public health salary

public health salary

The Importance of Public Health Salary

1. The Role of Public Health Professionals

Public health professionals that are involved with global health work on many issues such as climate change, trade policy, and poor working conditions because these are concerns that affect population health. This is important to distinguish from international healthcare. Actions that seek to prevent, cure, or alleviate disease and suffering are in the domain of international healthcare, not global health.

Not only do public health professionals serve the nation, but they also serve the international community. Public health and global health are becoming increasingly connected as issues of disease and illness are not restricted by national boundaries. The ultimate goal of global health is to improve health and achieve health equity for all people worldwide. Global health usually requires addressing the events and conditions that affect health in the world in an interconnected manner. This is the dimension of public health that concerns the health of whole populations.

The CDC has a mission to promote health and quality of life by preventing and controlling diseases, injuries, and disabilities. This federal agency has a wide range of jobs from epidemiologists to engineers and entomologists. They must track disease outbreaks, protect against environmental hazards, research ways to help people live longer, healthier lives, and respond to natural disasters and other health emergencies.

At the national level, many governmental agencies are responsible for serving the public health throughout the nation. The two most well-known agencies are the United States Public Health Service (USPHS) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). USPHS is a system of 6 health agencies that is part of the Department of Health and Human Services and is led by the Assistant Secretary of Health. The mission of the USPHS is to “protect, promote, and advance the health of our nation.” USPHS officers are commissioned and non-military and carry out programs in health promotion, disease prevention, and health education. They are experts in health promotion and disease prevention as they hold diverse roles as clinicians, researchers, and program developers.

Introduction Though public health once focused on the inspection of water and the eradication of infectious disease, today’s public health professionals tackle a wide range of complex health issues. They implement programs and craft policies aimed at improving the health of individuals and communities. With a focus on preventive rather than curative measures, public health professionals work to identify the root causes of unhealthy conditions.

2. The Impact of Salary on Public Health Workforce

A Pew analysis of U.S. Census Bureau data found that the gap between wages in the government sector and those in education and private industry has grown significantly during the past 40 years. The income of a four-year college graduate working in education as a full-time public school teacher or faculty member is 55% of that in the private sector – the largest such earnings gap in more than 40 years of data. By comparison, recent graduates working for the government earn 81% of what their counterparts working in the private sector earn – a considerably smaller earnings gap now than in 1990, when the two groups’ pay was almost identical. The impact of these trends is manifesting today. The teacher earnings penalty has grown from 6% in 1996, and the wage penalty is highest for experienced teachers (45 years or older) who have worked between 18 and 32 years in the public sector. Male teachers also suffer from a larger earnings penalty than female teachers, mostly because the wages of male teachers in the public sector have fallen relative to those of their private sector counterparts, and women working in private industry have seen an increase in wages compared to men in that sector. A similar situation is occurring for newly hired college faculty. In the past, new public sector teachers and faculty members earned more than their peers working in private industry, but public sector employees’ wages now start at about 87% of the wages of college graduates employed in the private sector. This figure is closer to 77% for college graduates working at the federal level.

3. Factors Affecting Public Health Salary

The type of work to be done in public health is a large factor, with some public health professions such as physicians or dentists having high salaries comparable to the private sector, while other professions may not be as prestigious. Lastly, job location can influence salary due to the economics of specific nations, and in some cases, the salary of a public health professional in their home country will be higher than in the United States. In certain states of the US, certain locations have higher salaries due to a higher cost of living. For example, on average, a public health professional in San Francisco is paid more than a professional in a small town in the Midwest United States.

The factors are broken down into formal education, longevity in the field, type of work to be done, and job location. Typically, formal education in a specific field of public health results in a higher salary due to better positions in the federal government and private companies. Longevity in the field is a simple factor meaning that more years working in a specific field of public health will result in an increase in salary compared to previous years’ salary. This can be capped off at 35 years in the field through the Social Security Retirement Age (age 67).

In general, the more influential that the factor is to economics and business, the more influential it is to the salary of public health professionals working in the private sector. For example, if an automotive company is making large revenues, it may increase the environmental health work available and the average salary of the environmental health professionals at the company.

It is important to understand that a lot of factors affect public health salary. Your career may include some of the following factors, even though it may not include all of them.

4. The Need for Competitive Public Health Salaries

Health and human service graduates usually have some knowledge in the health and human service field; approximately 33% of graduates with a master’s degree in public health have a second degree. These individuals usually have undergraduate degrees in areas such as nursing or dietetics. These health and human service educated individuals could potentially benefit from the field of public health if salaries were competitive with the private sector. Many of these individuals would like to have public health education available to them and have relevant experience which could contribute to their mastery of public health competencies. These individuals would be more willing to both return to school and learn how to apply their own area of expertise to public health in return for career enhancement and better pay. As it is now, many of these individuals choose not to advance to the MPH level because it seems impractical for them to stop working and return to school full time. This is especially true for those with families, career commitments, or individuals paying off undergraduate loans. A competitive salary could motivate some of these individuals to take a part-time or leave of absence from their current jobs to advance their education and potentially ‘fill the void’ of much-needed talent in various areas of public health.

Although public health careers are filled with great opportunities, they are not necessarily attractive to some people who are interested in serving their community. Public health careers are not usually glorified. Some public health workers work on public issues without ever receiving due recognition for their contributions to the community. The major reason for this is that public health careers are mostly low-key. There are not many press conferences; no TV, movie or radio coverage. In a public health career, the most effective working is directly involved with the community. This is not always attractive to certain individuals because of a reduced potential for fame and fortune.

5. Strategies for Improving Public Health Salary

Certainly, increasing public sector funding for public health is the simplest and most direct means of improving public health salary. Data from a Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice survey in 2009 indicated that 75% of public health workers believe that underfunding of public health is a problem. Individual views on the adequacy of public health funding have likely become more negative since the outbreak of the recent economic recession. While public sentiment is an important factor in determining the allocation of public dollars to public health services, recent public health emergencies such as H1N1 have proven that reactionary public health measures are inadequate for protecting the public’s health. Advocacy efforts for public health funding must stress the high return on investment of preventative health measures in comparison to the high cost of treatment for acute or chronic illness. Public health advocates may benefit from using tools such as health impact assessments or economic research to demonstrate the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of specific public health programs.

Overcoming the deterrent of low salary in public health professional positions will require a combination of advocacy, policy change, and workforce development initiatives. Increasing public funding for public health salary is likely to be the most effective means of raising salary levels. Improving the perception of public health as a worthwhile career track could also go a long way toward making public health salary more competitive. Finally, a strategic approach to workforce development that positions public health workers as knowledge workers possessing a specific skill set, and not merely workers in social service fields, may increase the value society places on public health work and thereby its salary.