Vicki in Jharkhand, India, where she worked with the NGO Yuwa-India
Why
did you decide to pursue a dual degree at PCOM?
Public
health gives me many more tools for treating patients. Those tools will allow me to treat
populations and the social determinants of health while medicine allows me to
treat individuals and the physical determinants of health. The skills to treat both will hopefully make
me a more well-rounded physician.
How
has your academic schedule changed? What
is your course schedule like for your MPH?
I do
not take OMM or PCS during my first 2nd year as I have been taking my core
classes at Temple. During the fall semester, I had night classes Monday and
Wednesdays, and this spring I have class Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are summer terms as well, but it is
nice that the trimesters at PCOM and semesters at Temple overlap without too
much conflict. During my second 2nd
year, I will be taking OMM, PCS, completing my fieldwork, writing my thesis,
and studying for boards.
How
has this changed your study schedule?
Some
weeks are public health weeks, and some weeks are med school weeks. It’s a matter of prioritizing assignments and
breaking up the work. I have really
learned to crack down on my tendency to procrastinate, which does not work with
the dual degree.
What
is the best thing about the dual degree track?
I
have the opportunity to get to know more DO students (classes of 2014 and
2015), the Temple social work and public health students and more faculty. I love the public health dynamic as it brings
a diverse group of professionals together, and it provides a nice contrast to
the large lectures at PCOM. Getting to
know more students, hear their stories and why they are passionate has
translated into motivated and reinvigorated studying for my DO classes.
What
is the worst thing about the dual degree track?
Added
loans…
When
are you planning on taking Step 1 of your boards?
Spring
2013
How
do you plan on using your degree after you graduate PCOM?
I
would like to go into academic Family Practice.
I want to study the most efficient and impacting way to help the most
people and the most vulnerable people.
Someone actually once told me I should be a 1950s GP and then just know
everything, which is something I continually strive for. I have a soft spot for adolescents and mental
health, so I would like to design health interventions for vulnerable youth as
part of larger community development projects all over the world or wherever
the wind takes me. I also anticipate running into policy barriers that will
undoubtedly impede my patients’ and communities’ health. When that comes along, I’ll take my policy
knowledge I’m learning with my public health degree and advocate to change it.
