Public Health Field is Booming

There’s never been a better time to begin a career in public health. As an aging population puts an increasing amount of stress on the healthcare industry, highly qualified public health professionals are in short supply and high demand.

When you earn a degree in public health, you will graduate with the ability to make communities safer and healthier–and you have a wide variety of careers to choose from. You could work with advocacy groups to improve and inform policy makers, to organize vaccination campaigns, or streamline operations at a neighborhood health clinic, to name a few.
Careers in public health can be as diverse as your interests and passions, but the following two examples illustrate the depth and breadth of this in-demand field.

Just as all businesses need a manager to oversee performance, every healthcare and medical facility requires a healthcare program manager to direct long term operations and strategic needs. Healthcare managers, therefore, are in high demand. The need for healthcare program managers is expected to increase by 20% through 2026–a growth rate much faster than the national average across all occupations.

Health Care Program Management

As a healthcare program manager, you might be responsible for overall leadership and strategic guidance of a health facility or organization, with duties that might range from budget creation and team management to enacting and creating systemic policy improvements. Healthcare program managers are often tasked with oversight of day-to-day operations, patient care, Human Resources, and more.

Common Employers:

• Wellness centers
• Retirement communities
• Clinics
• Hospitals
• Healthcare facilities

Public Health Law

Public health law is a field in which professionals and advocates work within governmental norms and practices to improve healthcare. As a public health law professional, you could support healthcare institutions as they maintain compliance with the ever-changing rules and regulations of the healthcare field. You might work with government institutions to develop regulations and rules to improve public health outcomes within the confines of existing laws. Working in this field requires a law degree that specializes in healthcare. One example of this is Hofstra’s JD/MPH degree.

Common Employers:

• Non-governmental organizations
• Government agencies
• Advocacy groups
• Social work associations
• State and federal agencies (such as the CDC or FDA)

An Interdisciplinary Approach

Public health intersects other fields at virtually every level. That’s why our Master of Public Health degree program couples an interdisciplinary approach with advanced training and applied experiences across a breadth of degree programs. An advanced certificate in Foundations of Public Health also allows you to gain practical experience and applicable skills while you continue to work in the public health sector.
With a public health degree, you could make a lasting impact on the way your community receives and interacts with healthcare challenges.