Public Health Careers
Inzone Mobile Careers Unit
How do you get started in a public health career?
Check out the careers outlined in the public health careers booklet.
Talk to and visit someone working in the role that interests you.
To do this, contact your local district health bard and ask for the public health unit.
Call career services on 0800 222 733.
Talk to careers advisors in schools, polytechs and universities.
Are you up for the challenge of a dynamic public health career?
To work in public health you need to value and respect all people and be committed to supporting families and communities to make positive change. In return you will enjoy a career that is challenging, action focussed and achieves results. You will be part of making a better future for New Zealand.
What are some of the public health careers?
There are many different roles in public health. Together all these people plan, implement programmes and monitor change in priority areas of public health and safety.
Health Promoters
Plan, implement and evaluate activities that promote health and wellbeing in communities. It is about supporting people to increase control over the factors that influence their health and wellbeing.
Health Protection Officers
Investigate and take action on public health concerns, provide advice and information, and contribute to the management of sustainable environments.
Public Health Nurses
Are registered nurses who do health assessments and disease prevention activities in schools and community settings. They play a key co-ordination role between families/ whanau, communities, and health.
Public Health Dietitians/Nutritionists
Dietitians and nutritionists support people in choosing food to maintain good health. In public health, these people work with groups and communities of people, rather than individuals.
Community Health Workers
Use specific cultural or community knowledge to build strong networks within their communities to promote health and wellbeing. They make public health messages and actions meaningful to those who are often not reached by mainstream and commercial messages.
Programme Co-ordinators
Work on a wide range of public health issues and are based in many different settings. While much of the detail of their work is different, they have a common set of tasks in researching, planning, implementing and evaluating programmes.
Inside the Inzone Mobile Careers Unit
Public Health Physicians
Are qualified medical doctors who choose to specialise in the health of groups or whole communities rather than working on individual healthcare. Most public health physicians are involved in planning, funding and managing health services, the delivery of public health projects, communicable disease control, and research and teaching.
Policy Analysts
Develop and implement public health policy, programmes and regulation. Most will plan, research, write, discuss and assess papers and reports on a specific public health issue or a wider an issue from the wider public health field.
Epidemiologists
Study diseases in populations and assist in assessing health needs.
Researchers
Research and evaluates social factors involved in health and safety.
Public Health Managers
Scope the work and manage public health teams.
Programme Managers
Manage large programmes of work on key issues.
People with Generic Skills
For example, contract management, service planning, and systems management and administration.
What qualifications will I need for a career in public health?
Most public health positions require some form of tertiary study. This may be a non-degree tertiary training programme (such as a foundation certificate course); a university degree, or a post-graduate degree. Requirements will vary depending on the career you choose. Increasingly, some form of tertiary study in public health will be required. See the public health careers booklet which outlines the qualifications you will need for each career.