is a field that examines the way in which humans act, behave, and exist (frequently referred to as health behavior), and incorporates the whole-person care & holistic notion that mental health is a crucial aspect of overall health and well-being. Behavioral health is a concentration that aims to ameliorate how communities are cared for and how individuals care for themselves6. Community health education is at the forefront of this field as well, oftentimes acting as an anchor for most public health education and practice. At the public health practice level, this can support prevention of mental health disorders, supports the creation and development of healthy practices to improve mental health, and seeks to increase access for mental health programs and services.
Common Career Paths include: Health Educator, Community Health Worker, Health Promotion Specialist, Substance Misuse Program Director
Work Environment/Best Fit: those who aim to reduce stigma against mental health struggle, individuals who wish to have a person-to-person approach, consistent curiosity of why our minds work and function as they do, ability to see things through a compassionate and holistic perspective.
Programs With Dedicated Focus include University of San Francisco, University of Pittsburgh School of Public Health, Washington University in St. Louis Brown School, Boston University
examines the intersection of social factors with behavioral and cultural elements to better understand public health problems and influences. Individuals in this field largely consider health promotion as a key focus of public health care, and utilizes research and insights within such sciences to ameliorate the health of populations (and frame a population health lens). Public health nutrition often fits within this bucket as well. This area of study is one that helps develop programs to target individual health improvement as well as systemic health, and often takes various forms at all levels of public health practice7.
Common Career Paths include: Behavioral Scientist, Research Coordinator
Work Environment/Best Fit: someone who is inquisitive in nature – not afraid of asking the big questions, cares for a focus on thematic occurrences at the population level, considers the larger interaction between humans and their environment.
Programs With Dedicated Focus include Johns Hopkins University, San Diego State University, University of Maryland, College Park, Yale University, Kent State University
are areas of study that create the backbone of public health research and work, largely employing various methods to make sense of research and data. Biostatistics (biostats) and informatics often are on the technical side of disease, illness, and public health problems, while epidemiology utilizes this work and applies research questions and hypotheses to develop answers to large public health problems and topics. Together, these fields make up the basis of both quantitative and qualitative data that helps us make sense of disease, health, and beyond for our communities.
Common Career Paths include: Biostatistician, Epidemiologist, Data Analyst, Data Scientist, Clinical Research Coordinator
Work Environment/Best Fit: enjoy being in the numbers or making sense of data, appreciate precision and accuracy, utilize technical methods and principles to perform research, find value working through making sense of large datasets.
Programs With Dedicated Focus include University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill, University of Michigan, Columbia University, University of Texas School of Public Health, Johns Hopkins University
is the focus of how humans and our external, physical world intersect8. This exists at many varying degrees but includes the process of how factors impact our health and allow for continued population development. Reproductive health can often be incorporated into environmental health (depending on the other topic areas covered). The kinds of foods we eat, the natural disasters we face, the interaction of medicine within our bodies, all fit within the overall fusion of how our external environment impacts our ability to exist.
Disease control is a large pathway by which this field operates. An example of how our exterior climate impacts populations at varying degrees is the recent learning that many communities of lower socio-economic status will be those most impacted by climate change.
Common Career Paths include: Food Safety Specialist, Toxicologist, Environmental Health Scientist, Climate Scientist, Occupational Health Specialist
Work Environment/Best Fit: emphasis on healthy communities, curiosity about safety precautions and rules/regulations, scientific inclinations, and research-oriented thinking.
Programs With Dedicated Focus include George Washington University, City University of Public Health (CUNY), Columbia University, Berkeley
Health Policy & Management or Health Service Administration
has an emphasis on leadership and management of larger public health systems, often considering levels that impact larger groups and populations. Health Policy is often one avenue, while Health Management or Administration is considered a separate path. The fields of Health Policy and Behavioral Economics have begun to intersect more frequently as well. A commonly used phrase is ‘Health in all Policies,’ and this area of study helps push forward given the emphasis on improving policies at various levels to improve health practices and systems largely9. Health equity is a large focus here. This work can include the evaluation, development, and implementation of policy and can think through various frameworks of management to improve practices.
Common Career Paths include: Policy Analyst, Public Policy, Health Administrator, Hospital Administrator, Health System Administrator, Hospital Chief of Staff
Work Environment/Best Fit: individuals that seek leadership or management related positions, those who focus on future outcomes and big-picture views of health and health systems, policy or rule focused perspective and following.
Programs With Dedicated Focus include New York University, University of Miami, Harvard University, Cornell University, University of Massachusetts – Amherst, Drexel University
is a public health area that focuses on a global level to improve intervention, application, and translation of various public health practices10. Given the vast difference of health systems, political systems, economics, and social structures from country-to-country and beyond, this area of study aims to develop appropriate practices while incorporating all relevant considerations in doing so. Many challenges faced by differing countries and communities share themes and commonalities, and Global Health works to emphasize these similarities while utilizing clear techniques to modify where necessary and relevant.
Common Career Paths include: Public Health Advising, Policy Analyst, Program Management, Health Promotion Coordinator, Global Health Consultant, Policy Advisor
Work Environment/Best Fit: individuals with a diverse cultural background or awareness, an aim to utilize differences as positive catalysts for change and improvement, a humility that recognizes the many potential options forward, patience and understanding.
Programs With Dedicated Focus include Emory University, Oregon State University, Tulane University, Arizona University, Brown University
