tmarie75

I went from working in Womens Health in a hospital setting to working as a PHN in maternal-child health. There are also family planning programs and other services dedicated to women and children. OB/GYN and PHN is a good combination, and certainly doable. Best of luck! Tmarie75

I have an MPH. Personally, I think the MPH is more useful in the field of Public Health as a whole. If you intend to stay strictly in the nursing arena, I say go for the MSN. If not, then the MPH is more suitable and is workable in both areas. I am now working on my MSN as well, but not in PHN. Beyond the nursing core, the specialization courses are similar for both degrees. I didn't want to feel like I was getting the same degree twice. I'm just getting the MSN so I can teach PHN on a university level. I am already board certified as an APHN, so I don't really need the MSN per se for practice reasons, but most colleges still want you to obtain the MSN at a minimum to teach. Hope this gives you a little more perspective. Best of luck! Tmarie75

I have an MPH with a focus in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention which is basically the same thing you're doing. In your program, you will have some exposure to Epidemiology and associated concepts. Some employers may find this sufficient, some may not. You can also use your elective credits to explore a little more in Epidemiology as well. This is what I did. Another option is completing a Graduate Certificate in Epidemiology while you get your degree or afterwards. There are aslo free trainings online in Epidemiology, you just have to search around for them. Good luck with your program! Tmarie75

I am newly Board Certified as an APHN as of Oct. 2012 (Option B). Unfortunately, there are not much in terms of study guides available for our specialty. The one on the ASTDN website is a good resource, and hits the main topics covered by the exam. You would just probably need to expand upon the concepts as necessary depending upon your weaknesses in certain areas. I used this as a refresher before I took the exam. From what I can remember, the exam is similar to the study questions offered by ANCC. Between the ASTDN study guide, and the ANCC reference list, you should be well-prepared to sit for the exam. Honestly, I did not really study very much for it. This was not my intention of course, but life circumstances such as full-time work, full-time doctoral program, and part-time MSN program sort of got in the way of my study plans. However, I had already registered and paid for the exam, so I had to take it. I used the ASTDN book as a refresher for some of the areas I was weakest on the night before. I do have an MPH and have spent the last 10 years working in public health in some capacity. I did not find the exam to be too difficult, just very long. There are 175 questions and you have 3.5 hrs. to test. You usually can eliminate 2 answers and then are stuck with trying to choose between 2 answers that both seem correct. It's the standard process of elimination and choosing the best answer. I used all my time, and received my results afterward at the testing site. I prayed hard that day, and luckily I received a passing score. You'll be be surprised about how much you really know. Study hard, eat breakfast, and get a lot of sleep. You will do well. I wish you lots of luck, and I look forward to seeing your post when you pass the exam announcing you've joined the ranks of the rest of us APHNs. We need more advanced nurses like you in this great specialty to keep it going. Best wishes! :) Tmarie75

thanks so much for the information.

i am currently enrolled in florida atlantic university's (fau) msn program in administrative & financial leadership specialty, but the school also has an individualized track option within the msn program that allows you to design your program around your individual interests. you may want to check this out. good luck with your search, and i hope you are able to find something that fits your needs!

the majority of the courses are approximately 16 weeks, a normal semester, but there are a few that are taught in 8 weeks' time (mainly during summer sessions).

i have been working in public health for a few years now. i still have the same job for now even though i have received my mph degree. i am working on my msn now, and the job i have now is flexible and works well with taking classes. also, i really like my job, and i am not ready to leave it yet. eventually, i will seek a more advanced position in public health or public health nursing.

i completed the online mph at florida international university (miami, fl). the online mph is a generalist degree. if you want to specialize, you can, or you can complete a graduate certificate simultaneously. in addition to the mph, i also obtained a graduate certificate in health promotion and disease prevention and became a ches (certified health education specialist).

i agree. i went back to school and graduated with my mph last month. i truly love public health and public health nursing. if your goal is strictly to work in public health (and not public health nursing), then the minimum you need to get anywhere in this field is an mph degree. fyi, not all programs require the gre. my program was completely online and ceph (council on education for public health) accredited, and did not require the gre for admission.

it is possible to take more credits, but i don't think it would have made that much difference. the average time of completion for the program is about 2 years. another thing to consider is the current economic climate, which means that many of the classes are not offered as often as they used to be in the past. some are only offered certain times a year. this will surely dictate how fast one can complete the program. the mph degree requires a lot of credits for completion (45 credit hours) plus at my school you had to successfully complete either a supervised field experience, a master's thesis, or a master's research project to graduate. i finally finished my mph and graduated december 2009.

my program is online (fau's msn in administrative & financial leadership), and i am taking only 1 class this semester until i graduate with my mph in december. i work part-time, and have also been doing my internship for the mph that i will finish on thursday. next semester i plan to take at least 2 or 3 classes. so far i am enjoying the program and look forward to completing it hopefully by the end of next year.

i am about to graduate with the mph in december, but i am also working on the msn so i can someday teach phn. i am also interested in the aphn-bc certification, and plan to take the exam at some point after receiving my mph degree. for those of you who were certified prior to the recent ancc changes, how was your testing experience? how was the level of difficulty for the exam? how did you prepare for the exam? any information would be appreciated.

i'm graduating with my mph this december, and i would say that this degree (including tuition, fees, and books) has cost me roughly $25,000. i went to a florida school. i'm also attending a florida school for my msn, but i've just started it, and so far i've spent approximately $1,200, but i'm not complaining though because out-of-state tuition would be much much worse!

i think the other people who have posted on this forum have given you some sage advice. i understand where you're coming from. i, too, was in a similar position, and started an msn program 6 months after receiving my rn license. needless to say, i wasn't as ready as i thought i was to start this program. i soon realized the program wasn't right for me, and my interests and focus had changed. long story short, i am graduating with my mph in december, but i also started pursuing another msn this semester. this time, the msn program is the right fit. my advice is to give it a little time to explore your interests and find out more about yourself as a nurse. however, you are the expert on you, and if you are certain that you know what you want to do, then go for it!! i wish you all the the best!