Careers in Public Health for IMGs in USA

Hundreds of IMGs that come to the USA hoping for a residency, do so by first entering the United States for Graduate program in Public Health - Masters in Public Health (MPH) to be more specific. And I have had scores of emails asking about career options in MPH , in case residency dreams do not work.


Here are somethings I would like to point out:

1. The first usual concern = Salary ! Speaking in Salary terms, since most of the public health jobs will either be in the Public domain = Government, Non-profit or Academic settings - which essentially means, the salaries will not be anywhere near what you would make as a practicing physician in the United States. Starting Salary levels on the lower end could be as low as $30,000 to $40,000 per year in a University junior epidemiologist position to $50,000 to $60,000 in a program manager position, which may need previous experience. But along the run, your Medical school training and your better understanding on clinical sciences will get you better management-flavor positions. The higher end jobs would be the executive director role which come after years of experience and proven excellence.

2. There is no fixed standard 'Public health job' - rather a variety of them, since public health represents a pretty vast field. In fact, "unusual culture" is one of the unique attributes of Public health. A good website that explains the career options in Public health in the USA is : WhatisPublicHealth.org. It gives real life samples of people holding various positions and how they got there.

3. A sample list of jobs in Public Health include:

Epidemiologist - see sample job description
Health Officer
Policy Advisor
Environmentalist
Nutritionist
Health Communications officer

4. IMGs might find it easier to find science-based jobs (e.g. epidemiologist) that to land any policy-based / people-skills needing jobs.

5. Public Health Informatics is a new exciting career pathway in Public Health. A good option for MPH guys would be considering a Fellowship in Public Health Informatics at the CDC after MPH. They take non-US citizens and sponsor a J1 for a 2-year fellowship that will pay about $40,000 a year as Stipend

6. Who knows, the career track in MPH might just help you land a residency in Preventive Medicine ! - See Sample Residency Program

Though nobody says it openly, a lot of IMGs come to the US for residencies for a brighter economic future. Taking in income terms alone, having a MPH as a backup may not be advisable. Better options might be MBA, MHA, Masters / PhD in Medical / Health Informatics or Bioinformatics, etc.



Watch out for updates since my knowledge, like yours, evolves too ;-)



Also Read:

- The GRE Route to Residency for IMGs
- Nursing Route to Residency for IMGs
- Difference between Medicine and Public Health ?


Nice Books:

- Public Health: Careers Choices That Make a Difference
- Resumes for Health and Medical Careers




Search keywords to this article:

- "Average incomes after Masters in Public Health"
- "Career - Job options after MPH in America"
- "starting salaries in MPH"

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