Student blogs

Whether you are a prospective student or a current public health student, you may be wondering “what can I do following my Master’s in Public Health Sciences?” 

Often, it is easier to think of public health jobs related to well-known public health issues like nutrition, physical activity or vaccinations however, there are many topics that apply to public health including climate change, migration, prison health, mental health among so many others! 

Additionally, following this Master’s degree (in conjunction with your previous education and experiences), you will have a wide range of relevant skills that can be applied to many jobs related to public health including project management, research, program development, intervention implementation and evaluation, policy development, resource development. 

Here are some different areas to consider following the programme:

Further studies 

Following this programme, you may want to pursue other studies. This programme may illuminate a specific topic area within public health that interests you and that you want to further specialize in. This could be pursuing a PhD in a specific topic, but you may also pursue other academics such as another master’s degree, diploma program or certification.

For example, I have classmates who following this programme are interested in pursuing studies such as a Master’s in Public Health Emergency Response, a diploma in Project Management or certifications in specific statistics programs.

Academia 

Many students want to work in academic research following their degree. This is exciting because whether this looks like pursuing a PhD or working as a research assistant there are many opportunities, topics and locations where you can do this.

Examples:

1. Department of Global Public Health at KI 
2. John Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health 
3. The University of Sydney School of Public Health 

Clinical 

Many students who have clinical backgrounds, may take their new public health knowledge to their clinical practice or the healthcare setting.

(This is limited based on your academic background – however, even without a clinical background, you can work in positions related to health care management, resource distribution and structures). 

Non-profit sector

This is a broad sector that can have a lot of different opportunities, in a wide range of topics all over the world! This potentially has the most versatility out of all the sectors, with many large and small non-profits existing.  

Examples: 

1. The World Health Organization 
2. The Population Institute 
3. World Federation for Mental Health 

Private sector 

You also can work in the private sector with a public health degree. There are specific public health jobs such as health consulting, however, many corporate companies also have public health roles to provide a public health perspective to their non-health-related industry. For example, a construction company or fishery company may hire a public health specialist to ensure their practices fulfil certain public health requirements. 

Examples: 

• McKinsey and Company – Global Public Health Department 
• Creative Consultants International Ltd
• EHA Consulting Group Inc.

Public sector 

Following this degree, it is also very common to work in the public sector because our skills are easily transferable to many tasks and departments within governments. This can include working in research, policy development, financing, management etc. within the public sector. 

Example: 

• Public Health Agency of Sweden 
• Public Health Agency of Canada 
• Federal Ministry of Health Germany 

Overall, public health is a broad field and there are many exciting options of things you can work with!

Thanks for reading and reach out if have any questions!

Lauren