Careers
The College offers career services for undergraduate and graduate students through our Office of Public Health Practice and Partnerships
Our Public Health Ambassadors, Bill Franks, Matt Stefanak, Bob Howard are available to meet with students on an appointment basis to provide career counseling. Bill and Matt are retired local health commissioners with decades of experience and numerous professional contacts in Ohio and nationally. Bob is a former hospital executive who was responsible for strategic planning and other organization-wide indicatives at Akron Children's Hospital. They are dedicated to helping students prepare themselves for a career in public health and health care offering:
- Resume review and guidance
- Job interview advice
- Referrals for internships, applied practice experiences (APE), job shadowing, and job openings
Please with one of our Public Health Ambassadors and get to know them here!
The Ambassadors offer virtual career sessions each semester. To see the list of upcoming sessions, visit our Events webpage.
Archived Career Session Videos
Careers in Public Health
What kinds of careers Public Health are available in today’s job market?
The public health field has a wide range of career opportunities for students who want to make a difference in the lives of others. Professionals in are responsible for improving the health and well-being of communities and individuals. Kent State Public Health students who are passionate about these issues can pursue a variety of different career paths that are both professionally and financially rewarding.
Learn more about the following careers in Public Health by clicking on the links below:
- Emergency Management
- Environmental Health Specialist
- Epidemiologist
- Health Service Manager
- Lab Technologist
- Occupational Health and Safety Specialist
Globally there is a shortage of nearly 4.3 million health workers, and this is expected to increase by an additional 20 percent in the next two decades.¹ Because of this, there will be an increase in demand for graduates to fill these public health jobs.
According to the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health:
More than 250,000 additional public health workers will be needed by 2020 to avert a public health crisis … Over the next 12 years, schools would have to train three times the current number of public health students to meet projected needs.²
This trend is also true for Ohio. The United Health Foundation projects that by the year 2020 the public health workforce shortages for the state of Ohio will be in excess of 10,000 workers.
Public Health Careers: Salary Expectations
According to , yearly compensation ranges from $31,500 to $161,400 for the following types of careers in Public Health:
- Health services administrator
- Environmental health specialist
- Epidemiologist
- Biostatistician
- Internal health specialist
- Health educator
- Occupational health & safety specialist
- Laboratory Technologist
- Food safety specialist
Our faculty and staff are committed to preparing Kent State Public Health students to meet the requirements for these and other public health careers. Our curriculum combines academic and theoretical training with practical, hands-on experiences in real worksite settings.
How do I determine which public health program is best for me?
Schedule an advising appointment
To set up an appointment with our Academic Advising staff, call 330-672-6500 or e-mail us at publichealth@kent.edu
1World Health Organization. The World Health Report 2006: working together for health. World Health Organization; Geneva: 2006 (accessed November 17, 2009).
2Association of Schools of Public Health. Confronting the Public Health Workforce Crisis (accessed November 17, 2009).