Online Public Health Degree Program

Online Public Health Degree Programs - What Do You Study?

Public health is the multidisciplinary science of protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, and research for disease and injury prevention. The main difference between public health and clinical medicine is public health's focus on preventing disease and illness in healthy populations as opposed to treating individuals after they have already become ill. It is a very broad field that includes many subfields including epidemiology, biostatistics, health services, environmental health, social health, behavioral health and occupational health.The overall goal of the public health field is to survey cases of infectious disease and poor health outcomes in order to learn how disease spreads and multiplies in populations. With this knowledge it can help learn how to prevent diseases and illness and design programs to help educate entire populations on practicing healthy behaviors that can lead to better overall health outcomes. The population in question in the Public Health field can vary from a small handful of people with similar characteristics to huge populations that span many continents and the world. 

Public health practices have been around for many centuries. Indeed all civilizations throughout history have tried to find ways to make citizens more healthy and prevent the devastating spread of disease. In modern times, the advance of technology and educational tools has greatly expanded the scope and reach of the field and allowed public health professionals all over the world to help communicate their findings and health messages to the public in a more efficient and effective manner.

Related Online Public Health Degree Programs

Schools that offer degrees in public health aim to prepare students for careers in public health by helping them gain knowledge of the factors which influence local, national and global health policies and by teaching them to develop multidisciplinary and collaborative strategies for solving health-related problems. They also emphasize communication skills that are necessary to work with diverse populations and position students for leadership positions in preventing disease and health promotion. Public health degrees are often offered at the Master's level, but are also commonly offered at the Bachelor's level. There are also Certificate and Doctoral programs available as well.

Those earning degrees in public health can expect to participate in a wide range of relevant coursework and due to the broadness of the field may specialize in a certain area. Typical classes required within Public Health programs include biostatistics, introduction to the U.S. healthcare system, public health ethics, public health law, principles of epidemiology, environmental health practices, research methods in public health, globalization and health, international health and healthcare systems, health program planning and leadership in public health systems.

Career Options in Public Health

Public health is an extremely hot field right now that continues to grow. The government has been investing more and more in increased public health preparedness to help prepare the public for everything from natural disasters to the spread of new infectious diseases to the threat of bioterrorism. This means that there are many new public health jobs becoming available in many sectors of the government. Additionally, with the advancement of communication technologies and the advancement of medical research that looks at preventative measures more jobs are becoming available in settings such as community clinics, academic or research institutions, community based organizations and bio-technology firms. 

There are literally thousands of ways you can go in your public health career but most careers in the field involve one of the following areas:

• Health Services Administration
• Biostatistics
  
• Epidemiology
  
• Health Education/Behavioral Science
• Environmental Health
  
• International Health
• Nutrition
  
• Public Health Practice/Program Management
  
• Biomedical Laboratory