The 9 Best Careers with a Health Education Degree

If you are interested in working within the health and wellness field, there are many career paths you can follow. For instance, you might decide to fill a role that provides one-on-one medical services. This includes working as a nurse, doctor, or physical therapist. Another option is to get your health education degree and spend your days focused more on sharing insight and information about leading a healthier life.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics shares that the job outlook for health educators is promising, with a growth rate of 11 percent, which is "much faster" than the growth rate of all other jobs combined. What are some of the best career options with a health education degree?

Patient Navigator or Advocate

When you're faced with a major health issue, it can be difficult to work your way through the oftentimes complex healthcare system. This is where a patient navigator, sometimes called a patient advocate, is able to assist. In this role, you are tasked with helping patients understand the healthcare process as it transitions from diagnosis to treatment to follow-up. A patient navigator also assists patients with obtaining the information needed to make an informed healthcare decision. This typically involves working with their entire healthcare team, insurance companies, and any others who play an active role in the patient's health and wellness.

Community Health Educator

Maybe you want to use your health education degree to reach a larger number of people. In this case, a community health educator position may be of more interest to you. This position involves educating specific groups or communities about the health issues of most importance to them. You may also be responsible for talking about how to create positive health habits and/or explaining local healthcare services available. Governmental agencies hire community health educators, as do some nonprofit organizations, private businesses, and colleges.

Education Program Manager

Another one of the best careers with a health education degree is to work as an education program manager. This entails taking your knowledge of health and wellness and using it to design academic or training-related programs. In addition to working for a school or educational institution, you can also find education program managers in nonprofits, working for the government, or hired by many types of businesses.

Employee Wellness Coordinator

Speaking of businesses, your health education degree also qualifies you for employee wellness coordinator positions. Your goal in this position is to work with a company's staff to help them elevate their levels of health. This could include educating them about the benefits available to them, such as discounts at local gyms or access to nutrition coaching. It also involves encouraging employees to take advantage of health-based programs offered by the company, which offers benefits such as increased productivity, reduced disease risk, lower levels of stress, and fewer days off work.

Health Program Analyst

Maybe you have a more analytical mind. You like to look at things and take them apart to determine how and if they work. If this sounds like you, health program analyst is a career track to consider. Because analysis relies heavily on data, this role involves doing quite a bit of research. You spend your days collecting and analyzing data to determine the types of health-based programs that are needed or whether current health programs work. This position is the perfect mixture between science and health.

School Health Educator

Schools often rely on health educators to help students understand how to promote their own health. School health educators are also tasked with creating health and wellness programs targeted toward the student demographic. In this role, you can work in any level of school, from grade school to college settings. This allows you to choose the age group you'd love to educate most, as well as choosing the educational setting that has the most appeal.

Youth Outreach Coordinator

Kids and teens face a unique set of health risks. The World Health Organization explains that these include unintentional injuries, mental health issues related to depression and a lack of effective coping skills, interpersonal violence, and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). As a youth outreach coordinator, you are responsible for educating minors about the issues that impact them most. You are also tasked with connecting them to available resources aimed at lowering or managing these risks.

Health Coach

The great thing about using your health education degree to work as a health coach is that this type of health education career offers many different available paths. For instance, if you have a passion for weight loss, you can coach your clients to a lower number on the scale. Or maybe you have a burning desire to help individuals with diabetes live a longer, healthier life. You can do this as well. As a health coach, you can work with any population you wish.

Health Journalist

Health journalist earns a spot on the best careers with a health education degree because this title enables you to reach an infinite number of people. Thanks to the internet, your health articles can be read by individuals on the other side of the world. Health journalists are also incredibly important because they are responsible for reporting the latest advancements in health and wellness. Translating this type of information into easy-to-read articles helps the general public better understand the issues that may impact their health. You can also write for healthcare journals, educating professionals who work in the field.

Saint Leo University's Health Education Degree Program

If any of these health education careers are of interest to you, Saint Leo University offers a Bachelor of Science in Health Education and Health Promotion. This program provides the education necessary to work in all of these health education roles and includes classes such as Health Promotion Across the Lifespan, Nutrition and Health, Facilitating and Assessing Learning in Health Education, and Foundations of Community Health Education Methods. Enroll today or contact us to learn more.