What Can You Do with a Public Health Degree?
Working in public health, you’ll be promoting and protecting the well-being of communities through education, supporting community health care facilities, and contributing to policies that guard against public health threats like infectious diseases, environmental hazards, and risky lifestyle choices, to name a few. And a public health degree is your key to a career in this fast-growing field.
How Long Does It Take to Get a Public Health Degree?
How long it takes to earn your degree depends on the degree level and whether you intend to be a full-time or part-time student. A bachelor’s degree in public health, which is your stepping stone into entry-level public health jobs, typically takes four years to complete for full-time students. You may be able to shorten that time if you start with credit from previous coursework, professional certifications, or other relevant experience.
What Will You Learn in a Public Health Program?
The course of study varies by program; however, the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) provides core guidelines to ensure you have a background in present health challenges as well as those that are emerging. Accredited public health degrees will include courses in environmental health, health policies, disease prevention, and increasing equitable access to health care. Programs typically blend classroom learning in leadership, critical thinking, and real-world scenarios with in-the-field experiences.
After you complete general education and core courses and electives, you may have the opportunity to round out your degree with a concentration, such as Management or Health and Wellness.
Health and Wellness
If you want to be a community health advocate, choose this concentration. You will explore both the theory and practical application of health promotion skills that address physical, mental, and social wellness.
Management
If you’re more interested in an administrative, planning, or leadership role, choose a Management concentration for your degree. The courses you’ll take will prepare you for work in health care management, coordinating a complex array of stakeholders and resources, and leading initiatives that bring positive change to organizations and communities that promote better health.
What Are Some Public Health Jobs?
The occupations open to you in public health are varied. There are few limits, with new kinds of public health jobs emerging all the time.
Environmental Health Specialist
In this role, you’ll engage people at various types of worksites to identify health and safety hazards, develop practices and training that address these issues, and then follow up to make sure they’re working. You’ll be responsible for ensuring that both company and government health, safety, and environmental standards and regulations are met.
Health Care Data Analyst
Work at the crossroads of health care and technology to capture data and analyze it for insights that can help policymakers and decision-makers enact positive practices and make better choices. Whether it’s lowering health care costs, improving access to better care, or defining and sharing best practices, your role as a key knowledge worker helps the business side of organizations better achieve care goals.
Infection Preventionist
Preventing infections has always been vital, a necessity that made headlines during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your role will be to work in health care settings and identify potential sources of infection and then to design, implement, and monitor infection mitigation strategies. You’ll need to collaborate with a wide variety of stakeholders and have a solid understanding of the science of infection prevention.
Health Program Administrator
You’ll be responsible for planning and directing health care services and coordinating care within a health care facility, which could be a community clinic, private practice, or hospital. Part of your job will require staying compliant with regulations, laws, and health insurance requirements. You’ll also need executive skills, like communication, budgeting, billing and accounting, resourcing, and managing and training staff.
Public Health Officer
In most cases, as a public health officer, you’ll work for a government agency, on a military base, or for a nonprofit organization ensuring the overall health of a community or an organization. A great deal of your work is in coordinating health care providers and institutions, resources, and regulators on programs and policies related to the physical and mental well-being of people in a given community or area.
Public Health Educator
Helping people within a community and those in public-facing institutions understand health issues and healthy behaviors is vital in promoting the well-being of a community. In public health education, you’ll collaborate with community groups, health professionals, and policymakers to gather information and then share it through education programs in public places, schools, and community centers.
Is There Demand for Public Health Grads in the Future?
Career prospects for people with a public health degree are bright. COVID-19 has highlighted the importance of public health, especially in a highly interconnected world where diseases can rapidly spread. Beyond roles in government and health care settings, private companies are investing in staff with this expertise, recognizing that a healthy workplace is more productive. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects public health educator roles, for example, to grow by 7% through 2032, a faster pace than the average of all occupations.
How Can You Prepare for a Career in Public Health?
Now that you know what you can do with a public health degree and some of the public health jobs available, here are some tips for preparing for a career in the field:
- Build your computer and technology skills. You will need to be proficient in communicating through spreadsheets, presentation software, and document creation apps.
- Enhance your communications skills. You’ll need excellent written and verbal skills, and it doesn’t hurt to learn how to become a great presenter and interviewer.
- Work on soft skills. Time management, working within a team, and solving complex problems set you up for success.
- Start networking. The best jobs typically come through someone you know. Getting involved in the public health community will give you a running start on a rewarding career.
- Consider volunteering. You’ll receive valuable work experience to complement your public health degree.
Get your Public Health Degree at Excelsior University
Earning a public health degree prepares you for a wide variety of exciting careers that are also personally rewarding. You’ll be able to make a large-scale impact, serving the greater good of the community, and will have a vital role in making sure that ideas, talent, and resources are put to the best possible use.
