Public health is an important field that is focused on improving and protecting the health of the communities we live in. A masters in public health prepares you with the necessary skills and knowledge to address the challenges that face public health. In this article, we’ll discuss the best masters in public health jobs and the best programs that offer specializations for those jobs, along with the average salaries for those jobs.
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Best Masters in Public Health Jobs
By attending a program that allows you to choose a concentration or specialization in a specific area, you will be able to gain deeper knowledge for that specific area of interest, which will prepare you for the job in real life. Here are the best masters in public health jobs and the best programs that will allow you to specialize in them.
Epidemiologist
Becoming an epidemiologist is one of the most common masters in public health jobs. Epidemiologists play a vital role in preventing and controlling different kinds of diseases. They focus on discovering causes of diseases and how to stop spreading them in the case of a disease outbreak.
A masters in public health with a concentration in epidemiology will prepare you with the necessary skills to excel in this career. Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and University of Southern California are some of the universities that have the best masters in public health with concentration in epidemiology programs. Most of these programs could be completed within one to four years, depending on if you’re taking the program part-time or full-time and the number of credits that the students need to complete. Epidemiology is definitely a great choice for masters in public health jobs, with the median paying salary for an epidemiologist is about $78,830 per year.
Health Policy Analyst
As you could tell by the name of the position, health policy analysts work on developing health policies. The goal of those policies is to deliver patients with the best possible health outcomes and to ensure that everyone has access to good healthcare. For example, health policy analysts will analyze recent health care studies and data and implement new solutions to healthcare problems using their findings from the analysis. Many graduates pursue careers in health policy as it is one of the popular masters in public health jobs, and a health policy analyst has an average salary of about $70,000 per year.
Some of the best masters in public health programs with a concentration in health policy include Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, and the University of California, Berkeley. These programs allow students to learn from the different variety of courses that prepare them to thrive in masters in public health jobs. Usually, these programs offer core courses that all students are required to take to learn the principles and main themes of public health. However, students also get to pick electives and choose their capstone project, which allows them to explore their interest in health policy and expand their knowledge in the field.
Global Health Specialist
Similar to health policy analysts, global health specialists aim at improving health outcomes for patients, which is why it is one of the common masters in public health jobs. However, global health analysts aim at improving public health worldwide. They focus on preventing infectious diseases from affecting people worldwide. They also help developing countries overcome health care challenges. For example, they try to prevent HIV, sexually transmitted diseases, child and maternal issues, and general infectious disease from spreading across low-income communities. A masters in public health with a concentration in global health can allow students to explore this rewarding career that can change people’s lives. In addition, a global health specialist earns an average salary of about $112,000.
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the University of Washington School of Public Health are some of the best schools that offer masters in public health programs that have a concentration in global health.
Environmental Health Scientist
If you are a person that cares about the environment and is worried about the effects of climate change and global warming on the environment and humans, becoming an environmental health scientist might be the right career for you. Environmental health scientist is one of the masters in public health jobs that aims at protecting the environment and the humans that live in it. Environmental health scientists understand how different environmental factors can affect humans and their health. That’s why this career is demanded by many organizations and businesses today as it aims at finding ways that reduce wastes, prevent pollution, and limit side effects on the environment. They also serve as consultants that help organizations and businesses determine the hazards and environmental risks that might emerge as a result of working on a project.
Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health and University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health are two of the best schools that offer a masters in public health with a rigorous coursework that focuses on environmental health. These programs prepare students with the necessary theoretical and practical experiences, so they can face environmental health challenges. Also, it’s important to note that the average environmental health scientist salary is about $68,000 per year.
Conclusion
In closing, it’s important to remember that these are only some of the masters in public health jobs, but there are several other careers that you can pursue with a masters in public health. Besides discussing some of the best masters in public health jobs, we also mentioned some of the top universities that offer great programs for graduate students. Which career you pursue is, ultimately, up to you, depending on what are your interests and career goals. A master’s in public health is, definitely, a great choice to advance your career in public health since it gives you a competitive advantage over other applicants in the field.
