The Executive Online MPH program at the Yale School of Public Health (YSPH) interviews Christian Beebe as the program celebrates its inaugural academic year by highlighting the experiences of some of the first students to enroll in the program.
Why did you choose to attend the Yale School of Public Health’s Executive Online MPH program?
CB: Yale offered a peerless academic experience coupled with the inviting qualities of warmth and collegiality. Equally, Executive MPH Director Marty Klein, MPH, PhD, is impressive, enthusiastic and exudes competence. Also, I had a personal recommendation from a physician friend who recently completed the Advanced Professional MPH at Yale and gave me an extremely positive firsthand review of his experiences as a returning student.
What is your current occupation?
CB: I am an emergency room physician providing emergency medical care to the Mississippi Band of Choctaw Indians in central Mississippi. It is a challenging profession, and I feel that I am making a difference.
What are your favorite aspects of the Executive MPH program?
CB: I like the hybrid remote and in-person curriculum. The program requires focus for remote and independent learning and Zoom classes. We also come together during three points in the curriculum and meet on campus for a week. That’s the best of both worlds and makes me feel like a real part of the university. The Executive MPH offers something else remarkable - I enjoying learning from my astute colleagues. We have an oncologist, a veterinarian, a pediatric dentist, a cardiologist, nurse practitioners, health administrators, lawyers, a real estate scholar, an EMS fire engineer, and many other impressive professionals in my cohort.
How do you balance working full time with the demands of the program?
CB: It is a careful (and not so easy) balance. I need to protect time for family and have learned to carefully schedule the rest of my life to meet work and school obligations. I found the health behavior course by Professor Marney White, PhD, MS, at the beginning of the curriculum quite helpful in achieving a healthy balance between dietary, physical, school and work obligations.
How do you hope to apply the training and education you receive through the EMPH program to your future endeavors?
CB: I am hoping that the quantitative skills I gain at YSPH will help me to better analyze scientific research in service to the public. Whether working for a board of public health, a corporation or a large university system, this newfound knowledge, experience, and insight is a useful complement to my prior medical and business education.
Would you recommend the Executive MPH degree program to others and why?
CB: Absolutely! The professors genuinely have an interest in teaching their subject and having the students learn and do well. Yale is a special place. I cannot imagine a more accomplished and esteemed faculty. The program is frankly outstanding, and I can recommend it without reservation.