate (which is why I am not particularly interested in stepping into her position should she retire). With my status as team lead, that woud most likely fall onto me. However, I would like to make sure that if I choose a concentation, that it is something that make me marketable in a more general sense, so I would be qualified to work at our state health department if an opportunity should arise.

[SiwanRN]

I'm not in a role where I hire staff, so I don't know that I can really comment on whether a for profit vs non profit university for your MPH has any weight in that decision. You do good by looking only at CEPH accredited programs though - there are lots that aren't accredited (which boggles my mind). In terms of looking at different programs though, might I point you in the direction of the university I am applying to? University of New England (based in Maine) is a well regarded non profit school and offers a CEPH accredited generalist MPH online. The thing that appealed to me is that you do one class at a time in 8 week blocks, and if you don't miss any terms you can be finished in 1 1/2 years. Not too shabby... At any rate, I wish you the best of luck in your journey. I'm right there in the same boat with an MPH being the next career move I need to make if I want to go further or work for my state health department.