Graduate public health jobs?
December 17, 2020 3:09 PM Subscribe
Background: I haven’t lived in the USA since 2005. Currently in New Zealand.
I’m a registered nurse with a Masters of Public Health. I have lots of experience as an RN but none in public health. I want to look at jobs in the United States but I have no idea where or what to look for.
I’ve peeked at indeed.com just punching in “public health” but all of the jobs require experience in that area.
Any hints on where and what to look for? Pay and conditions are not an issue, I just need to get my foot in the door.
I don’t have any particular focus from my MPH, it was broad and covered a bit of health promotion, epidemiology, environmental health, health research, etc.
I DO NOT want to look at nursing jobs, but I’m open to any other ideas.
If anything is available remotely that would be even better.
I’ve peeked at indeed.com just punching in “public health” but all of the jobs require experience in that area.
Any hints on where and what to look for? Pay and conditions are not an issue, I just need to get my foot in the door.
I don’t have any particular focus from my MPH, it was broad and covered a bit of health promotion, epidemiology, environmental health, health research, etc.
I DO NOT want to look at nursing jobs, but I’m open to any other ideas.
If anything is available remotely that would be even better.
If you are an RN with an MPH credential, you would be a prized candidate for a job at one of the 1,400 Community Health Centers across the US and territories. These are federally funded clinics that serve the uninsured, the undocumented, and a significant portion of the nation's Medicaid population. CHCs are in all types of settings (urban, rural, suburban) and range in size all across the board. They provide medical, dental and behavioral health care, plus usually some component of social services and/or educational programming.
There would be opportunities for positions in quality management, health informatics, health education, home visiting/social services, care coordination, program management ... SO many things other than plain patient care.
The trade association for these clinics is the National Association of Community Health Centers -- NACHC -- which would be a great first stop to look at job listings. You can also use the Find a Health Center tool to locate the CHCs in the area where you want to live, and then look at their websites directly for job openings.
DM me if you have other, specific questions ... I love telling people about this work that we do. (I am not a nurse, but I work with lots of cool nurses who are the absolute backbone of our organization!)
posted by mccxxiii at 3:30 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
There would be opportunities for positions in quality management, health informatics, health education, home visiting/social services, care coordination, program management ... SO many things other than plain patient care.
The trade association for these clinics is the National Association of Community Health Centers -- NACHC -- which would be a great first stop to look at job listings. You can also use the Find a Health Center tool to locate the CHCs in the area where you want to live, and then look at their websites directly for job openings.
DM me if you have other, specific questions ... I love telling people about this work that we do. (I am not a nurse, but I work with lots of cool nurses who are the absolute backbone of our organization!)
posted by mccxxiii at 3:30 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
I worked for some time in the field of what is referred to as "healthy food access" and many, many--if not most--of my colleagues had an MPH. The work ranges from farmers market management in high-need neighborhoods, to improving options at corner stores, to getting grocery stores in underserved communities, to working with healthcare providers to help individuals make dietary changes. The overall goal of the work is to improve public health by increasing physical and economic access to affordable, nutritious food. You may find ideas for organizations in the field by peeking at the Healthy Food Access Portal or plugging the term into Indeed.
posted by youarenothere at 3:57 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
posted by youarenothere at 3:57 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]
I'm not sure if you're looking for or open to non-clinical jobs, but there are an awful lot of nonprofit organizations that are hiring people with an MPH for all sorts of work, whether it's for writing reports, analyzing policies, performing lit reviews and summaries, etc. Are there any nonprofit organizations whose work you admire? Check their job listings, and/or reach out to their public health/medical/scientific staff on LinkedIn and inquire. Since you're someone who's been out there working in the field, even if it's not directly in an MPH-y way, you'll rise in interest by virtue of not being someone who's just leaving grad school with no toe in the field.
I left academic lab-based science as a career by hopping into a nonprofit that I like. The org was hiring scientists capable of and interested in working to improve regulatory health policy in line with the organizational mission. It was my MPH that got me the interview. Almost 12 years and several promotions later, I never expected that my MPH would lead me in this direction but I'm very glad it did.
Ah, on review I realize you're interested in remote work, so you're not just looking for clinical. And great news, nonprofits were cool with remote work before the pandemic. I've been a remote worker, outside of frequent work travel, for most of the 12 years I've been doing this.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:42 PM on December 17, 2020
I left academic lab-based science as a career by hopping into a nonprofit that I like. The org was hiring scientists capable of and interested in working to improve regulatory health policy in line with the organizational mission. It was my MPH that got me the interview. Almost 12 years and several promotions later, I never expected that my MPH would lead me in this direction but I'm very glad it did.
