Career Prospects after Pursuing Masters in Public Health

By Col. Stephen H. Robinette

The current job outlook for Masters of Public Health careers is very promising. By the year 2020, the U.S. is expected to have quality job openings for around 250,000 new public health professionals. Studying Public Health opens doors for great career opportunities in a student’s career owing to his/her ability to be prepared under the most crucial situations. Jobs in public health can be found in many industries and organizations. Pursuing a Masters in Public Health is an ideal way to contribute towards the society at large along with a chance of earning high wages.

Reports from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) reveal that the job increase in this area of employment is currently rising at a rate much higher than the national average for all employment types. With a Masters in Public Health, a student has a large number of career options ranging from, food inspection to disease outbreak investigation to providing essential health services for displaced populations. There is an enormous career scope in Health Industry; a student has a large number of options to choose from in Public, Education, Private and Non-Profit verticals.

• Public/Government: Health department administration, disaster preparedness, and public nursing.
• Non-profit: Non-profit roles tend to address gaps in healthcare or specialize in a specific population.
• Private: Consultants or employees for pharmaceutical brands, healthcare organizations or insurance companies.
• Education: Education-related roles in public health- Teachers, Researchers, and Emergency Specialists.

Some of them are listed below:

Emergency Preparedness Specialist

These Specialists are responsible for providing emergency preparedness training to first responders and to the general public. They are also necessary for evaluation of community-wide emergency preparedness and may formulate disaster or the terrorism response plans.

Consumer Safety Officer

The duty of Consumer Safety officers is to enforce the regulations. These officers investigate violations of regulations and start legal actions against violators. Furthermore, consumer safety officers help all levels of the public to interpret and understand the regulations. The Consumer safety officers help design inspection procedures, and they also help coordinate the approval of new drugs.

Health and Wellness Manager

Health & wellness managers analyze the data about health issues in the given populations and design intervention programs to address the issues prevalent. Most health and wellness managers provide health education classes or seminars to spread awareness about health issues. They are required to conduct research to drive the success of health programs.

Nutritionist

An expert in food and nutrition gives people the best advice on what and how to eat to stay healthy or to lose weight and eat right. Nutritionists explain the issues that people need to understand regarding staying healthy and eating well. Nutritionists are needed all around the world due to the growing proximity of unhealthy lifestyles and consumption of unhealthy food.

Research Assistant

A research assistant works in a public health laboratory and analyses survey & trial data. Research assistants may work with chemicals labs or in engineering firms where they usually work on stats and data. Many also work in various parts of public health, where they help supervisors study diseases, illnesses and environmental problems that have an impact upon public health.

Public Health Journalists

Public health journalists are required to write industry stories and articles about medical topics that are of interest to the general public. They are the ones who cater to a large audience for spreading the information and awareness about health-related issues happening all around. They communicate crucial information about new vaccinations and epidemics to a broad audience.

Health Educator

These professionals educate people in areas with public health concerns. They teach their target people how to live healthy lives and make better health decisions that lead to healthier communities. They have many options as they can work in a needy area in a public health department, a health care clinic or business sector.

Public Health Practitioner

Public Health Practitioners focus on teaching people and at-risk communities about how to adopt healthy behavior and how to stop diseases from spreading. These practitioners promote health and wellness awareness in communities so that people do not fall sick.

Studying health is a life-changing opportunity. It doesn’t only enable a candidate to be self-conscious but also enables him/her to help others along with earning good wages. There are many universities which run courses in Public Health both in Bachelors and Masters. A lot of students opt for Masters in foreign universities to gain a global knowledge about the industry.

About Author:

Col. Stephen H. Robinette is the Associate Vice President of International Programs at Missouri State University, USA.