Career Action Plan in Public Health Sector (Coursework Sample)

Career Action Plan in Public Health Sector
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Career Action Plan in Public Health Sector
Introduction
Creating a career action plan in the public health sector is expected to provide a clear blueprint on what needs to be done for a person to gain relevant skills in a given specialty. The action plan documents all the essential academic qualifications that are required of a person to be a public health specialist (Hartung & Santilli, 2018). Additionally, the plan equally outlines the training that one is required to have to have the capacity to delegate duties effectively. Another essential element of the career action plan is a description of potential employers and the highly valued features when seeking to employ various people.
Description of the career
Public health professionals are mainly tasked with providing different forms of healthcare services meant to prevent negative health outcomes. In that case, the governments are the leading employers for this group of people since the government has the highest stake in the health status of the general public (Phoosuwan & Lundberg, 2020). Apart from the government entities, some non-governmental organizations dealing with health-related issues have been shown to have some interest in public health officials.
The underlying reason behind the selection of this specific career is attributed to their role in society. The crucial roles of the public health officers significantly contribute towards the attainment of positive health outcomes at various levels in the population. Public health professionals usually provide essential health educational interventions focusing on empowering people to make the right choices about their health status (DeSalvo et al., 2017). The adoption of the mentioned health-seeking behavior after the successful provision of the health educational interventions is known to improve the overall health status of the people extensively.
Where the career can be found
Public health professionals are mainly found in the healthcare facilities owned by the governments. Also, this group of people tends to be found in other organizations that deal with providing healthcare services to the general public. The average salary of a public health professional is about $61000 per year. According to the descriptions of Kiersey’s temperaments, the public health profession requires a person to develop a rational approach to specific issues. The rational approach to issues is expected to make them develop the much-needed reason in situations where decision-making is of the essence.
Core characteristics of the career
The public health profession requires specific qualifications and training for one to be certified. In terms of academic qualifications, the public health officer is expected to have a background study in public health as a general course of environmental health. The person is then required to possess relevant knowledge about the various forms of determinants of health that contribute to the occurrences of specific health outcomes in public. A piece of vast knowledge about the diverse forms of determinants that influence the occurrence of specific illnesses can go a long way in acquiring the essential skills required for a person to manage public health programs successfully (Brannan, 2017). Also, the public health professional is expected to undergo some form of training meant to equip him or her with the knowledge and insights that can aid in the creation of awareness about the need to adopt health-seeking behaviors among the people. Therefore, it is believed that proper training and learning of all the essential materials can enhance one’s capacity to delegate his or her duties as a public health professional.
Key certifications
Public health professionals require key certifications for one to be allowed to delegate their duties effectively. In most cases, the public health professionals are usually regulated by a board responsible for formulating the procedures that the professionals are supposed to meet before being allowed to conduct their practice. One remarkable aspect of this regulatory process is that public health students are required to attend an internship program before operating independently (Nelson-Hurwitz & Buchthal, 2019). The internship program is meant to provide the relevant experience that they need to navigate through the work environment. Usually, the internship program always goes for a period of one year where the intern is exposed to a wide range of practices meant to enhance their understanding of the key issues involved in the public health profession.
Personally, at the moment, I am getting to interact with people who have been in the public health field. The personal expe