MPH worth it?

[u/jehovahzthiccness666]

I am considering going back to school to pursue a masters degree. I have been a bench tech for 2.5 years and have a BSBA. Looking at masters options, I don’t care to do MBA or MSMLS. I have zero desire to do any type of leadership role. I’ve been looking at MPH degrees but I’m seeing a lot of negative feedback on this sub and others about choosing that track (only finding wildly outdated posts though).

Anyone gone back to school to do something non-leadership role related that can give some insight? I really just love school and I love learning and I also want to give myself more options in a job field that has limited ones.

:)

[u/Kerwynn]

I did an MPH after my MLS. Worth it for me? Yes I think it was. I worked in hospital-acquired infections due to the MLS background on antimicrobial resistance and sort of bridging between clinical/infection prevention and laboratory. Essentially had to deal with all the hospital labs across the state and their samples. I also got that highly sought after work from home life and M-F, holidays off schedule.

Alternatively, I did get to jump around to other positions involving animal diseases and data analyst. I suppose you could go up into leadership roles, but you could also avoid them as well.

[u/babyelephantsaysdamn]

I always like to ask folks what their goal is with getting a Masters degree when they start looking.

If you want to transition to working in public health, yes an MPH can be helpful. It’s less helpful if you are wanting to stay within hospital labs or independent labs.

If you want to move into administration an MBA or MHA are better choices.

If you are just doing a Masters degree because you think you will earn more as a bench tech, don’t. Most labs and hospital systems do not pay techs with Masters more money. The degree does not enhance your bench knowledge, so companies do not factor this into salary. It’s worth comes from leveraging the degree into different roles either by moving up in your current organization or changing roles entirely.

If you want to stay on the bench and advance on a way that may yield an earnings increase, sit for your specialty boards. Not all employers will necessarily give you a raise for this, but it makes you more competitive as a bench tech and is more frequently recognized in salary negotiations as a value add.

If you don’t have a goal and are planning to get a Masters and figure it out later, I would say pause. Not all degrees will help depending on the route you want to take. MPH v MHA have varying degrees return depending on what you want to do for example. Decide what your goals are, and then select the educational pathway that best suits meeting those goals.

[u/Swhite8203 → u/babyelephantsaysdamn]

I’ll likely get mine to be a higher level contributor on research projects for genetics. I’d like to work with Crispr eventually if I can. My AS is MLT and I’m board certified, my bachelors will be biotech and genetics broadly a bio degree, I’d get certification in Cytogenetics for the stuff that people don’t really know how to do anymore and I’d get certification in molecular biology for all the new things that come up since molecular is where genetics is largely going. I would get a masters in professional science concentrated on biotechnology. The school I’d be attending says 65k-75k out of school but I can probably earn more with experience. I’m on pace for 61k this year as an MLT on second shift but a lot of that is OT.

[u/TieRepresentative414]

I decided to do MPH about two years into MLS as well mainly because my hospital was paying for it 100%, at that point all I wanted to do was move up in the lab and eventually go into infection control but once I looked into career opportunities with the MPH I realized that it was going to be a waste of time. All the jobs I saw in this field made just about the same if not less than some MLS that had been working for over 5 years. What’s even worse is I reached out to randoms on LinkedIn to ask about their experience once they got the degree and the majority of them were negative. I pivoted to cybersecurity after a year in the program and was able to use those skills to get in as a LIM.

Babyelephants breakdown is spot on

[u/Psychological-Move49]

Have a goal/job in mind before you apply for your masters.

[u/babachi5]

following- also an MLS looking to do an MPH!

[u/Wise-Level-3974]

I'm working on a Master's in Health Informatics currently. It seems to be a very versatile degree that I can use to pursue becoming any number of things including, lab director, hospital administrator, public health, IT, IT management, etc. You get the idea. I wanted something that was able to cast a wide net.

[u/kipy7]

I had a work friend who did this. Her first job after MPH was with the county public health dept. She'd help investigate food borne outbreaks, tracking down patients and interviewing them(what did you eat, where, how long til symptoms, etc). I'm sure there was a lot more to it, but when we hang out we don't talk about work. 🙂

[u/AlmostanMLT]

If you’re looking to work in a state public health lab, your MLS is enough. My state lab will pay for employees to get their MPH and a Phd in public health or epidemiology. There is no significant increase in pay but you’re getting free tuition and might be considered for supervisor roles over others. I personally do not want an MPH and don’t see it doing anything for my career since I’m not interested in management roles. I have a BS in public health and MLT associates. My personal opinion is there’s an over saturation of MPHs. A lot of medical schools/residencies even offer for their students to earn an MPH while in medical school or residency because it’s relatively easy to complete. If I would ever do an MPH, I would do a concentration in epidemiology.

[u/liuchen37]

I want to apply for doctors sans frontier in the future… in regards of this I think MPH would he helpful

[u/Fit-Bodybuilder78]

What is your goal with an MPH?

What would qualify as a non-leadership role? No management? No interaction with external staff?