Should reference letters for admission to the MPH program be academic or professional?
To be effective, the letters must show that the referee can explain why your background prepares you for a career in public health/preventive medicine. A letter from a health professional would be more effective than a letter from a business professional, unless it is from a past employer/ supervisor who can speak directly to relevant skills.
To be effective, the letters must show that the referee can explain why your background prepares you for a career in public health/preventive medicine and that you will be able to perform well under the rigors of graduate study. There must be at least one letter from an academic reference—a professor who instructed you in the past; these are especially relevant. If you have asked for a reference from someone you have worked with in a job, a letter from a supervisor is more appropriate than a letter from a colleague. In addition, a letter from a health professional would be more appropriate than a letter from a business professional. However, if you do not have professional references from the general health field, a reference from a past supervisor that addresses your performance on the job and can assess qualities like responsibility, level of maturity, and other elements that will lend to success in graduate school, is entirely appropriate.
