While the curriculum for a health informatics degree program differs in some ways from a public health degree program, there are many overlapping subjects. Additionally, graduates with a degree in health informatics have information technology skills that are invaluable to many public health services. Since public health initiatives work with large populations, being able to organize large sets of data is something that public health officials need to inform their policy decisions. To check out some great programs that will allow you to take on specialized, statistic-heavy positions in the field of public health, have a look at our list of top online public health informatics degree programs. If any of the programs on our list might be a good match for you, be sure to follow the links to the school’s website and request more information. Consider the following public health jobs that you will be eligible for with a degree in health informatics:
- Health Center Administrator: Oversee the operations of different health centers, such as doctor’s offices, hospitals, and public clinics.
- HIV Specialist: They locate and track outbreaks of HIV, and work with patients to ensure that they can continue to live productive and healthy lives despite their diagnosis.
- Management Policy Advisor: Analyze data in order to provide expert advice for public health officials to ensure that their policy decisions are efficient and effective.
- Public Health Engineer: Ensure that the technological devices used by a health center are working and maintained properly, as well as implementing new technological innovations when possible.
- Mental Health Researcher: Gather and analyze data about mental health patients, because mental health diseases are some of the hardest for doctor’s to diagnose based on usual medical procedures.
- Tropical Disease Expert: Tropical climates provide conditions for many diseases to survive and spread, necessitating experts who advise at-risk populations on public health strategies to prevent epidemic outbreaks.
- Epidemiologist: Analyze data that predict disease spread to provide data that will help inform public health policy.
- Medical Writer: Draft and publish articles for periodicals as well as academic journals that help communicate nuanced public health issues to convey information that can be utilized by a variety of medical professions as well as the public.
- Emergency Public Health Preparedness and Response Advisor: Plan and execute preemptive strategies for limiting potential public health disasters.
Related: Health Informatics Salary Guide
For a full list of careers available for graduates who are looking to get into the field of public health, check out our list of the 50 Top Public Health Jobs. If you want to work in the field of public health in an analysis role, as opposed to a front-line medical role, enrolling in a health informatics degree program is a safe route to take. A health informatics degree program mixes the sociological and medical aspects of a public health degree with the technical expertise of an information technology degree, making graduates unique candidates for a variety of jobs in the field of public health. Professionals in the field of public health have some of the most impactful professions for humanity as a whole and can be proud of the contributions that they make to help ensure the safety and health of large populations of people.
