Online Public Health Degrees

What Is a Career in Public Health?

Public health focuses on entire populations while they're healthy rather than on an individual after they've become sick. It's a pro-active, preventive approach to health care that involves education, the promotion of health lifestyles, developing policies, and research.

Over the course of the 20th century, public health professionals increased life expectancy by 30 years. Some of their other great achievements include:
•    Vaccinations
•    Motor-vehicle safety
•    Safer workplaces
•    Control of infectious diseases
•    Better family planning

What Training Will I Get with a Public Health Degree?

Most jobs in public health require you receive a degree from an accredited program. You will learn:
•    What factors influence local, national, and international legislative and social policies
•    Quantitative and qualitative problem solving skills
•    Multidisciplinary and collaborative strategies for health-care problems
•    Communication skills necessary to work with diverse populations
•    Health promotion and disease prevention

Career Outlook and Salary Information

Public health professions can earn a wide range of salaries depending on their specialty, but the career outlook in all of these fields is expected to remain excellent and grow rapidly over the next decade. Health Service Administrators earn between $37,050 - $161,400; those in biostatistics can earn anything from $33,000 to $63,000; Epidemiologists earn between $38,175 and $136,237; and those in international health might earn between $31,500 - $86,625, to name just a few career possibilities.

To advance in this field, you generally need a Master of Public Health degree and the corresponding training. To prepare for this, you should take certain courses during your undergraduate program such as biology and mathematics.

What Is a Career in Public Health?

Public health focuses on entire populations while they're healthy rather than on an individual after they've become sick. It's a pro-active, preventive approach to health care that involves education, the promotion of health lifestyles, developing policies, and research.

Over the course of …