Career Paths With a Master’s in Public Health Education and Promotion

No matter if you’re looking at epidemiologist positions, biostatistics jobs, or roles as an educator, public health careers have never been more relevant. In fact, there are diverse opportunities for public health graduates from employers that include healthcare providers, nonprofit organizations, government agencies, and academic institutions. Delve in below for more information about public health employment of all kinds.

Overview of Public Health Education and Promotion

Most public health jobs revolve around promoting public health and educating people on issues that range from chronic disease management to population health trends to environmental health issues. Many public health workers work to address broader social determinants of health that affect communities. In short, these professionals are tasked with making important health decisions that impact large numbers of people and teaching people how to manage their own health.

Why Pursue a Master’s in Public Health Education and Promotion?

Public health professionals help individual people and entire populations maintain and improve their health and well-being. A Master of Science (MS) in Public Health Education and Promotion prepares students for vast career possibilities in the public health field. Not to mention, from public health policy analysis to health promotion job opportunities, the career outlook for graduates in public health education and promotion is excellent.

Growing Demand for Public Health Professionals

The public health career outlook is positive in the United States and beyond. This encompasses community health jobs, environmental health jobs, health policy jobs, and health services management jobs, and more. The role of epidemiologist, for instance, is poised for a promising job outlook of 19%.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects that American healthcare occupations at large will grow much faster than the average for all occupations from 2023 to 2033. Positions for practitioners and technicians will increase by 8.6%, and health support roles will increase by 15.2%.

Key Skill Sets and Competencies

The Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice has identified 56 core competencies that are key for community health outreach, health equity initiatives, public health campaigns, and health promotion jobs. These competencies for public health professionals fall under a series of specific skill sets in areas such as:

Communication
Policy development/program planning
Management/finance
Leadership/systems thinking
Data analytics/assessment
Public health sciences

Career Opportunities in Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofit organizations are major employers of public health professionals. Community outreach coordinator, program manager, and advocacy/policy specialist are just several among many public health positions common within charitable nonprofits.

Community Outreach Coordinator

The specific professional purview and job responsibilities of community health workers might include research, public relations, and administrative duties — depending on the organizations that employ them. However, all community outreach coordination jobs focus on fostering productive connections with the community at large. On a daily basis, they might brainstorm potential community partnerships, organize a calendar of outreach events, or engage in targeted social media or email campaigns.

Program Manager

The public relations-related job title program manager encompasses a range of potential professional duties that are even broader than those of the community outreach coordinator. However, these duties generally center on organizing and spearheading public health initiatives in specific communities. Nonprofit organizations rely on program managers to ensure that their various programs align with their central objectives. Program managers also keep projects on schedule and on budget through the effective and efficient allocation of resources.

Advocacy and Policy Specialist

Nonprofit public health professionals often maintain a dual focus on advocacy and policy to promote the best interests of specific nonprofit organizations. Tending to the needs of the individuals they serve and influencing government decisions at the local, state, or national levels, they typically promote research analysis, regulatory development, and community/stakeholder engagement that promote general health and wellness for their target populations.

Roles in Government Agencies

In addition to nonprofit organizations, federal, state, and local governments are major employers of public health professionals. Here are just a few potential positions within government agencies:

Public Health Educator

Public health educator jobs are ideal for anyone who wants to teach people about daily practices and life choices that promote health and well-being. These professionals might identify the health needs of individuals and communities, design initiatives to instruct people about specific health issues, help people find appropriate health services and resources, or train other public health professionals.

Policy Analyst or Advisor

Like the advocacy and policy specialists in the nonprofit sector, policy analysts/advisors in the public sector serve a wide variety of roles according to their specific job descriptions. Government agencies regularly post openings for various health policy analyst jobs and public health advocacy jobs. Regardless of their particular professional purview, health advisors help governments improve their public health activities, while health analysts study and evaluate different technical aspects of public health programs. Those interested in environmental health careers and policies should also pay close attention to the public sector.

Emergency Preparedness Coordinator

People rely on government services when catastrophe strikes. Thus, government agencies must hire emergency preparedness coordinators to plan and manage specific disaster response and crisis management efforts. This includes emergency preparation for natural disasters like hurricanes, wildfires, and earthquakes — as well as man-made calamities such as military attacks and hazardous material spills.

Positions Within Healthcare Organizations

From large health systems to individual hospitals and wellness centers, all types of healthcare organizations need to staff health education and promotion professionals for a variety of reasons. They often turn to public health graduates to help educate patients, counsel them in their care, and encourage them to make healthy life choices.

Patient Education Specialist

Medical clinics may hire patient education specialists to instruct patients and their families about essential health matters. Stressing best health practices that relate specifically to each patient, these professionals concentrate on behavior change interventions to improve final health outcomes. They often maintain ongoing contact with patients to track and support progress toward various wellness goals.

