Public health has been defined as the field responsible for safeguarding the health of various people on a local or global scale. Pursuing a career in public health is for individuals who aspire to serve others through educating and enriching the community’s quality of life and having financially stable employment.
Public health careers are different, yet they all contribute significantly to the advancement of health care. Therefore, a public health degree is an excellent option for anyone who aims to impact the world long-term.
Your motivations for pursuing a career in public health will be as distinctive as yours, but here are the top 10 common reasons you should know before embarking on your professional journey.
- Secure Employment
Job security means less stress and more satisfaction in your life. Therefore, it’s critical to choose a career that allows you to experience job security. This is what public health does.
Many other areas offer less career stability than public health. Various examples of entry-level public health jobs frequently necessitate an in-depth understanding of an organization or government body’s policies and processes. This knowledge is difficult to transfer, but in public health, a job security guarantee increases the employment ratio as more people become aware of the benefits of public health initiatives.
- Professional Diversity
Unlike specific fields of medicine, public health programs are available in practically every state with various degrees to choose from.
You can work in public health by developing legislation, developing medical care programs, analyzing health statistics, or educating populations on how to keep healthy. Public health employees can work in schools, the government, or commercial businesses, among other places.
You’ll have plenty of paid time off and reasonable health insurance with attractive salary packages in this career.
- Multi-disciplinarity in Profession
More disciplines are involved in public health than in any other department of medicine. You’ll work in social work, political policy, management, medicine, science, biostatistics, etc. The value of multidisciplinarity in public health has long been acknowledged.
It happened not only in new disciplines like infectious diseases (e.g., HIV, Zika, Mers-COV researches), nanotechnology uses, and so on, but also in more established fields like physics and applied biostatistics.
- Growing field to make a difference
The public health field offers more than just income and job security: it also provides a wide range of career opportunities. In addition, it allows us to appreciate the area’s growing scope. Corporations, governments, and schools have invested in public health personnel as public health awareness has grown over the last decade.
This field will grow at a rate far above the national average in the future years, and demand for personnel will increase. That means you’ll be able to find work regardless of your situation. According to studies, the general field of public health with an MPH degree accounts for more than half of the fastest-growing jobs in the United States.
- Smart Dual Degree Option
A dual degree is another approach to improving job security as a public health professional. Public health courses can be combined with social work, law, nursing, or business. You may obtain two master’s degrees in as little as three years with a public health dual degree. As a result, you’ll be a highly sought-after candidate for various career opportunities. In addition, because you’ll be drawing from two different fields, you’ll have access to twice as many internships, tuition assistance, scholarships, and grants.
- Address and Solve Pressing Health Issues
Experts in public health are problem solvers who regularly discover answers to local and global health challenges. Workers are more involved in their occupations when they can identify and address health concerns and then develop a plan to manage them.
Much public health personnel are closely involved in their communities and can witness the results of their efforts right away. They are in charge of informing the public and raising health awareness. In addition, they can monitor statistical data at the community level to identify local health issues and campaign for those who are affected.
- Quick Access to Healthcare System
The majority of medical occupations necessitate substantial training. Fortunately, anyone can pursue a challenging but feasible career in public health.
You can complete your graduate training fast and with minimal disruption to your busy life if you have a master’s in public health. While a public health degree does not allow you to conduct surgery, once you enter the profession, you will be able to make a significant difference in your community. You can even work as an administrative assistant in a hospital.
Whatever field of public health you pick, you’ll spend your career knowing that you’re making a lasting impact on your community, which may be the most fulfilling aspect of studying public health.
- Handle Emergency Crisis and Help Community
Public health experts are on the front lines of developing disease outbreaks, such as the current effort to stop COVID-19 from spreading. Focus on epidemiology, the study of disease transmission. You’ll have the best chance of finding work in public health emergency response. Few professions offer the opportunity to serve families as a whole as public health does, from developing programs to help families afford health or assisting with family planning. In addition, public health often focuses on improving the lives of the world’s younger population and their issues, from teen pregnancy to drug usage.
- Culminate the Public Injustices
Many aspirants are dedicated to bringing public injustice to light. If you pursue a public health degree, you may expect to study structural determinants of health, historical implications on present results, and comprehensive approaches to adapting public health programming to specific populations. Professionals with valuable lived experience who can improve public health messages and understand the cultural needs of varied people are actively sought for public health jobs.
- Global Impact
Public health professionals are involved in global policy initiatives and assist the community. They can have a worldwide impact by driving public policy and international programs to improve global health and avert disease outbreaks in developing countries.
While a physician’s everyday actions affect the health of their patients, you’ll be able to take pride in knowing that your efforts affect all of those patients and the entire population. No other field of medicine has such a broad impact on so many people and objects simultaneously.
Conclusion
Through efficient strategies, education, and policy, public health professionals play a crucial role in ensuring the health and safety of the populations they serve, both internally and externally. Therefore, when considering a career in public health, it’s critical to consider factors like income stability, work prospects, and opportunities for professional advancement. Fortunately, public health has a good impact on all of these indicators. Therefore, a career in public health is ideal for those looking for a steady, developing, and growing job.
