This section contains information designed to offer greater
insight into the different disciplines that comprise the field
of public health, and to provide information for those who may
be contemplating pursuing education or a career in this field.
What
Is Public Health?
Most
people would have little difficulty identifying what is meant
by medical care, especially services provided by doctors and
hospitals to those suffering from illness or disease. But they
are probably less familiar with services and activities that
constitute public health. Public health is a field that seeks
to promote the health of all people in a community.
| Examples
of public health activities include the following: |
| •
|
Identifying
health risks and working with different facets of the community
to improve physical and mental health, prevent disease and
health risks (such as cancer, heart disease, and obesity),
and reduce substance abuse and violence. |
| •
|
Protecting against environmental hazards and increasing
the safety of drinking water, food, and the environment. |
| •
|
Formulating
policies to reduce death and disability from unintentional
injuries and to protect the safety of the public. |
| •
|
Preventing,
identifying, and controlling infectious disease outbreaks. |
| •
|
Determining
who gets certain diseases and why. |
| •
|
Evaluating
community-based clinical and public health programs and
interventions to assess which ones are effective as well
as cost-effective in improving the population’s health. |
One
reason that public health tends to be less familiar to many
people is that it is often less visible, yet most people receive
benefits daily from public health services and activities. For
example, we take for granted the fact that water we drink from
our faucets is clean and safe, the automobiles we drive have
the latest safety features that reduce our risk of injury and
limit the amount of pollution created by gasoline byproducts,
and our risk of illness is lower because many programs exist
for immunizing the population against infectious diseases.
Public
health vs. clinical health services
Most
of the public health services and activities listed above tend
to emphasize prevention of disease rather than treatment of
illness. They also emphasize one important difference between
public health and individual medical care. While private doctors
and hospitals treat individual patients one-on-one for specific
illnesses or diseases, the focus of public health is often on
an entire population. Public health professionals are concerned
with the health of the community, including the causes and risk
factors underlying the spread of disease, developing and promoting
practices to improve a population’s health, and developing
health policy that promotes a population’s health. This
population-based approach to improved health forms the core
of public health activities, and often incorporates many different
health disciplines.
Current and future public health challenges
The
world changes constantly, and so do the population’s health
needs and threats to good health. Public health professionals
today confront challenges in how to identify and prevent spread
of disease caused by new, emerging, or re-emerging infectious
agents, such as E-coli, Ebola, and Hanta virus. There are also
new threats through use of biologic, chemical, and nuclear agents
that involve important potential health effects for the community.
Other challenges facing public health professionals include
reducing health care disparities by people of different age,
gender, race, or ethnicity and reversing the trend in behaviors
that currently lead to poor health, injury, or violence, particularly
among adolescents and certain other population subgroups.
Public
Health Careers
Many professional disciplines are involved in assessing, preventing,
or treating public health problems. These include medicine,
nursing, nutrition, social work, environmental science, health
administration, mathematics, and psychology. As a result, while
public health professionals tend to be trained in and focus
on one specific discipline, they must be familiar with other
fields and be able to work in concert with professionals from
other disciplines in order to achieve the desired outcome of
improved health and prevention of disease.
Who provides public health services?
Public health services are provided in a number of different
settings and by different individuals or organizations. Public
health providers include city, county, state, and federal governmental
agencies that provide health services to individuals of a community,
often through clinics or hospitals they operate or by having
professionals (such as public health nurses) visit homes. Private
physicians, hospitals, and other providers not directly associated
with these organizations also frequently provide some public
health services. In addition, there are many non-governmental
organizations whose primary focus is to prevent disease and
reduce unhealthy practices. These are just a few of the providers
of public health services that exist in most communities.
Ethics
and Public Health?
Public health is viewed by many as both a job and a calling
to public service. As such, the public places a great deal of
authority and trust in the ability of public health professionals
to evaluate alternatives and make decisions that are best for
the community. What values guide these decisions?
The Public Health Leadership Society has compiled a set of twelve
Principles of the Ethical Practice of Public Health
that they suggest should guide public health professionals in
their jobs. These encompass such basic tenets as respecting
the rights of individuals in the community, empowering disenfranchised
individuals, providing information to implement effective policies,
protecting the confidentiality of that information, and respecting
diverse values, beliefs, and cultures. For a complete list of
all principles, please click
here.
Public
Health Education
Individuals who are interested in a career in public health
may choose among many different disciplines as well as ways
of receiving education and training. Opportunities may exist
at all levels of education. However, in general, jobs involving
greater responsibility and authority are given to those who
receive university education.
High School Preparation
There is no specific course of study in high school
to prepare for a particular public health profession due to
the breadth of disciplines encompassing public health. In general,
students would be advised to take as many courses in mathematics
and science as possible. Students
should work closely with their academic advisor to plan a course
of study that will prepare them to pursue health or public health
professions.
Community College Programs
There are a number of specific programs at the
community college level designed to provide education and training
in focused areas. Examples include nursing and medical equipment
technicians. Interested individuals are encouraged to contact
their local community college to request additional information.
Universities
Education at the university level provides the
opportunity to specialize in a particular area involving public
health.
Undergraduate and Graduate Health Programs
Students may study and receive a Bachelor's Degree in specific
fields of study that lend themselves to working in public health.
These include psychology, many of the science fields, health
education, statistics, and social work to name just a few. There
are also a number of programs at universities in California
and Hawaii that provide education and degrees in public health
at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.
Graduate Schools of Public Health
There are four accredited schools of public health in California.
These schools are reviewed periodically by a national organization
to ensure that they offer a high quality educational experience.
These schools offer the Master of Public Health (MPH), Doctor
of Philosophy (PhD), and many other degrees in a variety of
areas relevant to public health. Each university and program
has specific admission and graduation requirements. Interested
students should consult the schools of their choice for more
information. A list of accredited Schools of Public Health throughout
the U.S. may be found on the website of the Association
of Schools of Public Health.
