{"id":9345,"date":"2021-11-19T13:07:08","date_gmt":"2021-11-19T18:07:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.goodwin.edu\/enews\/?p=9345"},"modified":"2024-12-16T16:57:28","modified_gmt":"2024-12-16T21:57:28","slug":"public-health-vs-public-safety-degree","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.goodwin.edu\/enews\/public-health-vs-public-safety-degree\/","title":{"rendered":"The Public Health vs. Public Safety Career Path"},"content":{"rendered":"

Professionals who work in public health and public safety have a lot in common. They spend their days working to protect our population from outside threats and disasters. Their careers are dedicating to keeping others safe. While public health and public safety are often talked about together, as their relationship is reciprocal, they are two distinct entities. For those aspiring to help the greater good, it\u2019s important to know that public health and public safety are different fields of work and different programs of study, with one common goal.<\/p>\n

Below, we break down what it means to work in public health vs. public safety, and where these two career paths overlap.<\/p>\n

What is Public Health?<\/h3>\n

Public health is the science of protecting and improving the health of individuals, communities, and populations. The chief role of public health<\/a> is to promote health and prolong the lives of people. Often, this involves taking strides to prevent disease and disability, increase access to healthcare, educate others about health topics, and create strategies to improve the public\u2019s quality of life.<\/p>\n

What is Public Safety?<\/h3>\n

Public safety is the protection of people and communities from crime, disaster, and other outside threats. It typically refers to a function of government agencies, which are specifically designed to help safeguard the general public and U.S. citizens from potential danger. Learn more.<\/a><\/p>\n

Public Health vs. Public Safety Careers<\/h3>\n

Public health careers involve protecting the health and general well-being of people. Public safety careers are focused on protecting the safety and security of our populations. As you can imagine, then, there is great overlap between the two fields. Both public health and public safety have the same mission: to protect the greater good. How they carry out this mission, however, is what makes each career path unique.<\/p>\n

Public health professionals are largely focused on health and healthcare. They may work in medical institutions, health agencies, research facilities, and laboratories to help track, prevent, and respond to disease outbreaks. However, they are also focused on helping the greater health of the public \u2013 not just physical, clinical healthcare. Therefore, you can also find public health workers helping to stop gun violence in America, or implementing campaigns to mitigate climate change, water pollution, mental illness, and substance abuse. Public health careers are dedicated to facilitating change where it is needed, in order to create a healthier and stable place for us to live, work, and play.<\/p>\n

Examples of public health careers include:<\/p>\n