Raymond Luu is a current MPH student with a concentration in Epidemiology.
My initial interest in public health was incidental, to be honest. I was initially interested in public health because it seemed to be a health-related field that could essentially function as a stopgap while I applied to medical school. However, as I enrolled in the program and began to learn more, my love of the subject grew. The thought that public health was an industry-applicable field that was capable of saving more lives than conventional acute care and didn't necessarily involve imparting massive changes to one's daily life, were all immensely appealing concepts.
UB offered an accredited public health degree from an esteemed state school at a very fair price. For residents inside New York State, UB should be one of the first schools to consider, especially if they are considering a master's program in public health. With today's rising post-secondary schooling costs, UB just makes sense financially, academically and culturally.
I'm entering the second year of the epidemiology concentration for the public health program, so my classes this semester are primarily focused on completing my electives and field training requirement. I'll be taking courses regarding epidemiology of infectious diseases, epidemiological measures, and environmental epidemiology.
I love the breadth of education offered at UB. Public health is a wide-spanning discipline, and I like how UB has professors from all parts of public health to share their expertise with students. It gives me a sense of scope for the career options waiting for me with this degree and gives me a wider understanding of public health.
I also appreciate the many opportunities we have at UB to get involved with public health research, outreach and other activities. The integrative project and field training requirements for the degree encourage students to receive hands-on experience, and UB makes finding and connecting with these opportunities very easy. Even beyond these requirements, there are many ways to get involved.
Most of all, I love the engagement of the professors. It is easy to get to know faculty at UB and get involved in them. They are genuinely interested in your career prospects and professional/academic success.
UB is CEPH-certified, meaning students from UB are prepared with the right credentials. Getting a degree from UB is also very affordable due to the reasonable in-state tuition costs and financial aid available. For me, it means the potential of graduating with a master's degree with little-to-no debt.