Public Health Policy: Career Options, Avenues, Role & Impact

When we talk about health and wellness, the first picture that sprouts up in most minds is that of doctors and nurses, or front-end medical practitioners, in broader terms. However, there is a whole machinery and administration that helps these doctors and health practitioners reach the masses. This is addressed in the areas of public health policy and administration. All nations require robust public health policies to help disseminate medicines, regulate vaccines, maintain health records, life expectancy data, draft health guidelines etc. This article throws light on the importance of this career option and the different ways of carving a career in this field.

What Is Public Health?

According to the World Health Organization, health is a “a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being rather than the mere absence of disease and infirmity.” Public Health is described as the “science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health, through the organised efforts of society.” All courses in public health are aimed towards achieving this objective of complete health and well-being.

Case Of Nitya

Nitya is a doctor who has completed her MBBS. She has the choice of pursuing an MD, however she is also considering a career in public health. So, how is public health different from being a doctor, nurse or clinical practitioner? As a doctor, if a patient suffering from fever comes to Nitya, she will check their symptoms, prescribe tests and medicines. Perhaps the test reports show that the patient is suffering from dengue. She will then prescribe medicines to help treat dengue.

As a public health professional, Nitya will not directly treat the patient. Instead, she will work with organisations to see how the spread of dengue and malaria can be countered and how residents can be educated to make them more aware of the disease and counter its spread.

Now, in Nitya’s case she is also a keen administrator and during her medical internships she saw how both doctors and patients suffered as the systems and processes were not working in alignment. So many times, there was a lack of information, medicine, and laws, that often caused a delay in patients’ recovery and feeling better. She is considering a career in public health administration so she can realise her newly-found dream of providing better healthcare facilities to patients and better working conditions for doctors. So, she is choosing to apply for a postgraduate course in public health care and hospital administration. Armed with this degree she will be able to join policy think tanks and organisations like WHO, USAID and NGOs that work towards better health and medical practices in India.

Who Can Pursue Public Health?

To carve a career for yourself in public health, you would be required to do a postgraduate course in Public Health. A large percentage of students who specialise in public health are doctors or from allied medical fields like dentistry, veterinary sciences, psychology etc. Graduates in Life Sciences with a keen interest in health and wellness are also eligible for this course. Some universities also accept graduates from different streams and do not insist on a science-based degree, though a background in health and wellness always helps. An allied course is Master’s in Hospital Administration, which refers to the smooth running of a single hospital or chain of hospitals.

To carve a career for yourself in public health, you would be required to do a postgraduate course in Public Health

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What Does The Course Cover?

Public Health courses are multidisciplinary and include topics related to epidemiology, social sciences, public policy, management, administration, legal aspects, community health, environmental health etc. Both degree and diploma courses are available in India and abroad. The degree is a 2-year postgraduate programme and 1-year diploma programmes are also available.

Where Will You Work?

Public health professionals are absorbed in the following types of organisations and institutions:-

International Organisations | Organisations like the World Health Organization (WHO) often look for professionals to undertake projects in public health. Employment is often contractual for these projects and gets extended based on funding and needs.

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Universities & Educational Institutions | Public health specialists are needed to teach public health policy and research to students pursuing courses in health and life sciences.

Research Centres For Disease Control | Private and government organisations that undertake research that helps inform health policies and guidelines, frequently look for public health specialists to design, develop and monitor their programmes and engage in policy formulation.

Non-Government Organisations | NGOs that focus on health, family planning, child care, gerontology, sanitation, sex education etc. are often in the need for public health specialists to design and implement their communication documents, projects and programmes.

Health- Based Communication | Indian and international journals, newspapers, magazines, both online and paper-based, need public health specialists to review, edit and proofread content.

Pharmaceutical Organisations | Organisations that engage in health-based research, drug trials, etc. need inputs from public health policy specialists to engage with stakeholders, provide trial-based inputs, or even assist in the patenting processes.

Food & Drug Administration | Policies are needed around storage, procurement and distribution of drugs and foods from granaries. Policies and regulation are also needed to run restaurants, snack counters or places that serve food in government schools, hospitals, etc that help hygienic food and quality drugs reach the population of the nation. Public health specialists are hired for relevant positions in these organisations.

Insurance Firms | Public health specialists are hired to understand and define customer-friendly policies and terms that are mutually-beneficial for the claimant and the insurance agency, and allow the agency to verify and process legitimate claims.

A public health specialist may often need to research, write, use statistical tools, research the health problems in different geographic areas and demographic profiles.

Role & Impact

Role and work of a public health specialist often go unnoticed by the public eye. However, the recent pandemic threw light on the significance of a robust public health system that helps in reaching out to patients and hospitals through efficient planning and administration. Many people suffered due to lack of adequate hospital beds, medicines, overpriced drugs, lack of timely information, lack of adequate oxygen or the absence of testing kits and timely results. All of these are within the scope of work of public health specialists who work in both government and non-governmental organisations to provide treatment and wellness information.

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Apart from Covid-19, educating the masses on other infectious diseases and providing guidelines for treatment, prevention and reducing the spread are critical focus areas of public health specialists. Often, public health specialists work in interdisciplinary teams composed of researchers, epidemiologists, statisticians, administrators, and doctors so each specialist contributes towards a holistic solution to the problem.

Case Of Meena

Take the case of Meena, a dentist who was practising and treating patients after her bachelor’s degree in dental sciences at a hospital. After a few years of practising, she realised that this was not something she wanted to do. She wanted to reach and make a greater impact as many of the patients she was seeing in her hospital were unaware of good dental hygiene and hence suffered a lot. She wanted to understand how she could help teach the masses about good dental hygiene at a large scale. This motivated her to take a postgraduate course in public health and she is currently both teaching and doing doctoral research in the area.

Case Of Parmar

Another example is the case of Parmar, who is a social worker. During his internships he worked with cancer patients who had reached a terminal stage. His research helped him understand that cancer patients are often ill-treated by family members due to their vulnerability and high expenses. He discovered that the onset of cancer is not detected early making patients suffer and reach a terminal stage. He chose to study public health after his degree in social work and wanted to help in advocacy of cancer patients and timely diagnosis for better treatment and cure.

A public health specialist may often need to research, write, use statistical tools, comprehend complex data, travel, and research the health problems in different geographic areas and demographic profiles and then provide inputs that help in defining policies for a specific area. It is a complex role and requires passion, hard work, a head for data and numbers, as well as a mission to serve the people through the impact and implementation of robust policies.

Public health specialists are going to see a surge in demand in times to come. So, if you are thinking of working in the area of health and medicine, and have a zeal to serve and create impact, public health may just be for you!

Dr. Srividya is an Organisational Psychologist, Career, and Personal Growth Coach. She works with teens, parents, adults, and returning professionals, to help them align their personal and professional needs, desires, and overcome personal and professional challenges. She can be reached at www.lifevidya.in