I chose the MD/MPH program because of the passion and the people... You'll get to meet so many faculty and peers who are making a real impact on the surrounding Chicago community, and even the global community. If you're interested in learning an empirical approach to health promotion and gaining exposure to another side of medicine, the MD/MPH is for you!
MD/MPH
I chose to pursue the MD/MPH because while I had exposure to the general concepts surrounding public health and healthcare access, I wanted more formal training in subjects that I consider necessary for everyone in healthcare to have exposure to and understand.
The program allows me to spend my M1 summer working on a public health project of interest to me through a collaboration with Northwestern’s Havey Institute of Global Health. This opportunity will provide me with hands-on experience assessing a health intervention’s efficacy, which will help me become a more effective health advocate in my future career as a physician.
I chose to pursue an MD/MPH at FSM because I knew the program would allow me to start my public health studies right away at a comfortable pace... I appreciate the camaraderie that I’ve gotten interacting with my MD/MPH peers formally and informally. It’s inspiring to hear why each of us chose this path.
Overview
Our accredited doctor of medicine and master's of public health (MD/MPH) program creates an integrated approach to help students improve both individual and population health. With the combined resources of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine and The Graduate School, our students will be prepared to address new and evolving challenges at the intersection of public health and medicine.
Our MD/MPH Program is structured to meet the needs of our students:
- Evening MPH classes: Students complete their MD curriculum during the day and MPH classes in the evenings, one or more days per week.
- Four-year completion: Our program is designed for students who wish to complete the MD and MPH degrees within four years, making them highly competitive for residencies, fellowships and research opportunities.
- MD/MPH cohort: You will be supported and challenged by your cohort of same-year MD/MPH students that come from all over the world.
Curriculum
The interdisciplinary MPH program bridges theory and practice by having coursework in three main areas plus a professional experience component.
- Core coursework: Foundation public health coursework includes biostatistics, behavioral science, management, epidemiology and environmental health sciences.
- Electives: Round out your coursework with classes relevant to your interests or professional goals. Some MD courses count as an elective MPH credit, allowing you to complete your degree in four years.
- Professional experiences: The Applied Practice Experience (APEx) is a two-course sequence and 160 hours of practice work at an approved site. In the Culminating Experience (CE), you have the opportunity to bridge theory and practice with a synthesis "thesis" or "capstone"-style project.
You’ll round out your coursework with electives such as infectious disease epidemiology, health policy, maternal/child health, and health law. Some MD courses count as elective MPH credit, allowing you to complete your degree in just four years.