After Williams

Careers and Graduate School

 A wide variety of career opportunities exist for students with a background in public health. With a bachelor’s degree, it is possible to obtain positions in government, nonprofit, consulting, academic, or advocacy organizations. Contact an advisory board member or the Career Center Science and Health Professions for additional guidance.

Masters of Public Health

Students interested deepening their knowledge in public health should pursue a Masters in Public Health (M.P.H.) focusing on one of the following areas: biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health sciences, global health, health education, health policy and management, infectious disease, maternal and child health, nutrition, or social and behavioral sciences.

Some useful links listing accredited schools and programs of public health and information about how to apply to an M.P.H. program:

  •  What is Public Health?  Informational site sponsored by APHA
  • Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH):  List of accredited public health programs
  • Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health (ASPPH):  ASPPH represents the member schools of the CEPH & promoting certification in Public Health (CPH)
  • SOPHAS: Central Application Service for Public Health (portal for applying to most accredited public health programs)

Admission requirements vary from school to school, and also on the basis of specific training interests. When applying, students often choose the area of focus, and prerequisites may well tie to the specific area of study. In most cases, some experience in the field and/or demonstration of quantitative skills (i.e., GRE scores) are required.

Joint Degree Programs

The MPH degree may be attained on it own or in conjunction with a degree in clinical medicine or nursing (M.D., M.S.N.), social work (M.S.W.), public administration (M.P.A.), law (J.D.), business and management (M.B.A.), or divinity (M.Div.).

Students interested in doing research in the field of public health should consider pursuing a Ph.D. in a related discipline of interest such as anthropology, biology, chemistry, economics, environmental studies, philosophy, political science, psychology, or statistics. Feel free to talk to faculty on the advisory committee about how their research relates to public health.

 Where are they now?

Some recent alumni in public health are working at:

  • John Snow Inc.
  • Jhpiego
  • Veteran’s Affairs
  • Philadelphia Dept. of Public Health
  • Harvard School of Public Health
  • Boston Public Health Commission
  • Duke University
  • New York City Dept. of Health

Log onto the Career Network for more information about Williams alumni in public health.