Public Health
Public health courses include both foundational and specialized topics such as epidemiology, precision nutrition, and clinical research and explore tools and strategies to prevent disease, promote community health, and address health disparity.
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The field of public health is responsible for identifying the macro factors that affect the health of communities, cities, and society at large, and ensuring that conditions and policies that promote wellness on this scale are put into place.
Unlike individual medicine geared towards the treatment of illnesses, public health is focused on the prevention of health issues. Because the factors affecting the health of a given community are so varied, the work of a public health professional can take a number of forms as well.
For example, some public health experts seek to discover links between risk factors faced by certain demographics and health outcomes, providing critical research needed to support action. Other public health advocates look at the impacts of policy interventions in healthcare, analyzing the collective actions that can be taken to improve health across populations. Education on topics like the value of proper nutrition and the importance of vaccination is also essential to this field.
Public health professionals’ work often takes place “behind the scenes” of healthcare, providing the research, education, and expertise needed to prevent illnesses and injuries. Additionally, the field of public health is inherently multidisciplinary, with professionals coming from many different fields and working in many different contexts.
For example, academic researchers such as epidemiologists play a critical role in investigating patterns and causes of disease across populations, and sociologists establish the social factors that may underlie these patterns. These highly-educated public health experts generally have masters degrees such as a Masters in Public Health (MPH), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
A background in the ‘hard’ sciences like biology, engineering, or chemistry can also be valuable preparation for a career in public health. Environmental scientists use knowledge of biology and other life sciences to protect human health. Health and safety engineers rely on expertise in engineering as well as health to minimize risks from the built environment. In a more specialized way, occupational health and safety technicians collect data to analyze potentially hazardous work environments such as factories or industrial plants to identify potential health risks and develop adequate safety procedures. Similarly, chemists and materials scientists are needed to test and establish the safety of new products for consumers and the workplace.
Public health jobs can intersect with many different types of career paths, and offer an opportunity to make a difference without having to go to medical school or work on the front lines of patient care.
Yes! There are a wide range of options available for students looking to learn about public health online, from individual courses to master’s degrees. And, as in other areas of study, online education gives you the opportunity to learn from top-ranked schools on a flexible schedule from anywhere in the world.
As the world’s leading online learning platform, Coursera offers the full range of these opportunities to learn about public health. Students can take individual courses such as epidemiology, biostatistics, and global health at a lower price than on-campus alternatives.
If you want to pursue a Masters in Public Health (MPH) degree, Coursera has options for this too. The Global Master of Public Health degree from Imperial College London and the Master of Public Health degree from the University of Michigan offer opportunities to gain an online education in public health from leading institutions in the field.
