Getting Started in Public Health

Getting Started in Public Health

By Apeksha Adhikari, YE4C Editorial Board Member
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COVID-19
Employment
Health and Safety

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Two individuals embracing a globe, which is in the shape of a heart. Text under reads "Getting started in public health"

What Is Public Health? 

One key message that people understood from the COVID-19 pandemic is that public health is a wide field with many career options. Before the pandemic, I thought public health was just epidemiology, or the study of how and why diseases occur. It turns out that public health plays a bigger role in keeping us alive. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines public health as “the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized and informed choices of the society, organization, public and private communities, and individuals.”1

How does public health affect our daily life? Public health promotes and protects the health and well-being of people and communities where they live, learn, work, and play. It helps keep us all healthy and safe. We have clean drinking water because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency sets standards that protect you from substances that can pollute the water, such as bacteria and harmful chemicals.2 We can also enjoy smoke-free public spaces because laws protect public health.  

Public health also reduces the spread of infectious diseases such as polio, the flu, and many other diseases around the world. Public health workers track preventable illnesses, like chickenpox or hepatitis A, and help us take steps to stop their spread. They encourage healthy behaviors, like eating nutritious foods and wearing seatbelts when driving, to keep people healthy and alive. And they help us reduce pollution, increase access to clean drinking water, and take other steps that protect people from threats posed by the environment.  

What Is a Public Health Approach? 

A public health approach happens in four steps:  

  1. Surveillance — Identify the problem and its magnitude.   
  2. Risk Factor Identification — Identify the factors that protect people or put them at risk for experiencing the problem
  3. Intervention Evaluation — Identify what works.  
  4. Implementation — Do what works. 

To be successful, public health agencies must serve three main functions:3  

Assessment: Involves collecting information to analyze it and then deciding what needs to be done.  

Policy Development: Involves promoting decision making and policy setting based on scientific knowledge.  

Assurance: Involves making sure that people get public health services when they need them.  

These main functions are carried out at all levels of government — federal, state, and local. See an example of how these main functions are carried out at each level of government with the image below.4

                                  Diagram Description automatically generated with medium confidence 

You now have an idea about the role that public health plays in keeping us all healthy and safe. The next section will help you learn more about careers in public health.  

Why Should You Consider a Career in Public Health?  

Our society needs people to investigate and solve health problems to protect the public. Public health is the perfect career field to fulfill that need. Careers in public health give us great ways to help solve problems during public health crises — for example, COVID-19. People who work in the public health field make an impact on the communities they serve. 

Public health workers address the everyday health and well-being of the population, including preventing chronic diseases — like heart disease, cancer, or diabetes. Chronic diseases like these are among the leading causes of death and disability in the United States.5 Public health professionals working in government, academia, research organizations, and community-based organizations dedicate their careers to prevent these kinds of diseases and promote wellness for society.  

What Steps Can You Take to Begin Exploring Public Health?  

Learn more about the field. Here are some good resources to help you get started:  

  1. Introduction to Public Health​​​​​​​
  2. See Yourself in a Public Health Career
  3. The Power of Youth in Improving Community Conditions for Health

Take advanced placement classes in high school. According to the college board, if advanced placement (AP) classes interest you, take AP chemistry, AP biology, AP environmental sciences and AP psychology classes. Check the college board website to see if that's what you want to include in your high school career. 

Volunteer. Volunteering is one way to understand problems in your community. You might volunteer in a hospital, clinic, or soup kitchen, for example. This is also a way to help people in your community with immediate needs. If you’re looking for something more involved, you can explore local opportunities with Public Health AmeriCorps.  

Apply for a fellowship or training opportunity. There are a variety of opportunities for you to get involved with organizations and see if you want to pursue the public health field in the future.  Many federal departments and agencies, in addition other organizations offer opportunities for youth to gain first-hand experience in working in public health.  

  • The CDC offers many internship opportunities for high schoolers, undergraduate, and master’s degree students with a variety of time, money and incentives that may be appealing to you.  Check this CDC website to learn more.  

  • Additionally, the Oak Ridge Institute for Science and Education (ORSIE) connects college students and recent graduates to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) internship and fellowship programs closely aligned with the interests of a variety of research facilities, including those managed for the U.S. Department of Energy and more than a dozen other federal agencies. 

Now that you have read this blog post, you have an idea about what public health is and what public health workers do. The COVID-19 pandemic helped many people realize that public health professionals are dedicated to promoting the health and well-being of individuals and communities. If you choose a career in public health, you can make a difference by helping people in your community and country stay healthy and safe.  

References 

  1. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2021, January 22). Introduction to Public Health. Public Health Training. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/training/publichealth101/public-health.html
  2. U.S Environmental Protection Agency. (2021, October 22). Summary of the Clean Water Act, 33 U.S.C. §1251 et seq. (1972). EPA: Laws & Regulations. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.epa.gov/laws-regulations/summary-clean-water-act 
  3. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Introduction to Public Health. 
  4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Introduction to Public Health.
  5. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2022, May 6). About Chronic Diseases. National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion. Retrieved June 29, 2022, from https://www.cdc.gov/chronicdisease/about/index.htm 

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