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Public Health

Bachelor of Science in Public Health

What Can You Do With A Major In Public Health?

PUBLIC HEALTH…is a behavioral science with the goal of promoting healthy living and preventing disease and illness. A public health professionals' purpose is to positively influence the health behavior of individuals and communities as well as the living and working conditions that influence their health.

Career Areas

  • Community Health - organize community coalitions to solve public health problems
  • Corporate Wellness and Fitness - planning and managing health promotion programs for employees in a variety of work settings, such as health fitness centers, hospitals, social service agencies, volunteer health organizations
  • Patient Health - working with other health care professionals in hospitals, long term care facilities, and other healthcare agencies in providing health education information
  • Research - discovering new methods to prevent disease and injury, reduce risks, and improve health of others
  • Environmental Health - focus on external health threats, hazards, safety concerns, and natural disasters
  • School and College Health -teaching school and behavioral health, providing coaching for students
  • Sample Job Titles

(To research these titles and more go to: Occupational Outlook Handbook and see the related print resources in the Career Services Library.

  • Health Educator
  • Community Organizer
  • Health Advocate
  • Health Program Manager
  • Patient Educator
  • Corporate Wellness Coordinator
  • Research Coordinator
  • Behavioral Scientist

Work Settings

  • Disease Centers
  • Hospitals/Clinics
  • Non-Profit Organizations
  • Government Agencies
  • Corporations
  • Public Health Department
  • Private Health Organizations
  • Mental Health Facilities
  • Health Foundations
  • Wellness Centers
  • Private Research Foundations
  • Biotechnology Firms
  • Environmental Agencies

To Match This Major to Careers: Visit the What Can I Do With This Major Webpage

Beginning Salary Range

Entry Level with a Bachelor's Degree: $32,018 (Payscale Data for a Health Educator in Jacksonville, FL)

Links To Professional Associations

Professional Associations are important to explore because many offer student memberships and can give you access to other professionals and their experiences, research, convention or workshop opportunities, professional development and most importantly job databases.

 

Liquid Compass has built the largest and most accurate database of healthcare job openings anywhere.

Graduate Schools

Link To UNF Program

The Brooks College of Health at the University of North Florida offers a Bachelor of Science in Public Health

Holland Codes

Community Health - Social; Enterprising; Investigative (SEI)

Career Action Plan

  • Conduct and informational interview or shadow a professional in this field
  • Gain experience through internships in a healthcare setting
  • Join student clubs associated with health
  • Get involved in volunteer work or community service to gain experience
  • Join a Professional Association
  • Develop leadership skills on-campus (RA, Peer Advisor, Presidential Envoy, Student Government, etc.)
  • Gain research experience by working with a professor or faculty member on their research

Master of Science in Public Health

What Can You Do With A Graduate Degree in Public Health?

Master of Public Health

The MPH degree is the most widely recognized professional credential for leadership positions in public health. This degree is appropriate for those who wish to pursue careers in developing, planning, managing, or evaluating health promotion and disease prevention programs, or in conducting public health related research. The UNF MPH Program prepares students with a broad understanding of the core areas of public health combined with a focus on competencies specific to the health promotion and education concentration area. MPH graduates will be able to integrate and apply their knowledge to address public health problems, and will possess skills and competencies necessary for public health practice in a wide range of public and private institutions.

Program Accreditation & Professional Certification

The UNF MPH Program is nationally accredited by theCouncilon Education for Public Health (CEPH).Graduates are eligible to become Certified in Public Health (CPH) by passing the CPH exam offered by theNationalBoard of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE). This certification is only available to graduates of CEPH accredited programs. Graduates are also eligible to become a Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) by passing the exam offered by theNationalCommission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC).

Public Health Careers

Public health offers an abundance of job opportunities to suit a variety of interests and skills. Whether you are interested in crunching numbers, conducting research,or working with people, there is a place for you in public health. Recent college graduates and those that have been in the field for years have something to offer and to gain in this field. Public health is ideal for those that gain satisfaction knowing that they are working to improve the lives of others.

Public health professionals will be increasingly sought after as the health care industry expands due to increasing demands. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be a 21% increase in demand for public health educators from 2012 to 2022. Listed below are examples of job titles available to those who have a MPH.

