Degree Overview - Master of Public Health vs. Master of Science in Public Health

When it comes to a public health graduate degree, haven’t you decided on which path to take? Plenty of public health masters programs are readily available for people who want to be a professional in this field. You might encounter an MS or a master of public health but these two degree programs are not the same.

The Master of Public Health is a professional terminal degree aiming to provide comprehensive public health master’s education. When it comes to MPH programs, these are centered on public health and graduating from these courses can lead to a job in the public health sector. Aside from epidemiology, professionals in this industry can also be tasked to deal with concerns pertaining to health policy and administration.

In public health, accomplishing an MPH program will require students to take up various courses in all major areas. Here is where students are required to complete internships or prepare a final thesis before the program can be completed. When it comes to a Master of Public Health, this is something bestowed upon a student by the Graduate School of Public Health.

Even if your undergraduate discipline is not related to public health, you can enroll in this master's course. Here, most course enrollees are all undergraduates. Having a doctorate degree can ensure that you will get to participate in an MPH degree program.

Acceptance of students differs from one institution to another. Some schools have an acceptance rate of eighty percent. You need a 3.0 GPA to qualify for this kind of masteral program but you have to maintain at least a 50th-percentile on every GRE section.

About 24 months is needed to complete a Master of Public Health degree if you are a full time student. If you are a working professional armed with a PhD, you can engage in an accelerated program that lasts for 12 months. If you will be pursuing further education, financial assistance might not be readily available.

You can resort to a master's of science like MS, MSc, ScM, or MSPH if you are interested in the research aspects of professional careers. Students may apply to a specific discipline and little coursework is applied outside of the discipline. The thing about a Master of Science in Public Health is that it focuses mainly on research but several PH courses are included in the program.

This attribute makes the Master of Science a less appropriate degree for students who desire to be a public health professional. Something that will be required from individuals is interdisciplinary education if they want to make a career out of this. Dissertations are always part of the game when it comes to this.

Many students enrolled in an MS program are best suited to academic doctoral programs such as PhD or ScD as both have similar coursework and research requirements. Usual programs take two years for coursework and dissertation/thesis. No other body but the School of Art and Sciences can confer something like an MS.

In general, applying to MS programs is more difficult and competitive than to Master of Public Health programs because of the smaller accepted class sizes and the critical individual attention on MS students during defense phase and thesis. The acceptance rate still varies from school to school. MS students will occasionally receive financial aid or funding for their degree under a faculty member’s project grant or training grant, although is not common.