What jobs can you get with a public health major? Here are the most promising opportunities.
Before pursuing any healthcare career, one of the things you need to know is the end goal.
In other words, knowing what you can do with such qualifications is paramount. This is applicable when studying for a public health degree.
If you’re interested in taking this route but have little to no idea of what you can do with it, we’re here to help. The good news is that there are tons of jobs or positions you can occupy with a public health degree.
You’ll have to carefully go through each to determine which can provide you with the job satisfaction you desire.
Here are the jobs you can get with a degree in public health.
What Jobs Can You Get with a Public Health Degree?
As mentioned earlier, there are no shortages of promising careers for persons with public health degrees.
Possible jobs include environmental scientist, occupational health & safety specialist, community health worker, health coach, public health researcher, and health education specialist.
More jobs you can get with a public health degree include public policy writer, medical editor, technical, medical writer, and research assistant.
Health information technician, program coordinator, public health nurse, and health & safety engineer are more jobs to apply to.
Some include epidemiologists, high school teachers, community service officers, emergency services managers, and system analysts.
These are just a few jobs you can apply for with a public health degree. Let’s discuss some of these, shall we?
i. Environmental Scientist
Environmental scientists play a critical role in maintaining societal health by focusing on the environment. This is one of the things you can do with a public health degree.
The median annual wage for environmental scientists is $69,400. You can further boost your career prospects by adding an advanced degree.
ii. Occupational Health & Safety Specialist
As the name suggests, these professionals help prevent workplace hazards by analyzing and evaluating work environments to ensure compliance with safety guidelines.
This position is available in a wide range of industries. The median annual wage for this position is $67,720.
iii. Community Health Worker
Community health workers receive a national average salary of $16 per hour.
This position involves handling several responsibilities like educating community members on available healthcare services, discussing health concerns, and organizing community outreach programs.
iv. Health Coach
With a public health degree, you can apply for the position of health coach. Here, you’ll be helping clients with all kinds of health-impacting lifestyle changes.
These include setting health goals for clients, tracking client progress, and assessing the current health status of clients, amongst many others.
v. Public Health Researcher
You can apply to job positions like public health researcher.
The work of public health researchers helps inform policies and programming as it involves studying populations to determine their health situations.
The average annual salary for this position is around $84,003.
vi. Health Education Specialist
A public health degree can help you land a job as a health education specialist. Here, you’ll inform groups on ways to improve their health conditions.
Also, research and implementation, as well as a review of health programs, are among the critical responsibilities performed.
vii. Public Policy Writer
Another job to apply to with a public health degree is a public policy writer. These professionals receive an average annual salary of $71,890.
Also called policy analysts, these professionals help research, analyze and communicate findings on existing or potential healthcare legislation regulation or funding.
viii. Medical Editor
Also called health content editors, medical editors help in the review of health-related articles and manuscripts to bring about factual scientific claims while also promoting grammatical accuracy.
Through their work, readers can get accurate information on various health-related topics.
ix. Technical Medical Writer
Using your public health degree, you can also apply for a technical, medical writer job. Most of your roles will involve writing on various healthcare and medicine-related topics.
This will be in the form of journal articles, education materials, and white papers, to name a few.
x. Research Assistant
Public health students can apply for job positions like research assistants.
With a national average salary of $16.31 an hour, research assistants perform all kinds of duties like collecting & analyzing public health-related data, conducting literature reviews, and prepping materials vital to conducting public health-related research.
xi. Health Information Technician
Health information technicians earn a national average salary of $44,848 per year. It’s a job position you can fill with a public health degree.
Responsibilities include the collection and documentation of patient data and the organization and management of health information data.
xii. Program Coordinator
Your public health degree can also land you a job as a program coordinator with a national average salary of $43,745 per year.
The duties performed include administrative and human resources tasks as well as effective management of program budgets, amongst other roles.
xiii. Public Health Nurse
A public health nurse is interested in current health trends and uses such to ascertain community risk factors. It’s a job you can apply for with a public health degree.
Professionals in this field earn a national average salary of $67,223 annually. Multiple factors can impact how much you make.
xiv. Epidemiologist
Are you drawn toward investigating the origin and spread of diseases in humans? If you do, an epidemiologist is a job position you might want to apply to or explore.
These professionals work in labs, state & local governments, universities, and hospitals. The median annual wage for epidemiologists is $69,660.
xv. High School Teacher
With good knowledge of biology and other science disciplines, you could apply for a job as a high school teacher using your public health degree.
While this is true, completion of a classroom internship program will be required to receive relevant teaching certificates or licenses.
xvi. Community Service Officer
As a community service officer, you’ll provide critical support for crime prevention and investigation.
This involves working closely with law enforcement agents in maintaining and upholding law and order. The national average salary for this position is around $64,330 per year.
These are some things you can do with a public health degree. Your decision on what job to go with will depend on your interest and your preparedness.