Health Promotion Coordinator

Health promotion coordinators empower patients to take control of their own wellness journey by connecting them to crucial information and valuable resources. Different health promotion careers can lead to a range of unique responsibilities that require highly specific skill sets. For example, a health promotion coordinator may be tasked with writing disease prevention brochures, collaborating with government officials, or working to address community wellness challenges.

Director of Health and Wellness

Like patient education specialists and health promotion coordinators, directors of health and wellness strive to help patients adopt healthy living behaviors. While the health and wellness managers can supervise patient outreach teams, they also often meet one-on-one with patients to ensure that they understand the care they are receiving and connect them to helpful health and wellness resources.

Academia and Research

Whether you are interested in innovative global health promotion or effective health communication strategies, you could concentrate on numerous specific public health subjects in the worlds of academia and research.

University Lecturer or Professor

By teaching public health in the academic setting, you could have a profound impact on the future of human health and wellness in the United States and beyond. Aspiring postsecondary professors of public health must first invest in themselves by securing advanced degrees in public health and/or specialized areas such as biostatistics (using statistical methods to analyze living things) and epidemiology (studying the ways in which different diseases arise and spread among different populations).

Public Health Researcher

From epidemiologist jobs to medical scientists in clinical research coordinator positions, you can chart a career in the study of public health by taking any number of professional routes. As a whole, public health researchers analyze data to discover anomalies, discrepancies, patterns, and trends that shed light on various factors influencing health and wellness within a target population.

Emerging and Alternative Pathways

As the field of public health evolves, new pathways to career success continue to emerge. Positions such as corporate wellness consultant, international development worker, and freelance public health educator serve as great examples of these alternative pathways.

Corporate Wellness Consultant

Like the health promotion coordinators and patient education specialists who work for healthcare organizations, a corporate wellness consultant operates within the business environment to teach people about key health issues and encourage healthy life behaviors. These professionals spearhead a range of programs to improve the health of employees, partners, and clients. They often leverage interviews and surveys to better meet the unique needs of the people they serve.

International Development Worker

Typically employed by governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and major global nonprofits, international development and aid workers’ responsibilities include:

Evaluating response requirements in crisis situations
Developing comprehensive intervention plans
Directing daily aid operations
Organizing project fundraising efforts
Cooperating with local government and nonprofit organizations
Leading teams of staff and volunteers

Freelance Public Health Educator

Similar to employers in many other sectors, public health education employers are increasingly contracting with freelancers rather than hiring for full-time positions. Many freelance public health educators hold mostly remote jobs that allow them to work from home and maintain flexible schedules.

Tips for Launching a Successful Career in Public Health Education and Promotion

From actively engaging with community health issues to volunteering with relevant wellness organizations, there are many ways to prepare yourself for a public health career. Of course, public health employers will seek candidates with relevant undergraduate or graduate degrees. You can also further your progress toward your public relations dream job by establishing the right professional connections and emphasizing specialized training and skills.

Networking and Professional Associations

The importance of networking cannot be understated in any professional field or sector. Beyond connections made at school or through internships, industry associations can serve as excellent networking resources. Fortunately, public health professionals can join any number of associations depending on their particular areas of interest and expertise. The principal professional association for public health professionals is the American Public Health Association (APHA), and several others include the:

National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO)
National Environmental Health Association (NEHA)
Association of Public Health Laboratories (APHL)

Continuous Learning and Certification

Public health professionals must remain relevant to be successful. Therefore, ongoing learning is vital in the field. Associations like the APHA respond to this need by offering public health education programs, often for continuing education (CE) credits, which can help professionals achieve or maintain official certification in public health. Recognized public health designations and certifications include:

National Board of Public Health Examiners’ Certified in Public Health (CPH)
Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) of the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing
Certified Public Health Administrator (CPHA) of the Public Health Practitioner Certification Board
Registered Environmental Health Specialist/ Registered Sanitarian (REHS/RS) of the National Environmental Health Association

Pursue Your Master’s in Public Health Promotion

To learn more about career paths that you can take with a master’s degree in Public Health Education & Promotion (PHEP) from Marymount University, contact us today. Graduates of this program are well-prepared to sit for the CHES exam and begin making a difference in the field. You may also browse all of our various academic programs and apply online.

Sources

https://marymount.edu/academics/health-sciences/ms-in-public-health-education-and-promotion/

https://www.indeed.com/career-advice/finding-a-job/health-education-behavior-masters-degree

https://www.cdc.gov/public-health-gateway/php/about/social-determinants-of-health.html

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecopro.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/public-health-gateway/php/our-work/public-health-professionals-competencies.html

https://www.indeed.com/hire/job-description/outreach-coordinator

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/health-educators.htm

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/community-and-social-service/community-health-workers.htm

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/emergency-management-directors.htm

https://www.bls.gov/ooh/management/medical-and-health-services-managers.htm

https://www.bls.gov/oes/2023/may/oes251071.htm