Key questions first, then details:



(1) For PH work in developing countries, is there more of a need for generalists with a standard MPH or epidemiologists with a dedicated master’s in the subject? (I want to study whatever will allow me to have the greatest impact; I don’t have strong interest or experience in any particular field.)



(2) How much difference is there in the perception by (international) employers and other unis (thinking about doctoral studies here) of the different Swedish unis, particularly Karolinska Institutet, Lund, Umea and Uppsala? Is a degree from one ‘worth’ substantially more on paper?

I only have a few days to decide which Swedish unis I want to go to (you have to rank them when applying, unlike in the UK, and are not considered for the others if you are offered a place at one).

There is a small word limit in these posts, so as briefly as I can:

Karo has the best rep and the uni is ranked 43-44 in the world overall, but I'd have to focus entirely on epi, which I'm not sure I want to do, and it's a 2-year course.

Umea's MPH has the most suitable syllabus, with options of advanced epi/stats but also other major areas of PH. It was rated the best PH course in Swe by the Swedish National Agency for Higher Education, and you can leave after a year with a one-year (60 credit) master's or stay on for the full 120 credits. But it's little-known and ranked 250-300 in the big 3 world rankings, and has low entry requirements, so the environment may be less intellectually stimulating and it might not set me up well for further study or employment.

Lund and Uppsala are in-between, with fairly good reputations, but not very good options (e.g. no advanced epi).

The decision will have a major impact on others’ lives as well as mine, so I appreciate any input you give.

I can't comment on Swedish unis, but as far as whether to keep an MPH general or specialized, I'd say keep it general because you never what is going to happen in the future and it might be easier to switch fields if you have a wide background knowledge.

Seems like a tough decision to make - if it was me I'd go with my gut because what looks good on paper isn't always right.

Good luck!

It probably varies from country to country and region to region. Perhaps a more pertinent question is, what kind of role do you see yourself in? Data analyst? Clinic facilitator? Vaccination programme manager? etc

I was weighing up epi vs PH a few years ago and ultimately opted for an MSc in epi. I did so after advice from a mentor that if I was likely to want to go into research more than practice based work, that epi would be better training. PH training tends to be less in depth but cover a wider range of areas (including things like health economics).

Of the universities you mention, Karolinska is best known outside of Sweden (or at least best known to me!) I have heard of Uppsala from cohort studies, and possibly Lund, but not Umea. But to be honest, if you consider them all to be good institutions then you should first pin point what kind of role you see yourself in, and then choose the training that is most appropriate to that.

A final point is that if you want to work in developing countries, you might be best doing a masters tailored to that (e.g.
) or else you will potentially spend a lot of time studying things such as health economics or health services research where the syllabus is more orientated towards high income countries.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for your replies.

The PH in Dev Course at LSHTM would indeed be my first choice but (a) I doubt I could afford it, and (b) I doubt I would get in, since entry is based in large part on your PH work experience.

I am looking at the global-ness of the courses when deciding; the trouble is, at least in Sweden, the more international ones tend to be the least sciencey, focusing instead on social/cultural differences at a global level. That's interesting, and my background is in politics and philosophy, but I doubt it would help that much when running a WASH project in Tanzania or evaluating a vaccination programme in Afghanistan or whatever.

It's a bit of a Catch-22: I don't know what role I want to play later on, so I can't choose my course; but I won't know what I want to do till I've done the course. A general MPH sounds more sensible, but I've been told by someone in the know that it doesn't actually give you the skills needed to do that much as you don't look at anything in a lot of depth, and I'm getting too old to do several more degrees.

On a related note: How advanced is the maths in postgrad epi courses? I'm logical, analytical, good with computers and abstract concepts, but was only about a B+ in maths at school (worse than most other subjects) and might not enjoy doing loads more. I've been told you don't need to be great at maths as the hard stuff is done by the software; you just need to decide which calculation to tell it make. But maybe that's not the case in dedicated epi master's/PhD programmes...?

If I get into KI, I'll do some more independent study of stats to confirm that's what I want to focus on (I've already started an online course) but I kind of need to decide this week.

My housemate is doing an MSc in PH and I've seen the stats stuff for Epi. It's basically just biostats and very similar to what I have done during undergrad. It's not that difficult, and maths is not my forte (I got a C in maths at age 16). It's the theory and basics of ANOVA, T-test, regression analysis etc and all done by a computer programme, like you said.