Heya guys, this is where I am applying. Thoughts much appreciated

[sunshine6]

Hi!

I finishing my MA in biological anthropology this Spring, along with taking some grad level intro classes: Biostats and Epi. I have 1100 GRE (ugh) but a 4.0 at the grad level, so there is that. My interests are socio-economic barriers to drug therapy compliance. Particularly that of the impoverished, incarcerated, or otherwise underserved. I would like to address these issues with a community based education approach.

Applying to:

UNC--MPH in Health Behavior and Health Education

Drexel--DrPH in Community Health and Prevention

GWU--(Not sure if MPH or DrPH, still waiting on feedback from the program) Health Behavior/Health Promotion

USF-- dual MPH/anthro PhD

These are all really exciting programs to me. Are there any others I should look into? I considered Columbia, Emory, UPitt and UT-Austin as others. I decided against Columbia because I don't like NYC, the folks at Emory never answered inquiry emails, and I am still thinking over the last two--just getting low on application/transcript/gre score funds.

I would love any imput regarding, well, any of this.

Cheers!

[DeeLovely79]

Just to be clear are you interested in medication adherence (compliance is a dirty word in public health) or substance abuse treatment?

Edited December 6, 2011 by DeeLovely79

[sunshine6]

adherence.

Part of my essay deals with the ridiculous-ness of labeling patients "non-compliant"

Thanks for the heads up!

[sunshine6]

(and now I am paranoid) Oh grad school applications, what hast thou done to my sanity!?

[DeeLovely79]

The funny part is I currently work on a research study addressing this very topic. I haven't reviewed every public health program out there but I don't think there are any programs that focus on this issue. I think your best bet is just to focus on programs with a concentration in health behavior/society/education. You'll need to review individual faculty to see if any of them have similar projects.

You should look into Johns Hopkins MPH program in the department of Health Behavior and Society (beware they many not answer your inquiry e-mails either), You should definitely consider UNC Chapel Hill and Michigan as well.

I went to GWU for my MPH but my concentration was Maternal and Child Health, the school is great. The only reason that I'm not applying there is because there few faculty aligned with research interests but I do remember someone there having a strong anthro/sociology focus.

Check out those programs and let me know what you decide.

Tulane, Berkley, UCLA and the University of South Carolina have interesting programs that may meet your needs (they all seem to do a lot of community based work but I not sure if they have the specific research focus you are interested)

[sunshine6]

Thanks so much for your imput Dee!

I would love to hear more about the project you are working on.. And any info you can offer with regards to your exp with GWU. Feel free to PM me if you can find the time between apps and such.

Again many thanks for your help!