Are you interested in becoming a public health program manager? If you want to work in public health as professional in charge of developing and managing health programs, it is time to learn more about the program manager job profile. With a growing population of baby boomers and the health sector servicing more insured individuals than ever, it is not surprising that public health jobs are high in demand. There are plenty of different job options to choose from when you work in Public Health, and deciding which one suits you best is key. Read on, and learn more about how you can be a part of the rewarding public health sector by finding out what public health program managers do.
What Does a Public Health Project Manager Do Daily?
You may be wondering what the primary roles of a program manager are. As a Public Health Program manager, also called a practice manager, you will be working closely with clinicians in several different practice areas to prepare them to work in multidisciplinary teams. In today’s advancing healthcare environment, more focus is being put on public health and the creation of these multidisciplinary teams who work together to deliver the greatest quality of care. Each leader within the team, whether the professional is a dentist or a social worker, will contribute information in regards to their specialty.
Once you have prepared clinicians to join the multidisciplinary team, your role as a program manager is to develop, implement and continuously evaluate various public health initiatives in your community. You may work on doing research to create an initiative one week, and the next week you could be working on making improvements to an older initiative that was already implemented. The entire goal of every public health initiative is to reach the community and improve overall health.
What Are the Educational and Professional Requirements of a Public Health Project Manager?
The public health sector is only expected to grow in the coming years, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To get started in this field of public health, most agencies require a bachelor’s degree. However, to work as a public health program manager, most agencies will require that you have a minimum of a master’s degree. Your master’s can be in public health, health, health administration, health sciences or any other related field.
Once you have earned your master’s degree, which takes six to nine years depending on your enrollment status, you will need to gain experience in the public health sector. While the employment criteria does vary from state to state and agency to agency, many agencies prefer to hire professionals who have supervisory experience or experience in health program planning. If you have several years of experience, a bachelor’s degree in a health related field may be sufficient.
Related Resource: Public Health Advisor
The public health workforce is growing dramatically. In fact, the sector is growing so quickly that there is a Public Health workforce shortage. If you want to enter the field, you need to have a formal degree, and earning this degree as the gap between supply and demand grows can benefit you. Make sure to review your options when you are comparing different degree programs so that you choose the best option. Once you earn your degree, you can work towards becoming a public health program manager and help develop health initiatives in your community.