6.7 What training is required to be in public health and what is the pay like?
There are, of course, many different positions within the world of public health research, but it’s certainly helpful to get a sense of what sort of preparation is needed to get a foot in the door as well as what compensation and benefits tend to accompany those roles. Let’s listen to Ángel describe what training is required and what distinct positions in public health pay.
Transcript: “What is the training required for my career? So, besides the psychology degree, it’s always important to have some strong foundational background in research. That’s what you need to start your baby steps in research. I started as a research assistant, and then now I’m a research coordinator. In this career, I hope to move on in a project coordinator route. So it’s always important to generate better understanding of how to work on research, how to work with a team, and if you want to be a manager, you have to focus on your leadership skills as well as your communication styles and what’s better for talking to your colleagues, or how to delegate to them in different tasks in a health manner. When I started, I started at a $35,000 payment. I’m currently at $45,000 and, of course it always changes with merit raises, depending on your performance, and it also depends on the grants available for paying anyone’s salary in your institute. Um, it can go up to $60,000 depending on if you improve your education or if you improve your background in your current job. There’s always promotion opportunities that you can go to, and in the future if you try to add a postdoctoral certification to your curriculum, it can go up above $100,000 a year. But know it’s not only financially rewarding, it’s also mentally rewarding when you help people that need a voice in the community, so I find that more valuable than what I’m getting paid for, but I still get to live a good standard of life.”
In college, there are many opportunities offered by professors to help grad students find their passion. Additionally, in Ángel’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program, there are even student groups that try to find community service opportunities. In terms of future careers, your own interests may define where the research opportunities take you. Ángel’s current institute studies a range of diseases like cancer, mental disorders, and sclerosis, but there are other institutes focused on children’s studies, exploring issues like cancer and PTSD. Researchers could work with a for-profit organization as well, hired by companies to perform trials on the efficacy of a new medication, for example. Ángel participated in such research with the Flourish Institute, and there are many others.
What’s next for Ángel? He plans to keep studying in his MPH program while he conducts research with the Biggs Institute. In his MPH program, he has learned that every health scientist plays a role in prevention as they hone knowledge about the severity of diseases through calculation and national surveys. Next semester, Ángel’s classes will focus on public speaking and advocacy to help him share public health research more successfully with the public to have a bigger societal impact.
