Advice greatly appreciated!

[delimitless]

Hello all,

I have a great desire to get a graduate degree in public health--more specifically, sexual health. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find a lot of information just searching the web; and I always seem to generate more questions. Here are a few of the big ones:

1) I cannot seem to find a lot of schools that offer specific degrees in sexual health. Is there flexibility to design your own program; or do you basically have to take what they tell you to? Further, does anyone know of any good sexual health programs, or ways to search for them?

2) What are the most important things I can do now to improve my application? I am taking classes at the local state university's public health dept. studying for my GRE, and volunteering at local health clinics and hospitals. Is there anything else I can be doing? Also, what would you say is the relative importance of each of the above things?

3) Through what processes did most of you nurture your application and build up a resume? What led you to your desire to get your degree? Are there ubiquitous or common elements of a path toward getting a degree in public health? I am pretty sure that it's what I want to do; but so much about it is a mystery to me, and I feel like I don't know where to turn for information about the next steps.

Also, anything else you think might be helpful to know would be so greatly appreciated. I feel somewhat helpless in that I don't know what I can do to achieve what I want.

As a quick note: I have an undergraduate degree in art from a solid liberal arts college. I know this is not ideal; but perhaps there are good ways to show I am committed to sexual health nonetheless?

Thank you so much for any help you can provide!!!!

[phdaspiration]

Hello all,

I have a great desire to get a graduate degree in public health--more specifically, sexual health. Unfortunately, I cannot seem to find a lot of information just searching the web; and I always seem to generate more questions. Here are a few of the big ones:

1) I cannot seem to find a lot of schools that offer specific degrees in sexual health. Is there flexibility to design your own program; or do you basically have to take what they tell you to? Further, does anyone know of any good sexual health programs, or ways to search for them?

2) What are the most important things I can do now to improve my application? I am taking classes at the local state university's public health dept. studying for my GRE, and volunteering at local health clinics and hospitals. Is there anything else I can be doing? Also, what would you say is the relative importance of each of the above things?

3) Through what processes did most of you nurture your application and build up a resume? What led you to your desire to get your degree? Are there ubiquitous or common elements of a path toward getting a degree in public health? I am pretty sure that it's what I want to do; but so much about it is a mystery to me, and I feel like I don't know where to turn for information about the next steps.

Also, anything else you think might be helpful to know would be so greatly appreciated. I feel somewhat helpless in that I don't know what I can do to achieve what I want.

As a quick note: I have an undergraduate degree in art from a solid liberal arts college. I know this is not ideal; but perhaps there are good ways to show I am committed to sexual health nonetheless?

Thank you so much for any help you can provide!!!!

First of all, one of the greatest things you can do to enhance your application to a graduate program is to get research experience. Secondly, I know Indiana University does a lot of sexual health research. They are not a school of public health, but rather housed in an Allied Health Sciences department. I think you can get an MPH and PhD in Health Behavior with a concentration in sexual health. The only problem with that department is they are pretty low on funding.