Hi everyone. I was hoping you could clarify for me what exactly the Health Policy focus allows one to do career-wise. I have read people saying that it's best to get an MPH 'in' something (like Biostatistics), opposed to more general tracks. I'm wondering if Health Promotion type tracks are the too-broad tracks people are referring to.
Some of the Health Policy programs I've looked at (especially the ones that don't separate policy and management into different tracks) say that it's best to have some undergraduate coursework in accounting and microeconomics, which I do not have.
My undergraduate degree is in nursing and I am interested in advocating for nursing to lawmakers, government agencies, etc.
So I guess my questions are these:
-Is the Health Policy and Management track what I'm looking for? I do not want to manage a health care organization.
-Should I avoid schools that do not further separate the Health Policy and Management track into Policy/ Management sub-tracks?
-Should I take introductory accounting and microeconomics classes before I apply?
-Do different schools have vastly different internship opportunities for Health Policy students? (E.g. would it be wise to apply to several schools in the Washington, D.C. area?)
I would really appreciate it if someone could give me an idea of what schools I am competitive for based on my stats right now. I am not going to apply for at least a year or two, so I have time to boost myself a bit and I'd like to use it wisely. When I look at the U.S. News rankings, I realize I'm not competitive for, say, Johns Hopkins, but am I competitive for Emory? BU? USF? Anything?
-Will be an RN at the time of application
-GRE 720Q (75%), 620V (89%)
-GPA 3.6 upper division, 3.5 overall, magna cum laude honors
-Some experience with nursing research as a research assistant
-1.5 years of public health work experience during college, will also have about 1-2 years of work experience at a county health department as a nurse
-won a couple of awards from undergrad institution, random volunteer experiences but nothing prolonged
Thanks!
