Several general MPH Questions

[Morganella27]

I have a few questions that I hope can be answered Any help/advice at all would be appreciated!

Here's some background info....

I'm currently a certified medical laboratory scientist (aka medical technologist) at a hospital lab (serology..I do infectious and autoimmune disease testing). I want to go back to school to further my career options. My work is very routine. I'm very interested in microbiology and infectious diseases, and I was considering going back for an MPH in epidemiology. I've only taken one stats class, but I was fairly good at it and I did enjoy it. I enjoy taking data and analyzing it, applying it, etc. I would really like to work for a government agency.

1) Where can I find out more about different job opprotunities in public health? I'm pretty lost as to what I actually want to do. All I know is that I love learning about infectious diseases, I like working with people, I don't like extremely routine work, and I don't want to do research. I also enjoy and am good at writing (don't judge me and this late night ramble haha )

2) Would a graduate certificate be beneficial before doing an MPH program? The only school I am currently applying to offers a certificate program that is, from what I can tell, the first year of the MPH program.

3) Has anyone worked and done grad school part time? Any advice?

4) Would I be more suited to get an MS in Microbiology? I feel like this would be a bad choice since I am not very interested in research and only have one semester of it under my belt from undergrad (in chemistry, which was my original major).

Basically, I'm pretty lost as to if I should get an MPH (and in epidemiology), and what job opprotunities would be available to me if I did.

Thanks so much!

[jordanami]

Sounds like public health could be a good fit for you. I am working on my MPH through an online program designed for working professionals finishing grad school part time. There are a lot of similar programs available in pub health, lots of people work and finish school at the same time. I'm not sure that you really need to choose an area of specialization right now. You may want to look into a general MPH program to see what you like best. Good luck!

I have a few questions that I hope can be answered Any help/advice at all would be appreciated!

Here's some background info....

I'm currently a certified medical laboratory scientist (aka medical technologist) at a hospital lab (serology..I do infectious and autoimmune disease testing). I want to go back to school to further my career options. My work is very routine. I'm very interested in microbiology and infectious diseases, and I was considering going back for an MPH in epidemiology. I've only taken one stats class, but I was fairly good at it and I did enjoy it. I enjoy taking data and analyzing it, applying it, etc. I would really like to work for a government agency.

1) Where can I find out more about different job opprotunities in public health? I'm pretty lost as to what I actually want to do. All I know is that I love learning about infectious diseases, I like working with people, I don't like extremely routine work, and I don't want to do research. I also enjoy and am good at writing (don't judge me and this late night ramble haha )

2) Would a graduate certificate be beneficial before doing an MPH program? The only school I am currently applying to offers a certificate program that is, from what I can tell, the first year of the MPH program.

3) Has anyone worked and done grad school part time? Any advice?

4) Would I be more suited to get an MS in Microbiology? I feel like this would be a bad choice since I am not very interested in research and only have one semester of it under my belt from undergrad (in chemistry, which was my original major).

Basically, I'm pretty lost as to if I should get an MPH (and in epidemiology), and what job opprotunities would be available to me if I did.

Thanks so much!