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For people who are interested in healthcare management, a
job in a slick hospital office can sound pretty appealing.
For people who are more interested in working with underserved
communities and getting their hands a little dirty, public
health administrators work in the trenches to bring medical
care and information to the people who need it the most.
What is public health administration?
Public health administration refers to the management of community
health. Most participate in community outreach of some kind,
whether it be educating people about flu prevention or developing
programs to teach young mothers parenting skills. Much of
a public health administrator’s work is thankless, and
shrinking budgets for public programs makes this job a particularly
challenging one. Some deal with particularly controversial
health issues such as HIV/AIDS prevention and needle recycling
for intravenous drug users.
While the work might be tough and the hours might be long,
public health administrators can take pride in knowing that
their healthcare administration education is being put to
use in a way that benefits everyone’s health, and not
just those who can afford treatment.
What types of careers are available to public health
administrators?
Many public health administrators work for government agencies,
and some work for non-profit organizations. You can find public
health administrators in clinics, hospitals, and offices,
and sometimes even in schools. Depending on the setting, a
public health administrator might focus on a particular issue
like safe drinking water or domestic violence, or they might
deal with a particular community like African American teenagers
in Los Angeles or the Hyde Park neighborhood of Chicago. Others
have a broader focus, like studying infectious disease movement
across the United States.
Some conduct laboratory research and analyze statistics behind
the scenes, while others work directly with the public. Many
have studied in other fields as well as public health administration.
Experts in nutrition, epidemiology, infectious diseases, and
health education (just to name a few) can all go on to work
as public health administrators. There are countless settings
and job descriptions for public health administrators, but
the common theme is that their work is based on improving
the health of the general public.
How do you become a public health administrator?
There are many ways to become a public health administrator,
and some even start as experts in other fields. A great way
to get the education and training you need to work in public
health is through a healthcare administration degree program.
A healthcare administration degree program will teach you
about health issues and ethical debates that are relevant
today and give you the training you need to do something about
them. Many healthcare administration master’s degree
programs and PhD programs offer public health specializations.
To see a list of schools that offer public health administration
programs, check out the Healthcare
Administration Schools directory.
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