Health Educators


Outlook

Employment Prospects

Employers

Approximately 62,100 health educators are employed in the United States. They work at health care facilities (e.g., hospitals, medical offices), colleges and universities, public health departments, nonprofit organizations, and private businesses. Twenty-seven percent work for government agencies, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Starting Out

Many health educators land their first jobs through contacts that they made during internships, co-ops, and volunteer positions. Others learn about openings through their personal and professional networks, via career fairs or job leads provided by their professors or their school’s career services office, or by accessing job listings at LinkedIn or those posted on a potential employer’s Web site.

Advancement Prospects

A skilled and experienced health educator can advance to the position of director of health education at an organization. Others may advance by choosing to take a position at a larger organization—for example, moving from work at a local nonprofit to a national one. After successful careers, some health educators choose to become college professors. Others become managers and executives at health care nonprofits or government agencies.

Tips for Entry

Visit PublicHealthCareers.org to learn more about the field, including information on education and career paths and lists of local, state, and territorial health departments.

Read Health Education & Behavior and Health Promotion Practice (both are available at https://www.sophe.org/publications) to learn more about the field.

Check job listings on these Web sites:

  • https://careers.apha.org/jobseekers
  • https://www.sophe.org/professional-development/careerhub
  • https://www.usajobs.gov

Get certified. It will give you the edge over other applicants, and some employers require their health educators to be certified.