Anesthesiology and public health?

With all this talk of specialties lately I am reminded that I’ve always been really interested in anesthesiology! But lately I am also thinking that I want to get an MPH degree too. Has anyone heard of people pairing those two interests? Do anesthesiologists ever go and work for the CDC or for WHO? I could also see myself going into infectious disease, which seems more compatible with the MPH. However, I don’t know if internal medicine will ultimately be the field for me. It’s not where I’ve generally seen myself going, but of course who knows. This is all a long ways away, and keep in mind I haven’t even been accepted to a medical school yet, but I just thought I’d ask anyway.

By all means, select your specialty by what lights your fire & not via perceived needs or what seems appropriate. I am personally in a dual residency program: anesthesiology + Leadership/Preventive Med - the latter will yield an MPH from Dartmouth. So, while the partnership b/t gas & public health (please ignore the obvious pun) may not be obvious, it is a chance to create your own unique niche in the medical/professional world.

Wow that’s really interesting, Dave! Thanks for your post. I’m only a measly and impatient applicant right now (grrr!), so the last thing on my mind should be residency choice, but this is something I’ve always been curious about. I’ll have to keep reading up on it, although I haven’t found a lot of info just yet. Not that I’m looking to copy anyone else per se, I’m just interested in what people end up doing after their training is done.

The program I will be undetaking is unique - it is the only one in the US. It is underwritten & funded by CMS (those friendly folks that fund/underfund Medicare/Medicaid) & offered through Dartmouth College & Dartmouth Medical Center.
Essentially all resident here are eligible to apply for a slot in the CCES (center for clinical evaluative studies) program & it is undertaken as an adjunct residency with your primary program - for me, that is anesthesiology. For all residencies, except anesthesiology, it adds 2 years to your training. One of those years is an academic year spen taking the requisite classroom stuff (biostats, public policy, blah, blah, blah) & the other is a year to be spent developing a project & writing your masters thesis (or masters feces as we lovingly refer to it). There are several specialization tracks under the penumbra of the MPH: public policy, epidemiology & others). Each residency program has designated a year off from your clinical responsibilities for the academic year. Then, your project/thesis year occurs after your clinical training is completed.
At Dartmouth, during your year off from clinical duties, you are still paid your resident’s pay commensurate with your PGY rank (post grad year) AND CMS covers your Dartmouth tuition! This goes for both years! So, you are being PAID to obtain your MPH AND having the tuition covered too! There are many programs that will allow for time off for supplemental degrees or research, but to my knowledge, none of them pay you as a resident and cover your tuition too.