MPH or PhD in epidemiology (hate doing research)

[Redmel9]

HI,

I am going to be entering my last year as an undergrad and am trying to decide which programs to apply for for fall 2012. I am getting my BS in biochemistry and have a strong GPA and GRE scores.

I also have a year of genetics research at my university. The problem is I absolutely hate doing research and find it terribly boring.

I really want a career where I can interact with people more often and still use my science degree. I recently thought of doing an MPH program in epidemiology instead of pursing a PhD in some science field.

Will an MPH serve me better for a career than a PhD if I am not interested in doing research?

[Curlygrrl]

You do realize epi is very research based...maybe you need to quantify ( )what research you are not interested in conducting.

[pennywaltz]

a PhD is a research degree. So if you don't like research, a PhD isn't for you.

Epi research is not limited to genetics research, but regardless.. PhD programs like to see you with research experience and a Masters before they would accept you to their program.

I think you need to think about what you want to do and see what degree is required. So I would say apply to MPH programs. You don't really have to declare your concentration right away I don't think, since the first year is usually the core courses.