Why Pursue a Public Health Certificate Online?

It takes a village to raise a child — and it takes more than a village to safeguard the health of entire populations. Modern world threats like bio-terrorism, an increasing frequency of natural disasters, and global unrest are all converging to point to a need to deploy talented public health professionals in healthcare, pharmaceuticals, governmental & non-governmental agencies, business, and academia.

Public health professionals and agencies may be responsible for a variety of projects, such as developing campaigns to encourage hand washing, to creating drug-free advertisements targeted towards teens, to deploying health response teams to help curb wide-scale infections following a natural disaster. Though public health encompasses many fields and just as many government agencies, they all have an overlying objective: To prepare for and prevent crisis, assess risk, and exploit communication channels for the good of entire populations. One convenient way to gain the in-depth knowledge of a public health field of your interest is to consider earning a public health certificate online.

For starters, natural and man-made disasters are creating an unprecedented demand for a special breed of public health professionals: Those who are quick-thinking in the face of calamity. When a hurricane, shooting or typhoon hits, a veritable media storm floods the presses with images of uniformed emergency management professionals working to contain the situation at hand. To gain the highly specialized competencies necessary for this adrenaline-charged line of work, a disaster management certificate could be optimal. It is also well-suited to the notoriously erratic schedules common to public health professionals currently working in the disaster management field.

Not so inclined to the muddy, bloody waters of natural disasters? There are less intense, but equally rewarding, careers for those who prefer to apply their public health knowledge in research or academic settings. For example, an online graduate certificate in epidemiology and biostatistics is designed to give all kinds of professionals (like nurses, politicians and researchers) a foundation in public health that is firmly grounded in the principles of research: Creating hypotheses, analyzing data, and promoting health. Also, because technology is increasingly becoming ingrained in the modern fabric of public health, tech-savvy students could have an interest in earning an online certificate of health informatics privacy and data security for healthcare providers and public health organizations.

Should your interests lean toward the social work side of public health, online certificates in topics such as domestic violence are designed for those working in fields such as nursing, health, social services, family services, youth services, and more. Other exciting options for a public health certificate online include programs in accident prevention, safety engineering, fire protection, advanced toxicology, industrial hygiene and emergency management.