Supply Chain Management in Public Health...Masters? PhD?

[ersterli]

Hello,

Throughout the past year, I've realized that getting involved in the public health field is where I'd like to focus. I'm currently not working in public health, though, and my main question is centered around how best to break into the field and get where I envision myself.

I have an undergraduate degree in materials science and engineering and a master's degree in industrial engineering, both from U Michigan and both summa cum laude. After graduating, I worked in a rotational assignment as a process improvement consultant to a major manufacturing company, gaining experience in a variety of machine and human labor - based environments. Then this past year, my position has been the master scheduler of a $200M/year manufacturing facility.

My goal is to become a part of an organization like John Snow or the WHO/PATH-sponsored Optimize, which are focused on developing supply chain initiatives for regions of the world that currently don't have a solid infrastructure to actually deliver healthcare supplies. I feel like I may have relevant work experience and the educational background to get on track to the public health field in this domain, but I don't have the foundational knowledge (economic, social, political, policy) that a public health degree would give me.

I'm having a hard time deciding whether to pursue a masters degree (MPH or MHSA) or a PhD. I love education and love teaching others concepts and I've had experience researching for a summer, but I'm not sure what the deciding factor should be to choose MPH or PhD. I saw that many director-level positions posted on WHO for delivery programs require a PhD...but then I saw other job postings on John Snow only require MPH for similar type of work.

I'd love any advice on this! Thanks!