UNICEF

UNICEF is an international humanitarian aid agency. It is actually a part of the United Nations (UN). The main focus of UNICEF is to provide any kind of relief/humanitarian aid for children around the world. This is done through disaster relief programs, providing, food, water and access to health care. One thing that I really like about UNICEF is that it is truly dedicated to the lives and rights of children all around the world. This is also shown through the 150 and offices that they have globally. They do not discriminate based on any race, religion, or sex in any way. Another aspect that is really cool about UNICEF is that they go where other agencies and organizations go to provide any type of relief to the most remote and underserved populations. In a sense children can have a voice through UNICEF because in some countries children have no bearing or access to the same rights and resources as you and I. Job opportunities for UNICEF are also very global which is a plus. Some of the countries where occupations are held include the United States, Panama, South Africa, North Africa, Denmark etc. The positions are all different ranging from Director of Volunteer and Community partnerships to an Education Assistant Director.

Maternal and Children Health

Maternal and child health services are what intrigues me the most. When i first started college, my goal and major was Biology and i wanted to become a pediatrician but then my advisor lead me towards this path and I like it. In this career you are caring for the health of mothers, childrens and families by informing them on Diseases, sicknesses and vaccination. The way you get this information to the public are through education, seminars and just spreading the word throughout the nation, state and community. "They accomplish this by discovering and testing solutions through applied research and by developing, implementing, and/or evaluating health programs at the local, state, national, and international levels." In this career you are most likely to be working in various locations such as colleges, health service delivery organizations, voluntary health agencies and Local hospitals. For this career you need a background in science biological, natural, social and behavioral. You have to be able to communicate well with people since in this career choice you will be in contact with many people during the day. Being a leader is a must, you have to be able and persuade people into listening to you, so they can promote good health for themselves, friends and families. By helping expecting mothers, childrens and mothers with good health you help the community become stronger and better. Exploring this career means alot to me, I love helping individuals and I love Children

Planned Parenthood

One of the organizations that I found very interesting and would one day like to work for is Planned Parenthood. The organization can be found in every state nationwide with about 87 local and state affiliates that operate hundreds of health centers; the closest office is on 56^th Street in Tampa. Planned Parenthood is best known for their sexual health education and focus on women’s preventative healthcare.

A great aspect of Planned Parenthood’s outlook on healthcare is their focus on respecting individuals and providing equal care to people of all age, sex, race, and income; the organization cares for over five million individuals each year. Their main goal is to prevent illness, especially sexually related problems, and teach individuals how to care for themselves and make responsible choices. Some of the services that Planned Parenthood provides include: abortions, STI testing, sexual health education, and general health care.

In 1971 Planned Parenthood even began working on international projects and currently operates in eleven countries outside of the US. The international effort is known as the Planned Parenthood Federation of America (PPFA) and focuses on such things as women’s rights and reproductive health. There are 40 team members that provide sexual health education, services, and advocacy for women and families in low income countries.

Planned Parenthood has many opportunities for volunteer, internship, and employment positions and would be a great place for anyone with a public health degree to work.

http://www.plannedparenthood.org/index.htm

Hospital - Infection Control

One career of interest that I have come across is working within the Infection Control Department at a local Hospital. Essentially every hospital has such a department in order to treat patients with communicable diseases, but also to prevent nosocomial infections from arising while receiving treatment for other ailments within a healthcare setting. Since an alarming number of infectious disease cases trace their sources back to hospital or long term care settings, and transmission among patients and staff is highly likely, this field is extremely important! The infection control department is, by definition, concerned with all infectious diseases, but typically, a lot of the focus lies within MRSA, Tuberculosis, and VRE. An Infectious Disease Epidemiologist working in this department might find themselves giving patient consultations, collecting transmission data of infections spread between patients by lack of adherence to hygiene protocol by health workers, and developing educational and action plans in order to hinder the spread of disease.

Currently, most open positions that I have found in this field have been opened to individuals with an RN or MD, but I believe this will be changing with the new interest and degree opportunities within public health. An individual with a general Public Health background, and an MPH in Epidemiology & Global Communicable Diseases would be highly qualified for this position, which is my intended education track. No specific positions are open at this time, so no salary information is available.

United States Department of Health and Human Services

The United States Department of Health and Human Services in a huge department in this country. There are many agency's that fall under the Department of Health and Human services. Almost a forth of all the programs fall under this department. Two of the jobs that I found interest in were among the agency and programs that fall under this department. One of which was the Center of Disease Control which as we know is located out neighbour state Georgia. to be more specific the center is located in Atlanta, GA. Although the center is located in Atl, GA not all jobs require the applicant to live there. This brings me to one one the two jobs with the CDC that caught my attention. One was a Health Communications specialist, which is in Atlanta. In contrast, the other on that was a Public Heath Analyst that required relocation to Ethiopia! I found this very interesting and also appealing. It would be quite an experience living in Ethiopia for a while, the salary range is from $60,274.00 to 110,104.00 so this position could afford a comfortable life.

United States Department of Health and Human Services

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Johnson & Johnson

One company that caught my attention was Johnson & Johnson. There is currently a job opening for a global medical affairs leader dealing directly with infectious diseases in one of their companies located in Titusville, New Jersey. Even though they are a big corporate pharmaceutical company, what caught my attention was their mission statement. They pay attention to four major things. These include the doctors and health care officials; the employees; the community; and the stockholders. There are over 250 companies worldwide and they deal with advanced medical technologies handling cancer diagnostics and treatment, heart disease, AIDS, infectious diseases, orthopedic disorders, and many more areas of health. I really like that they work with the many fields of health and have a number of job opportunities dealing with public health. This job deals with clinical-commercial of product development and life cycle management strategies. Not only do you get to work in teams, you also deal with other global leaders in health education, health relations, life cycle management initiatives, and many more. It requires a little bit of traveling because you would have to go meet with other global medical affairs leaders as well. This has always been my choice of work environment because I was always interested in epidemiology which deals with tracking infectious diseases.