Billowack

Thank you! I still haven't gotten an email, I just randomly (aka obsessively) checked the portal. I applied for the global health concentration.

OMG! Hopkins DRPH results just posted to the portal. I got in!!! I can't believe it!

Same! I'm pretty sure I didn't get in, but I just want to know for sure so I can move on.

Hopkins updated the portal (DrPH -GH)! I was rejected this year, but best of luck to you all!

Any other DrPH-ers get the email from Hopkins and immediately panic for no good reason? ? I can't wait to no longer have to stress about this!

It is! It was easy to put out of my mind before the New Year, but now I can't stop obsessing about it.

Does anyone have any resources on writing CV's specifically for DrPH programs? It would be really helpful to see some examples that do not have a strong research focus. Also, in case anyone is struggling with their personal statement, I found this recording from Emory to be very helpful:

This is what I'm trying to do as well. Columbia has an program that I'm also interested in, but it requires the first year to be in-person. So for me Hopkins is less about the prestige of the school and more about the process of elimination. I didn't think about reaching out so early, I thought we had to wait until the platform opened. Should I plan on doing it sooner?? I've love to hear if any DrPH applicants are planning to reach out to professors whose work you are interested in. I know that's recommended for PhDs, but I'm not sure if it would be helpful for a DrPH application.

Thanks for starting this year's thread! I'm planning to apply to the JHU DrPH custom track. Taking the GRE in June ?. I feel like that stupid test has killed my confidence level!

In case anyone is interested, USF just sent an email announcing their GC program open house. It'll be on Monday October 2nd at 6:15. I am attaching the announcement they sent.

I'd say 100% go for the GCA position. Relevant work experience is regarded much more highly than classwork. Plus, even if you are more interested in clinical GC you will still learn skills that will give you a leg up and you will likely have lab rotations as part of your education anyway. You can also shadow clinicians on the side if you have time.

I double majored in Public health and biomedical sciences. A friend did it last year so she set it up for me. I'm not too sure what I want my next career step to be, so I figured it was better just to take the year to enjoy life while I consider. Better than rushing into anything and then regretting it.

Congrats to everyone who has gotten interviews! I did my undergrad at USF and I was going to apply to their GC program so I went to the open house and met with the program director and a few others involved with the program. Then I decided not to apply to any programs at all this year so that I could do a year abroad teaching English instead. USF seems like it's going to be a great program though, so good luck to everyone.

I know I'm WAY late on replying to this, but in case it's helpful to you or anyone else USF has posted info on their MSPH in genetic counseling. I can also help anyone with questions on this program.

In answer to your first question, I definitely don't think you need to switch your major to biology. Especially as you are already a junior. In this field, I think you'll find that your undergrad degree is fairly meaningless once you get past grad school admissions. Not to say that it is completely unimportant, but once you get past a certain level, little attention is paid to the undergrad major. You can be just as successful (if not more so) with a degree outside of the typical "hard science" realm, so that's not something I would worry about over much. As for your second questions, it really depends on if you want to work on the clinical side or not. If your only interest in "slum health" is mapping and modeling, then you could probably wouldn't need to go the MD route. I think the best thing you can do is talk to professionals working in this area. You seem to have some pretty specific interests and I think there are many professors and working professionals who would be willing to respond with their thoughts to a well written email describing your interests and asking for general advice.

I would not recommend doing it unless the test will be paid for by your school/work/etc. I had to do it as a part of my MPH and the school paid for it. However, I will not be renewing. It has been of absolutely no use to me. As far as I can tell it just seems to be a scheme to make them money. The CE credits are usually conferences, which are pretty expensive in and of themselves AND you have to pay a $95.00 renewal fee every time.

Someone can correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems that if your goal is to get a DrPH getting the right type of experience will be more important than which school you get your masters from. I'd pick the program that will allow me to get the experiences/jobs that DrPh programs require.

I think that will depend heavily on what programs you are interested in and what you do in the coming years.

Thank you so much for your response, it was very helpful. I'm glad to know I don't need to go into the application process with a specific question in mind. I've been reading through the literature to try to identify gaps that I might like to address, but that's a slow process. I think I'm probably going to start reaching out to people sooner rather than later simply because I want to go into a very small, specific field and finding a good match might take some time. I've already been through a lot of faculty profiles and so far only one person seems like she'd be a good fit (a perfect fit actually), but as far as I can tell she doesn't take on PhD students. I'm definitely going to have to look into the grants. I find the idea of applying for one daunting, but I suppose that is because I'm pretty much only familiar with NIH grants. I'm glad you pointed that out because it's definitely something I want to familiarize myself with before deciding to pursue this course.

I graduated with my MPH in global communicable disease two years ago and have been doing lab-based research since. My original intention was to work for a few years and then do a DrPh, however, I've had a really difficult time getting job in the field I want to go into. Since I am more than ready to take the next step in my career, I'm considering PhD programs. Shortly after I joined the lab I'm in now, I thought about maybe pursuing a PhD in parasitology or something similar. However, after a few months I decided that lab work and that kind of research in general is not for me, thus discarding the idea of a PhD. Only recently has it struck me that there are such things non lab based PhDs so I began looking into some of those. Based on the area that I want to go into I feel that a degree in health policy would probably be most beneficial to me. Since I want to do something very specific, I've been focusing more on identifying potential faculty members that would be a good match for me rather than just selecting programs that sound good. Before I take my next step I have some general questions about Phds in health policy and I'd greatly appreciate feedback on. 1. I'm very familiar with "sciency" phds, but I don't have as good an understanding of what really goes into a phd in health policy. I'm not really sure what the breadth or scope of this type of project would be. I would think that you would begin by identifying some sort of gap in the information about whatever subject you are interested in and then working to fill said gap. Is this a good assumption? How much new information should be a health policy dissertation? I'm struggling with phrasing here, but I'm hoping someone will get what I am aiming at. 2. Is it acceptable to contact a member of faculty before applying to a program? If so, should I have a specific idea of what I want to research before contacting them? Is it ok to contact them with only a broad sense of what you want to do, but without a specific question in mind? 3. A lot of programs I am seeing provide stipends during the coursework years, but then have a general statement about funding coming from your project for the remainder of the years. Is this the norm? Is health policy research typically funded by grants? Do you get on an existing funding source or would you be expected to bring in your own funding or self pay? These are some of the more specific questions I have, but I would welcome any thoughts you guys might have on this type of phd.