Careers in Public Health

What is Public Health? – Public health is made up of the government and non-profit systems working in concert to study, prevent, and respond to both communicable diseases and lifestyle-related health threats in order to promote wellness and protect communities. It can include everything from local campaigns to address drug abuse in rural U.S. communities to global pandemic responses.

Working in public health could take you around the globe to address the most pressing issues in the developing world, or could just as likely have you working in the same community you grew up in. It’s a field where all types of backgrounds and experiences are valued and where the education you receive today could position you to do the exact kind of work you want to do in the communities that mean the most to you.

At the end of the day, public health is all about people helping people, and Careersinpublichealth.net aims to do exactly that.

This comprehensive resource is designed to help you map out your career in community and global health and make informed choices about your education options.

Featured Interview
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Raymond L. Goldsteen, DrPH, Director, MPH at University of North Dakota

Raymond L. Goldsteen, DrPH, Director, MPH at University of North Dakota, joins us today to discuss public health education. #1 Can you tell us about the public health…

Featured Articles

  • Broad Array of Public Health Careers: See Our Outlook!
    Public health is a very exciting and rapidly growing career field. You will be challenged to deal with all types of complicated health issues, including boosting access to care, controlling serious …
  • Top 7 Ways to Get Your Foot in the Door in Global Public Health
    Public health is a field with numerous career possibilities and Global Public Health (known in the field as “Global Health” or “International Health”) is absolutely on the …
  • Top 5 MBA MPH Joint Degree Programs
    MBA MPH joint degree programs allow students to achieve their master of business administration as well as their master of public health degrees in a joint course track that allows them to obtain …
  • How A Fellowship Can Lead To A Better Position In Public Health
    Many individuals who opt for a qualification in public health do so in order to increase their job prospects. While this might be very helpful, this is not the only way that someone can find a better …
  • Top Global Public Health Degrees
    Public health degrees allow people to work in a field where they are truly making a difference, as public health professionals have a large hand in observing and maintaining the general overall …
  • Public Health vs Social Work
    If you have completed a social work degree, you may, at some point, want to take on a position of leadership with increased responsibilities. The issue you will face then, however, is how to do that. …

Public Health Careers

While health improvement, health protection and health service quality improvement are the watchwords of the field and the three defined domains of public health practice, those are the sort of abstract terms that don’t mean a lot till you see them in action. There are dozens of unique and well-defined roles involved in the actual work it takes to make communities safer and healthier places for people to live and work.

Working in public health means being part of something bigger than yourself – from boots-on-the-ground community outreach workers bringing basic healthcare services to underserved communities… to survey workers collecting the epidemiological data used to better understand and deal with communicable and behavior related diseases… to public health advocates in the halls of congress leading grassroots efforts for adequate community health funding… to the program directors that then stretch every last one of those dollars to make the biggest impact possible.

Every public health initiative, education campaign and direct outreach program relies on a team of specialists working in unique roles. You just need to decide which one of those roles will make the best use of your talents and experiences.

YouTube Special Feature

Public Health is Your Health. “This Is Public Health” is a campaign the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) launched to help people better understand how the field works to improve the health of individuals and communities through education and service. Join this national effort to promote public health awareness in your community.

By choosing a career in public health, you could have the opportunity to make a real difference in the lives of people in your community, and around the world.

Public Health Degree Programs

About This Site

CareersinPublicHealth.net proudly features 173 career & salary comparisons, 188 schools & programs with 734 masters, 147 doctorate's, 148 certificates and 128 distance learning options. Salary profiles for all public health careers total a whopping $536,083,000.