Top 4 Careers in Public Health

Public health workers can have a variety of responsibilities, including campaigns promoting healthy living, creating public policy, helping disadvantaged populations and identifying diseases. Government agencies like health departments generally employ public health workers. This may entail spending time in schools, health care facilities, churches and businesses.

Careers in Public Health Best Public Health Jobs MS in Health Science

A Master of Science in Health Sciences with a concentration in Public Health prepares graduates for job responsibilities like:

  • assessing the effectiveness, accessibility and quality of health services provided to at-risk and disadvantaged populations
  • mobilizing partnerships with community organizations to identify and alleviate health risks and problems
  • designing policies or changes to policies at different levels of government that directly support the efforts of individuals and communities
  • researching new and more effective solutions to health problems

Public health professionals work in a variety of geographic locations. From inner-city health departments to global health programs, public health professionals work to alleviate health disparities everywhere.

Below are four top careers for individuals with a public health degree.

Environmental Health

Public health has expanded from the medical community to the scientific community. The environment can affect people as much as their personal health and dietary decisions. Environmental scientists with backgrounds in public health study the ways the environment affects the health of human beings and what kind of prevention and community outreach can be performed in order to alleviate these problems. Quality investigators evaluate different domestic environments and assess the effects that those environments have on people’s health.

Global Health

Public health professionals who want to work in an international environment may want to consider working with nonprofits or government agencies that need refugee coordinators or HIV/AIDS educators. These positions combine research with practice and implementation in order to meet the needs of populations in different countries around the world. Because of the growing population of refugees, health risks and issues are a growing concern. A public health professional puts their skills and knowledge to work with these people to meet their particular health needs.

Community Health

Many public health professionals choose to work on a local level in their own communities. Public health workers collect and evaluate data about the community, identify the needs of the population and create plans to meet those needs. They implement educational and outreach programs that help the community with access to needed health services.

Community health workers educate and support people in adopting healthy behaviors. This may include providing information concerning available resources or organizing preventative health screenings.

Epidemiology

Epidemiologists, research analysts and field investigators can all have educational backgrounds in public health. They generally work in a lab rather than in the community, and their jobs usually include collecting data and interpreting the findings in order to alleviate threats and risks to public health.