Starting A Health Promotion Career

A career in Health Promotion often starts with a college degree. Yes, there are other ways to get involved in Health Promotion but most include starting your own business in health or wellness products or supplements.

The majority of jobs require at least a Bachelor’s degree in health science, public health, physical activity science, physical education, health management, and even nutrition or dietetics.

More employers however are starting to require additional education, experience, and certifications when hiring health professionals these days.

This might include a Master’s Degree, 5+ years of hands on experience and even professional certification. Among the most popular certifications include CHES (Certified Health Education Specialist), ACE (American Council of Exercise), or ACSM (American Council of Sports Medicine).

Professionals reaching this level are often found in leadership and management positions in schools, non-profit organizations, medical care clinics, hospitals, and even high Fortune 500 employers leading their health promotion programs.

You can also continue your education into the doctoral health promotion programs which would allow you to specialize in advanced areas of Health Promotion in the medical care, social, political, ethical, economic, and psychological fields.

What can you do with a career in Health Promotion?

There are so many things that you can do with a career in health promotion and you can specialize in one or multiple areas. Here are some examples for you to review and they might give you an idea of what you would like to do in the future.

Health Promotion in Non-Profit Organizations:

The American Cancer Society, Red Cross, American Diabetes Associations are example organizations that rely on health promotion professionals to promote their missions, educate and design health promotion programs that help them meet their goals, give presentations, and organize special events.

Health Promotion in Businesses:

Research continues to tell us that healthy employees are more productive, have less sick days, and are overall happier employees. Businesses rely on health promotion professionals to help educate employees about better health through health promotion programs offered at the workplace.

These health promotion programs are continually becoming more important as the cost of medical care and health insurance continues to rise. Businesses are investing into worksite wellness to help manage and even reduce a few of these costs.

Health Promotion is Hospitals / Clinical Settings:

Examples of health promotion professionals needed in this setting includes physical activity therapists, occupational therapists, and dietitians, public health nurses, etc, that provide patients with clinical guidance.

These are typically health promotion professionals with a specialized degree and require continuous education and training to stay ahead of the latest research and techniques.