Public Health vs. Medicine vs. Nursing: What’s the Difference?

Public health, medicine, and nursing are all crucial focus areas within the healthcare field, which is growing fast. In fact, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects healthcare occupations to grow 13% from 2021 to 2031, adding about 2 million new jobs¹. With baby boomers aging and healthcare workers retiring, the healthcare field is seeing a range of opportunities across all areas of specialization.

To choose your path, you must first understand what each field focuses on and how it makes a difference.

Public health aims to prevent disease and promote well-being at the community level, addressing root causes before illness occurs, unlike medicine, which treats individuals after diagnosis. Public health professionals work to create conditions that promote community and individual health by addressing factors such as access to clean water, nutritious food, safe housing, health education, and disease control and prevention. They lead efforts in vaccination, disease tracking, disaster preparedness, school nutrition, environmental health, and injury prevention.

The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that vaccinations prevent four to five million deaths per year globally².. With a degree in public health, whether at the bachelor's, master's, or doctoral level, you may pursue work in government agencies, health departments, nonprofits, universities, and healthcare organizations. 

Common careers in public health include:

Medicine deals with diagnosing, treating, and preventing illness in individuals with a mix of scientific knowledge and hands-on care to promote health. It combines clinical science and biomedical research to understand, diagnose, and treat illness at the individual level.

Medical professionals include MDs (Doctors of Medicine), DOs (Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine), surgeons, medical specialists such as cardiologists and pediatricians, general practitioners (GPs), and family doctors. These professionals work in hospitals, private practices, or clinics, collaborating to manage patient health through immediate care and long-term prevention strategies.

Nursing combines clinical expertise with holistic care, supporting patients physically, emotionally, and socially while coordinating care across the healthcare system. Nursing roles are varied, depending on your area of study; you may complete specialized training for roles such as these:

Nurses practice in various settings, including hospitals, schools, community health centers, and government agencies.

Choosing a career in public health, medicine, or nursing means committing to a distinct academic journey, each with its own timelines, demands, and rewards. Here is what to expect from each path:

Public Health Salaries & Outlook

Public health is a growing field with many career paths, each offering competitive salaries and strong job prospects. As communities focus more on disease prevention and health education, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, demand for trained public health professionals continues to rise. 

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for epidemiologists is $83,980, and employment of epidemiologists is projected to grow 19% from 2023 to 2033, much faster than the average for all occupations.⁴

Salaries for health educators are also strong, with a median salary of $62,860 in 2023—with the highest-paid 25% of workers making $83,800. The states that pay health educators the highest mean salary are the District of Columbia ($106,100), Maryland ($101,800), Georgia ($95,140), Connecticut ($85,620), and Oregon ($82,940)⁵.

While salaries for community health workers are lower than other public health specialties, with an annual average salary of $51,030 in 2024, the field is projected to grow 13% in the next decade, which means opportunities for career growth over time⁶.

Medicine Salaries and Outlook

Physicians and surgeons have average annual salaries greater than $239,200, making them among the highest paid professionals in the country, and employment for physicians and surgeons is projected to grow by 4% from 2023-2033⁷. 

Of course, the field of medicine is vast, and there are many specialties to consider. Depending on the area you choose, your salary and growth expectations will vary⁸. It’s also important to remember that high-paying roles in the medical field are extremely competitive, and there may be limited options depending on where you live and the job market in your area.

Nursing Salaries and Outlook

Registered Nurses (RNs) earn an average annual wage of $93,600, and the field is expected to grow by 6% over the next decade⁹. Nurse Practitioners (NPs), who are advanced practice nurses (APRNs) who hold Master of Science in Nursing degrees, earn an average yearly salary of $132,050¹⁰.

Nursing offers a diverse work environment, and employees may experience a variety of shift patterns, including daytime, nighttime, weekends, part-time, full-time, or on-call. With an advanced degree in nursing, you may find that more flexible career options are available to you, including home health nursing or nurse educator.

Choosing between medicine, nursing, and public health can be challenging, but it starts with what motivates you most. Ask yourself: Do you love science and solving mysteries about the human body? If so, medicine might be your path. Do you find purpose in supporting others day-to-day, offering hands-on care and emotional presence? Then nursing may be the right fit. If you are passionate about preventing illness on a larger scale, shaping health policies, or improving whole communities, you may be most satisfied with a career in public health.

If you’re interested in a mixture of public health and nursing, you might consider a hybrid role. A public health nurse is a registered nurse who works to improve the health of an entire community rather than focusing solely on individual patients. Unlike hospital-based nurses, public health nurses serve communities directly in schools and rural clinics and during disaster response efforts; public health nurses usually look at the big picture regarding keeping communities healthy. They understand that many different things can affect a person's health, like where they live, how much money they make, how far they advanced in school, and social challenges they might face. For example, people living in an area without easy access to fresh and healthy food are more likely to have health problems than those who do.

These nurses also work hard to remove those barriers and make healthcare more fair and available to everyone. They often push for community changes, like getting bus routes so people can get to doctors and clinics more easily. Most public health nurses hold a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) or a Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) with additional public or community health training. For nurses seeking community-centred roles, public health nursing offers a meaningful career path that directly tackles health disparities, blending compassion with community-level change.