There is a range of opportunities available for individuals with strong competencies in the public health field. Consider the following opportunities:
If you’re interested in promoting health and helping people prevent disease and injury, you may enjoy working as a health education specialist. These professionals are dedicated to developing programs and services that help teach people about health conditions and help them learn skills to protect their health. As an example, imagine you are newly diagnosed with diabetes. You may not have a good understanding of what the disease is, or what you need to do to keep this disease from getting worse. A health education specialist can help by providing information about the disease, teaching you how to check your blood glucose levels, and enroll you in programs that can help provide continuing support and information to you as you learn to live with your condition.
Health education specialists work in a variety of settings, including nonprofit organizations, government agencies, or hospitals and clinics. Health education specialists can be involved in collecting and analyzing data to identify community needs before planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating programs designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, policies and environments. They also partner with health systems, health providers, insurers and patients to address individual and population health needs. They may also serve as a resource to help individuals, other health professionals or the community with health education and health promotion programs.
Some graduates with advanced public health degrees go into management and administration. One role to consider is that of health services manager. They are responsible for the planning, implementation and coordination of a healthcare facility’s services and activities.
Examples of specific tasks include:
- Developing the objectives of the department or facility
- Identifying ways to improve the efficiency and quality of healthcare services, patient care and patient outcomes
- Developing a budget and managing the finances
- Maintaining department or facility records of the available healthcare services
- Liaising with medical staff and other administrators
Some health services managers are heads of departments within hospitals, while others serve as head of an entire facility.
An occupational health and safety specialist focuses on promoting workplace safety. They evaluate the safety of various workplaces, analyze the data and recommend alterations to improve safety. They also conduct inspections of workplaces to ensure compliance with all applicable laws and regulations.
Occupational health and safety specialists may also design and implement workplace programs and policies intended to mitigate potential risks to workers. They may conduct educational workshops or seminars intended to teach both employers and employees about workplace safety issues. For example, they may teach safety measures for the use of potentially dangerous equipment.