Job Titles

  • Biostatistician
  • Community Development Specialist
  • Director of Wellness Services
  • Environmental Health Analyst
  • Epidemiologist
  • Health Communications Specialist
  • Health Educator
  • Healthcare Analyst
  • Injury Epidemiologist
  • Manager, Health & Wellness Program
  • Maternal and Child Health Specialist
  • Outreach Educator
  • Planning Analyst
  • Program Coordinator
  • Program Specialist
  • Public Health Management Analyst
  • Research Associate/Scientist

Typical Employers/Work Settings

Upon graduation students are equipped to take positions in health related government agencies, not-for- profit organizations, consulting firms, insurance companies, hospitals, schools, work sites and research organizations across the country and around the world.

Jacksonville Employers & Internship Sites

  • American Cancer Society
  • American Heart Association
  • American Lung Association
  • American Red Cross
  • Americorps/Health Corps
  • Area Health Education Centers
  • Bank of America (a Medifit Co.)
  • Baptist Health of Northeast Florida
  • Employee Wellness Program
  • Brooks Rehabilitation
  • Citibank (a Medifit Co.)
  • Community in Schools of Jacksonville
  • Corporate Care Works
  • Cystic Fibrosis Foundation
  • Daniel Inc.
  • Duval County Health Department
  • Area IV HIV
  • Communications
  • Emergency Preparedness
  • Environmental Health
  • Epidemiology
  • Family Planning, HIV Integration
  • Healthy Jacksonville
  • Infectious & Communicable Disease
  • Maternal & Child Health
  • Public Health Statistics & Assessment
  • Tobacco Prevention
  • ElderSource
  • EPIC Community Services
  • First Coast YMCA
  • Florida Blue
  • Employee Wellness
  • Gateway Community Services, Inc.
  • Girls Incorporated of Jacksonville
  • Health Designs, Inc.
  • Health Planning Council of NE Florida
  • Healthy Mothers, Healthy Babies Coalition
  • IM Sulzbacher Center for the Homeless
  • Jacksonville Alliance for Sexual Minority Youth Network (JASMYN)
  • Jacksonville Center for Clinical Research
  • Jacksonville Children's Commission
  • Jacksonville Electric Authority
  • Worksite Wellness Program
  • Leukemia & Lymphoma Society
  • Mayo Clinic
  • Mental Health America of Northeast Florida
  • Metro Kids Konnection
  • Nassau County Health Department
  • National Multiple Sclerosis Society
  • Nemours Children's Clinic
  • NE Florida AIDS Network
  • NE Florida AIDS Network
  • NE Florida Healthy Start Coalition, Inc.
  • NE Florida Teen Pregnancy Task Force
  • PACE Center for Girls
  • Planned Parenthood of Northeast Florida
  • Police Athletic League
  • Safe & Healthy Duval Coalition
  • Spina Bifida Association
  • St. Vincent's HealthCare
  • Worksite Wellness Program
  • Susan G. Komen North Florida Affiliate
  • United Way of Northeast Florida
  • University of Florida Health, Jacksonville
  • University of North Florida
  • Department of Health Promotion
  • Environmental Health
  • Women's Center
  • Urban Jax
  • US Preventative Medicine
  • Vistakon
  • Worksite Wellness Program
  • Volunteers in Medicine
  • Wolfson Children's Hospital
  • The Players Center for Child Health
  • Women's Center of Jacksonville

Beginning Salary Range

The salary range for public health workers is extremely wide due to the diversity of jobs, requirements, employers, and locations. Private industry traditionally pays more than government which typically pays more than non-profit agencies. According to www.whatispublichealth.org, the salary ranges listed below are the actual salaries earned (adjusted for inflation using the national CPI - Bureau of Labor Statistics) within one year of graduation as reported by the most recent nationwide survey of graduates conducted by ASPH.

  • Biomedical Laboratory$31,500 - $78,750
  • Biostatistics$33,000 - $63,000
  • Epidemiology$38,175 - $136,237
  • Environmental Health$44,550 - $143,700
  • Health Education/Behavioral Science$33,000 - $86,625
  • Health Services Administration$37,050 - $161,400
  • International Health$31,500 - $86,625
  • Nutrition$31,500 - $70,875
  • Public Health Practice/Program Management$41,175 - $102,000

Links for Public Health Organizations

Links for Public Health Job Search Engines