There’s more than one way to earn both a Doctor of Medicine (MD) and a Master of Public Health (MPH) degree.
You may pursue your MPH before enrolling in an MD program or earn both degrees simultaneously through an MD/MPH dual degree program. Pursuing dual degrees may sound overwhelming at first. However, an MD-MPH dual degree program like the one offered at Ross University School of Medicine (Ross Med) has accelerated and standard pathways. This allows you to choose how and when you want to earn your degrees.
Yes, you can pursue your MD and MPH simultaneously.
Although pursuing a master’s and a doctorate at the same time can feel overwhelming, it prepares you to solve health care problems on a much larger scale. While you can still diagnose and care for individual patients, your primary focus will be on improving the health of various populations. By learning to identify the causes of health issues impacting specific populations, you can more effectively create intervention strategies to better manage and control specific health problems.
A dual degree program does an excellent job preparing you for careers conducting clinical studies and spearheading new policies for health care reform. You can work closely with the government to design health care programs, monitor the efficacy of these programs, and find ways to make health care more affordable. You’ll also be equipped to identify risk factors specific to individuals within various populations and educate individuals on the importance of preventive health care.
Pursuing an MD/MPH dual degree offers you a wider range of career possibilities after graduation. Having so many pathways available to you can allow you to truly shape your career in a way that’s fulfilling and impactful.
An MD program primarily focuses on helping you build medical knowledge and apply it in logical ways to improve the health and well-being of individuals. It places a heavy emphasis on the individual patient by examining:
- anatomy and physiology
- molecular biology
- pharmacology
- genetics
- pathology
- and more
An MD program helps you understand how the human body works, what goes wrong when illness or injury occurs, and how you can help a patient begin to recover. An MD program also emphasizes the importance of preventive medicine as well as trains you to form logical conclusions in a variety of circumstances. This can increase your chances of ensuring patients receive quality care and have positive outcomes.
An MD/MPH program allows you to treat the patient as an individual as well as identify health trends within diverse population groups. Rather than simply diagnosing diseases on a case-by-case basis, your MD/MPH dual degree can prepare you to identify the root cause of these trends and advocate on behalf of underrepresented communities. This gives you the ability to enact positive change in countless lives before they set foot in a doctor’s office.
While an MD program prepares you for careers in clinical practice, an MD/MPH program offers more flexibility.
With an MD/MPH dual degree, you could complete residency in a medical specialty of your choosing, earn your licensure, and begin practicing medicine. You could also pivot to careers in:
- academia
- clinical research
- health policy
- disease prevention
- women’s health
- international health
- hospital administration
- and more
Having an MD/MPH degree can help you change the trajectory of health care by reevaluating the efficacy and practicality of existing policies and health care delivery systems. It can prepare you to teach future health care providers, secure funding for proposed health initiatives, address health disparities across the globe, and more.
Prior to pursuing an MD/MPH dual degree, you’ll need to meet medical school admission requirements such as:
- completing premedical studies
- taking the Medical College Admission Test (MCAT®)
- gaining clinical or research experience
- submitting documents such as transcripts, recommendation letters, and personal statements
With our standard MD/MPH program, you’ll complete your master’s-level coursework at the same time as your doctoral-level work. While master’s coursework is completed primarily online, there is a fieldwork practicum requirement you’ll need to fulfill before you can earn your master’s. This pathway can be completed in as few as four years.
We also offer an accelerated MD/MPH program that allows you to finish your doctorate, followed by your master’s. On the accelerated pathway, you’ll dedicate four years to earning your MD, then take a gap year between graduation and residency to earn your master’s. This gives you more time to dedicate to your studies and allows you to finish your master’s in three-and-a-half semesters.
Learn more about the duration of an MD program here.
All residency programs deal with public health in varying degrees. As a result, having an MPH prepares you to take a holistic approach to diagnosing and treating patients. It prepares you to develop more comprehensive health plans for patients and understand the difficulties faced by current health care professionals.
Having an MPH allows you to see the bigger picture of health care, which can be crucial for enacting change for future physicians and patients. The leadership skills you build during your MPH prepare you to take on more responsibility in your future roles.
MPH programs also help you build strong research and writing skills. Having strong grant writing skills can be vital to helping you pursue funding for research projects or obtain resources for public health initiatives.
A dual degree program may seem overwhelming at first glance; however, at Ross Med, we strive to help students like you reach their dreams. Choose whether you want to complete your master’s coursework alongside or after your MD program with our dual degree MD/MPH program!
Visit our MD/MPH page here for program details.
Ready to get started? Apply to Ross Med today or submit this form for more information!
