How to Become a Public Health Professional
Learn the steps for starting a career in public health. Find out what type of degree you need, what certifications can help advance your career, and more.
They say working as a doctor or nurse is working on the front lines of healthcare – but what about the field of public health? As a public health professional, you’re right on ground zero, immersing yourself in the community, researching disease outbreaks in real time, shaping healthcare policy, and finding and implementing solutions that can improve the health and well-being of entire populations.
While clinical healthcare professionals treat patients one on one, public health professionals focus on strategies that make a positive impact on people at a local, regional, or even global level. The exciting part about public health is that there are so many different disciplines within the profession to explore, offering a diverse range of job opportunities. Public health is everywhere!
To help you pursue your goals, we put together this career guide so you can learn the steps for becoming a public health professional.
Choose Your Public Health Specialty
The first step in starting your career is choosing what area of public health you want to pursue. While some roles involve regular face-to-face engagement with patients or community members (such as a health educator or social worker), other roles may be more focused on research and shaping healthcare policy (such as a biostatistician, epidemiologist, environmental health specialist, certified mental health worker, or public health policy analyst). You may also be interested in specific topics in public health, for example chronic disease prevention, maternal and child health, and global health to name a few.
Depending on the type of role you choose, you may work for a hospital or health system, a community clinic, a university or nonprofit research institute, a government agency, or another type of employer. Learn more about different types of public health careers you may want to consider.
It’s helpful to identify your desired specialization area early so you can obtain the necessary education and work experience in preparation for your first role.
Earn a Degree in Public Health
You will need at least a bachelor’s degree to pursue a career in public health, but depending on the role you want, you may need a more advanced degree like a master’s or doctorate.
A bachelor’s degree is typically sufficient for more entry-level positions such as roles as a health educator, community health program coordinator, environmental specialist, or data analyst. Positions that typically require more leadership or experience may be more likely to accept candidates with master’s degree or higher, such as an epidemiologist, public health director, or a public health instructor at a university.
Some students may pursue a master’s degree to prepare themselves for more advanced roles while others may do so if they already obtained their bachelor’s degree in a different field. Determine what level of education is required for your desired field and then do your research to find the public health program that is right for you.
The program should have experienced faculty, a robust curriculum covering a span of subjects that are pertinent in the field of public health (such as health research methods, biostatistics, epidemiology, and environment and occupational health), and a wealth of support services for students. The program should also align with how you want to learn and how fast you want to complete your studies.
Here are a few points to consider when selecting a program:
- Is the program offered in person, online or a blend of both?
- Does it offer multiple pace options, such as an accelerated pace and a slower pace for those with more restricted schedules?
- Can you transfer credits from previous coursework into the program?
- Are you able to work on your bachelor’s and master’s degree at the same time?
- Does the program offer faculty mentoring and other support services?
The Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) and Master of Public Health (MPH) programs at West Coast University are offered online, and they can both be completed at an Accelerated pace and a Working Professional pace. WCU offers a BSPH bridge program that allows you to earn credits that can be used for both your bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Additionally, you can transfer up to 90 credits into the BSPH program.
Learn more about the BSPH program and MPH program at WCU.
Gain Relevant Work Experience
Even before you begin your career, you can start building your resume with work experience that can help open the door to future public health roles. This can include jobs that involve community engagement, program development, health education, assistance with research, environmental monitoring, data analysis, work with at-risk populations, and more.
You can gain relevant experience through internships, paid jobs, or even volunteer roles. On-the-job experience can help you qualify for more advanced public health roles or for certain professional certifications. And don’t forget to network. Join professional associations related to your field of interest and attend networking events so you can build industry connections, which can lead to new opportunities down the road.
Obtain a Professional Certification
Earning one or more professional certifications can help you show proof of your advanced knowledge in the general field of public health or within a specialty area. A certification can help set you apart from other job candidates and it may even be required for certain roles and organizations.
Prominent public certifications include:
- Certified in Public Health (CPH) administered by the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE)
- Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) administered by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC)
- Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES) administered by the NCHEC
There are also certificates offered by various institutions focusing on specialized areas within public health, such as epidemiology, environmental health, and biostatistics. Certification requirements vary by credential, but they can include requirements such as passing an exam, showing proof of completion of a certain type of degree and/or continuing education credits, and a certain amount of work experience related to the field you are pursuing.
These seemed to be the top three certificates consistently mentioned on various websites. Many other certifications that competing sites mentioned where from 2020 and 2021 and were broken links, so I’m thinking those are no longer offered. To play it safe, I stuck to these three and included a more general statement about specialty certificates in the following paragraph. If the WCU team knows of others that should be mentioned please have them fill us in so we can add those certifications.
Get Started on Your Public Health Degree
There’s no time like the present to start going after your goals.
Once you have determined what area of public health you want to work in, get started on your educational journey by applying for a public health degree program. WCU’s Bachelor of Science in Public Health and Master of Public Health programs offer comprehensive online curriculums, one-on-one faculty mentoring, and hands-on support for students.
Learn more about the BSPH and MPH programs at WCU and submit your application!
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