2 answers
Thao
Student
Union City, California
2
Questions
Updated
776 views
Healthcare career counseling
I am a public health major, expecting to graduate in Spring 2023. I want to get experience in the health field and am interested in health information management. Some classes I enjoyed are epidemiology, health economics, environmental health, and health communication.
What are some career paths in public health?
How to work in the health information management field?
What are some internship and entry-level opportunities for healthcare?
What is the job of an epidemiologist like?
What kind of work does a program manager do?
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2 answers
Katherine Sun
Student
16
Answers
Atlanta, Georgia
Updated
Katherine’s Answer
MPH student here, and I'm glad you're studying public health as well! While you're a student, you should definitely take the opportunity to get internships in the different areas of public health. As a college student, public health organizations/the department of public health won't require too much expertise, so definitely take advantage of that.
Epidemiologist -- these are the people who are studying disease dynamics in a population, they publish research, they're the ones who do outbreak and case investigation for new diseases like COVID and existing ones (flu, food-borne illnesses). There are epis doing work in infectious, chronic, and genetic diseases (diabetes, cancer, etc). This area is heavy in terms of using scientific and statistical methods.
I'm in health policy and management on the policy track in my program. I like the health economics aspect of my concentration. We apply the methods to policy evaluation (i.e. determining which intervention is cost effective). The management track is for students who are interested in working in the operations and delivery of health care services (managing finances, human resources, marketing, etc in a health system/hospital/health care facility).
A program manager might work at the community level to implement a program that encourages physical activity for children for example. You'll need to leverage your area of expertise in public health (like in social determinants of health, chronic diseases, and public health communications) in implementing and managing a program. Project and program management skills can be learned over time, so I would focus on learning more about the area of public health you want to work in.
Find internships and student work opportunities in different areas of public health while you're a student
Epidemiologist -- these are the people who are studying disease dynamics in a population, they publish research, they're the ones who do outbreak and case investigation for new diseases like COVID and existing ones (flu, food-borne illnesses). There are epis doing work in infectious, chronic, and genetic diseases (diabetes, cancer, etc). This area is heavy in terms of using scientific and statistical methods.
I'm in health policy and management on the policy track in my program. I like the health economics aspect of my concentration. We apply the methods to policy evaluation (i.e. determining which intervention is cost effective). The management track is for students who are interested in working in the operations and delivery of health care services (managing finances, human resources, marketing, etc in a health system/hospital/health care facility).
A program manager might work at the community level to implement a program that encourages physical activity for children for example. You'll need to leverage your area of expertise in public health (like in social determinants of health, chronic diseases, and public health communications) in implementing and managing a program. Project and program management skills can be learned over time, so I would focus on learning more about the area of public health you want to work in.
Katherine recommends the following next steps:
Thank you, Katherine for the advice.
Thao
Dee Berline
Occupational Therapist
13
Answers
Anchorage, Alaska
Updated
Dee’s Answer
I am an occupational therapist so of course, am biased toward that field. ANy of the therapy fields, speech/language and physical therapy are ways to get into any of the fields where these are valuable skills.