Public health administrators focus on the health of a community, ensuring access to healthcare and health information. They manage employees, budgets, and projects, and work in various settings. Education in health services and business is recommended.
A public health administrator is a healthcare professional who focuses on the health of an entire community of people, ensuring that the community has adequate health and health information. While a physician focuses on the health of his patients, a public health administrator ensures that physicians are present where they are needed and that all people have the information they need to make informed health decisions. There are many different roles that a healthcare administrator could play, ranging from hospital administration to government work. These jobs often require the management and organizational skills necessary for business, as well as sufficient knowledge of science and health issues to make informed decisions about how to keep the community healthy.
As the title suggests, administration is a significant aspect of a public health administrator’s career. Public health administration involves managing employees, preparing a budget, and assigning and overseeing projects, just like any other administration job. Sometimes a public health administrator must also handle tasks such as marketing and communicating with other public health administrators, government officials, and physicians.
The “health” aspect of public health management is also important. The goal of a public health administrator is to ensure that the community in which he works remains as healthy as possible. This involves keeping people aware of environmental threats such as toxins, infections like the influenza virus, and countless other health-related threats. It also involves ensuring that healthcare is widely available and easily accessible for those who need it.
A public health administrator can work in a wide variety of settings, depending on personal preference and the needs of a community. Most public health administrators also serve on various government health committees that manage health issues in communities ranging in size from small towns to entire countries. Others may manage hospitals or run the health administration of a school district. Some, usually after working in the field for some time, choose to work at a university to teach health management.
There are several possible educational paths you can take to become a public health administrator. Many colleges offer degree programs in health services administration and public health administration. Courses in health science and related topics and business courses such as finance and management are also very helpful as a public health administrator must apply a firm knowledge of health issues to fiscally responsible management decisions. Although a bachelor’s degree combined with work experience may be sufficient for some jobs in public health administration, higher degrees are generally recommended if not required.
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