Ah, on review I realize you're interested in remote work, so you're not just looking for clinical. And great news, nonprofits were cool with remote work before the pandemic. I've been a remote worker, outside of frequent work travel, for most of the 12 years I've been doing this.
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 4:42 PM on December 17, 2020
My close friend has done VERY well with her MPH at HHS. I would look at USAJobs, especially after the new year/transition.
posted by rue72 at 5:00 PM on December 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
posted by rue72 at 5:00 PM on December 17, 2020 [3 favorites]
I'm an RN with an MPH, licensed though recently retired. I was reasonably well paid as an RN. Public Health jobs are (very unfortunately) vastly less well paid and I kept my clinical job and did all my public health efforts as a volunteer. Maybe Covid 19 will remedy this, but Public Health jobs are scandalously poorly paid in contrast to clinical positions. Public health in the US has been the poor stepchild for decades, with shamefully low salaries, especially considering the level of education required for an entry-level position.
A non-profit organization specializing in delivering health services and education might be a good area to investigate. They typically partner with governmental public health agencies and are active grant-seekers. They are truly the workhorses and essential extenders for the lean public health departments, who keep small staffs and lean hard on non-profit partners to get work done. Grant proposals are usually written in collaboration with the non-profit, with budgets covering the costs to the agencies and the public health organization. Also, non-profits usually have a better salary structure than actual municipal government public health agencies, though their salaries are not extravagant. However, non-profits usually have very good benefits which can help compensate for mediocre salaries.
If you have any interest in addiction medicine, that is an area where there has been a lot of activity and grants in the past few years. Homeless services and provision of health and addiction services to this population have also gotten a big boost, as the intersection of these issues became more apparent to funders.
It's hard to assess the impact of Covid 19 on US public health agencies - it has become obvious how essential public health is in educating and hopefully suppressing the virus, but it has also become a terrible victim of political attacks, and has exhausted and frightened many poorly paid, dedicated, and exhausted public health personnel all over the country.
On edit: check the American Public Health Association website for information. You can peruse abstracts from their meetings to see who is working on what problems with which public health departments. Good jumping-off point.
posted by citygirl at 8:37 PM on December 17, 2020
A non-profit organization specializing in delivering health services and education might be a good area to investigate. They typically partner with governmental public health agencies and are active grant-seekers. They are truly the workhorses and essential extenders for the lean public health departments, who keep small staffs and lean hard on non-profit partners to get work done. Grant proposals are usually written in collaboration with the non-profit, with budgets covering the costs to the agencies and the public health organization. Also, non-profits usually have a better salary structure than actual municipal government public health agencies, though their salaries are not extravagant. However, non-profits usually have very good benefits which can help compensate for mediocre salaries.
If you have any interest in addiction medicine, that is an area where there has been a lot of activity and grants in the past few years. Homeless services and provision of health and addiction services to this population have also gotten a big boost, as the intersection of these issues became more apparent to funders.
It's hard to assess the impact of Covid 19 on US public health agencies - it has become obvious how essential public health is in educating and hopefully suppressing the virus, but it has also become a terrible victim of political attacks, and has exhausted and frightened many poorly paid, dedicated, and exhausted public health personnel all over the country.
On edit: check the American Public Health Association website for information. You can peruse abstracts from their meetings to see who is working on what problems with which public health departments. Good jumping-off point.
posted by citygirl at 8:37 PM on December 17, 2020
Look at CDC Foundation for lots of COVID public health jobs.
posted by emd3737 at 9:12 PM on December 17, 2020
posted by emd3737 at 9:12 PM on December 17, 2020
You could think about clinical research. Nurses are always needed but positions are ultimately very light on nursing tasks and very heavy on research tasks. Probably the most interesting environment for you would be as part of a research team at a hospital as the research done is not 100% pharma studies and includes studies physicians decide to do themselves along with consortium studies. Nurses in clinical research are paid well.. research assistants less so.
posted by newsomz at 11:10 AM on December 18, 2020
posted by newsomz at 11:10 AM on December 18, 2020
This thread is closed to new comments.
Apply anyway! Your practical field experience as a nurse may be just as valuable to them as a few years working behind the scenes in public health. Experience requirements in job postings are a wish list, not necessarily a hard and fast line.
posted by showbiz_liz at 3:14 PM on December 17, 2020 [1 favorite]