Why bother with MPH?

Anonymous1257 · Jun 1, 2015

You can get an MSN in public health if that's your passion, but yes there's plenty of opportunity for nurses in public health regardless. I don't know a great deal about the MPH, but I'm not surprised BSN prepared nurses are favored. You will receive a fair amount of training in public health in most BSN programs and the actual healthcare training you receive as a nurse will be very valuable in a public health position.

sourapril · Jun 2, 2015

I had my MPH before BSN. Like OP mentioned, I couldn't get a decent job with MPH alone. It was also 2009, so maybe it's the economy. However, after I got my BSN, I got a job at my local health department. The person who hired me said the main reason she chose me (besides my qualifications and personality) was because I had an MPH. So I think the combination of MPH and BSN is pretty powerful. After working in my field for a while and getting some important experience, I can potentially get any jobs I want with this combo.

The last point OP made about how health department prefer nurses over MPH is not completely true. I guess it depends where the health department is and which area in public health. For example, in my state, it's cheaper to hire an MPH to do disease investigation than a RN, so almost all the counties except one or two would solely hire MPHs for that purpose. But in other areas, like maternal child health, I think RN is preferred over MPH.

I also think it's interesting to see the difference between someone who had MPH before RN and those who had RN before MPH. They tend to think differently. Since I got my MPH before RN, I tend to think the big picture and system before individual intervention. For someone who practice nursing for a while and then get an MPH, the thought process and problem solving approaches is very different. They bring great clinical experience but tend to miss the big picture. Of course, I am making generalization here. Not every MPH can see the big picture and not every RN is great at clinical care.

I think the question you need to ask yourself is what you want to do with your degree. If you want to be a health educator in tobacco cessation, I don't think getting a RN would get you a better job. If you want to be a clinical health educator like a diabetes educator, you would most definitely need a RN after your name. If I am interested in a job, I would do a linkedin search and see what degrees those people have.

Good luck!

BeachsideRN, ASN · Jun 2, 2015

I had my MPH before BSN. Like OP mentioned, I couldn't get a decent job with MPH alone. It was also 2009, so maybe it's the economy. However, after I got my BSN, I got a job at my local health department. The person who hired me said the main reason she chose me (besides my qualifications and personality) was because I had an MPH. So I think the combination of MPH and BSN is pretty powerful. After working in my field for a while and getting some important experience, I can potentially get any jobs I want with this combo.
The last point OP made about how health department prefer nurses over MPH is not completely true. I guess it depends where the health department is and which area in public health. For example, in my state, it's cheaper to hire an MPH to do disease investigation than a RN, so almost all the counties except one or two would solely hire MPHs for that purpose. But in other areas, like maternal child health, I think RN is preferred over MPH.
I also think it's interesting to see the difference between someone who had MPH before RN and those who had RN before MPH. They tend to think differently. Since I got my MPH before RN, I tend to think the big picture and system before individual intervention. For someone who practice nursing for a while and then get an MPH, the thought process and problem solving approaches is very different. They bring great clinical experience but tend to miss the big picture. Of course, I am making generalization here. Not every MPH can see the big picture and not every RN is great at clinical care.
I think the question you need to ask yourself is what you want to do with your degree. If you want to be a health educator in tobacco cessation, I don't think getting a RN would get you a better job. If you want to be a clinical health educator like a diabetes educator, you would most definitely need a RN after your name. If I am interested in a job, I would do a linkedin search and see what degrees those people have.
Good luck!

I have many friends that found jobs post MPH (2011) without clinical degrees however the higher paying, more secure positions go to those that have the MPH in addition to a clinical degree - RN, RD, MD, RDH, etc

tylerpenn · Jun 2, 2015

Good point sourapril, I probably should have specified a few things. In kentucky there tends to be less public health jobs in general, and of those about half of them require a nursing degree, this is based on my own observation of getting weekly emails from the kentucky public health association that lists new jobs. When I search places like Indeed or other job sites I find alot more public health job openings so maybe the area that I'm at just doesn't have very good outcomes for MPH students in community health. I do think that a background in public health is excellent to have in addition to a nursing degree, which is why I plan to sit for my certified health education specialist (CHES) in addition to getting a BSN would maybe be a powerful combination. Too bad I cannot find a masters program that offered a MPH and RN. And to answer you question about what I would like to do with my degree, I would like to be a community health educator, hopefully that addresses metabolic syndrome/obesity something like nutrition, fitness etc.

Keylimesqueez I have also noticed that clinical degrees pay better than non clinical, this is another reason I like the idea of BSN over MPH. Many of the jobs posted in Kentucky that warrant a MPH only pay start at $15 an hour! I don't know how I could ever pay off my student loans at that.

NEradtech · Jun 3, 2015

How's your undergrad gpa? I know Yale has a joint direct entry msn and mph degree program. You would bypass the bsn and get the two degrees you want. It seems like they're changing the curriculum so you can finish the joint program in 3 years.

tylerpenn · Jun 4, 2015

My GPA is only a 3.01 unfortunately. It is improving though, I was on the deans list semester before last and last semester the presidents list so hopefully it will continue improving. I will definitely have to check that program out. Although Id say that ivy league school would cost me an arm and a leg.

guest464345 · Jun 9, 2015

In my area, RN seems like a better choice in public health....we make more money than MPH's with the same job duties (e.g. disease investigations), and we have more flexibility because we can choose either office-based jobs or more traditional clinic or home visiting positions (maternal-child health, WIC, TB, STD clinic, etc). We can do things like counsel and educate about medications that non-clinical folks can't do. I don't see the advantage of the MPH unless maybe you have a huge passion for research.

Work2Live · Jun 13, 2015

I was a registered nurse before earning the MPH in 2011. I worked in epidemiology for the Florida Department of Health briefly. They needed a nurse for my position because of employee health-related responsibilities. Once I left, they decreased the annual salary from $50K to $40K, hired an individual with the MPH and no clinical background or education, and shifted those aforementioned responsibilities to the other nurse in the department. I highly recommend that you go back to school for nursing. It will allow you to work in any one of our 50 states and it will open a lot of doors. I regret earning the MPH. It opened the door to lower-paying opportunities that require you to work five days a week. Um, no, thanks. The MPH is valuable if you would like to become an administrator. If you do pursue the MPH, focus on either biostatistics or epidemiology. The other tracks tend to be a lot of intuitive fluff.

sourapril · Jun 17, 2015

If you are willing to relocate, other states have dual degree programs. University of Wisconsin has a program like that, it's five years though.

Good point sourapril, I probably should have specified a few things. In kentucky there tends to be less public health jobs in general, and of those about half of them require a nursing degree, this is based on my own observation of getting weekly emails from the kentucky public health association that lists new jobs. When I search places like Indeed or other job sites I find alot more public health job openings so maybe the area that I'm at just doesn't have very good outcomes for MPH students in community health. I do think that a background in public health is excellent to have in addition to a nursing degree, which is why I plan to sit for my certified health education specialist (CHES) in addition to getting a BSN would maybe be a powerful combination. Too bad I cannot find a masters program that offered a MPH and RN. And to answer you question about what I would like to do with my degree, I would like to be a community health educator, hopefully that addresses metabolic syndrome/obesity something like nutrition, fitness etc.
Keylimesqueez I have also noticed that clinical degrees pay better than non clinical, this is another reason I like the idea of BSN over MPH. Many of the jobs posted in Kentucky that warrant a MPH only pay start at $15 an hour! I don't know how I could ever pay off my student loans at that.