Public health is a multidisciplinary area that is concerned with the health of the population, especially as it pertains to human rights to ensure better health and quality of life. Unsurprisingly, the COVID-19 pandemic heightened awareness of the important role that public health professionals play in fostering a safe and healthy society.

 

Public health began its journey in 1854 in England with John Snow, who was successfully able to control the cholera outbreak by following strategies that were not associated with typical treatment methods. He used strategies to find out the root cause of this outbreak and then eliminate the cause. This is the main point of public health: all diseases have causes, just we need to find out the causes and then eliminate them; as a result, people will not get sick, and no disease can’t be a burden on humans.

 

The three P’s of public health are prevention, protection, and promotion. These are the core functions of public health. There are diverse professional sectors that play a role in public health; not only public health graduates but also other specific graduates are crucial for ensuring the health of the population. 

 

Doctors, nurses, biomedical engineers, anthropologists, statisticians, sociologists, administrative personnel, lawyers, policy analysts, and epidemiologists are inextricably associated with public health. Overall, jobs in public health are expected to increase 13 percent from 2021 to 2031. Public health differs from other health careers in that it focuses on protecting and promoting health in populations, rather than on diagnosing and treating individual patients. Both types of health care jobs will be in high demand in the coming years. 

 

If anyone would like to pursue a career in public health, then you need to understand the focusing area of public health and the skills that are recommended to obtain a career in this field.

 

Emerging public health careers

Medical and Health Services Manager :

This employee is in charge of organizing and arranging services for physicians and nurses at a hospital, department, or clinic. They must remain current on modifications to legislation, regulations, and new developments in the field of health care.

Biostatistician : This person is crucial in public health aspects as he or she works on data. Data-driven decisions play a prominent role in research on evaluating drugs, clinical trials, risk factors identification, cause-and-effect relationship establishment, policy development, and so on. If you enjoy applying statistics and math to health, this can be a lucrative path for you.

Epidemiologist : To look into the patterns and causes of illnesses, injuries, and disorders in society, epidemiologists need to do a variety of population-based epidemiological investigations. Their usual areas of specialization include infectious and non-communicable illnesses, mental health, genetics, vaccination trials, environmental and occupational health, and maternal and child health.

Social and Community Service Manager : A social and community service manager’s job may concentrate on a particular population, such as those facing homelessness or AIDS, autism, refugees, elderly people, orphans, etc. They plan and organize initiatives that promote the welfare of the general population. They also link communities and donors to build support for social services, and they give guidance to professionals who assist individuals in need.

Health Education Specialist: Health education experts provide health education to communities. This entails teaching them about proactive wellness practices as well as the variables that increase an individual’s chance of contracting certain diseases. Programs that support anything from mental health to reproductive health to diabetes prevention are created and managed by health education professionals. These programs are designed by them using information they have gathered about the particular health needs of a community, as well as research and statistics about successful preventative and intervention strategies.

 

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Writer 

Abdullah Jaman 

Intern, Content Writing Department 

YSSE