What Can You Do With a Public Health Certificate?

Enhancing health outcomes often requires improving health understanding. The Center for Health Care Strategies (CHCS) notes that nearly 9 in 10 adults in the United States struggle with health literacy, potentially leading to worse outcomes, increased expenses and a strained health care system. Those educated in public health can act as health promotion advocates to educate the public on healthy and unhealthy behaviors, disease prevention, and more.

Public health is critical to studying diseases, improving health care policy, and understanding the relationship between population health and the environment. For those who already have a bachelor’s degree, a public health certificate can help enhance that understanding.

When asking what professionals can do with a public health certificate, consider the many fields that public health impacts. Expertise in the area can be valuable to physicians, nurses, environmentalists, data professionals and many more. Individuals in various careers will find that a certificate in public health offers a comprehensive understanding of critical public health topics. Additionally, course credits from a certificate program can often be applied to a master’s degree for those interested in the benefits of a graduate education.

Why Pursue a Public Health Certificate?

A public health certificate can offer material benefits, such as higher salaries. Certificates indicate a qualitative understanding of a specific subject or subsection of a field, and expertise in public health can help job applicants stand out to employers. Also, certificates can often be earned remotely, allowing students to pursue continuous learning while meeting their current work obligations.

Many certificate programs offer various learning areas, such as health management, environmental health and epidemiology. For those who wish to focus their career ambitions on a specific field, such as environmental consulting, a public health certificate can signal specialized expertise to employers.

Public health certifications can also benefit those looking to monitor best practices and developments in the field. Additionally, certifications may help individuals prepare for advanced education, such as a master’s degree in public health program, as credits from certificate programs may be transferable.

What Will You Learn in a Public Health Certificate Program?

Coursework in different certificate programs may vary, but typically covers areas such as the following:

Health Management and Policy: The study and practice of how health care is provided to patients and how policy changes can improve health outcomes while observing legal and ethical guidelines
Fundamentals of Health Promotion: An exploration into engaging with populations about health subjects and empowering them to develop healthy behaviors
Environmental Health: The study of the relationship between people and their surroundings, including the role that environmental impacts play in how the social determinants of health affect populations
Biostatistics: Using statistical methods and data to analyze health data, such as the relationship between certain types of cancers and specific population categories
Epidemiology: The study of how diseases spread among populations, what causes them to appear, and how they may be controlled or eliminated

Some certificate programs offer the ability to develop key career skills or upskill existing ones, such as communication, critical thinking and organization. These can be critical to the wide variety of careers that engage with public health and the many soft skills that are transferable between different aspects of a professional career. For example, strong leadership can be crucial for both a public health advocate and a physician.

Who Can Benefit From a Public Health Certificate?

Public health knowledge can be applied to several fields and combined with other skills to improve the breadth of expertise. Roles that can benefit from specialized public health education include the following:

Physician
Nurse and medical assistant
State health department employee
Public administrator
Data professional
Public works manager
Environmental advocate and consultant
Transportation director
Nonprofit manager

Advance Your Career With Public Health

Understanding what professionals can do with a public health certificate highlights the credential’s versatility, as a range of careers in different fields can benefit from public health expertise. If you’re interested in advancing your career and developing new skills, consider the benefits of Augusta University Online’s post-baccalaureate certificate in public health. Our fully online program allows students to meet their career and personal obligations while remotely continuing their education and developing crucial expertise in public health.

AU Online’s certificate curriculum shares several core courses with the Master of Public Health (MPH) program, including biostatistics and fundamentals of health promotion. This makes it an ideal way for students who are interested in an MPH to get a sense of both the field and the AU Online experience, as the two programs share faculty. After earning certification through the 15-credit course, students ready for an advanced degree can seamlessly transfer those credits to the MPH program.

Find out how you can make a real impact on the health of communities with a certificate from AU Online.

Sources:
Center for Health Care Strategies, Health Literacy Fact Sheets
Indeed, How to Get a Certificate in Public Health in 7 Steps
Indeed, Top 25 Public Health Careers (With Salaries and Job Descriptions)
Indeed, 25 Public Health Jobs That Pay Well (and Their Duties)
Indeed, What Is Public Health? Education and Career Options