Careers of CBH Alumni    

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Trish 2008 MPH Alum Community and Behavioral Health

Employment: Assessment/Health Promotion Program Specialist, Johnson County Public Health, Iowa City, IA.

The mission of Johnson County Public Health is to provide leadership in promoting environmental, personal and public health through community based programs in health promotion, disease prevention, and assurance of access to primary care. Trish works with the Community Health Division, which is focused on issues including environmental health, aging, disease prevention, and health promotion. She has a wide range of responsibilities that vary from day to day, but spends much of her time coordinating, implementing, and evaluating aspects of the County Employee Wellness Program and providing health education, screenings, and counseling. She also assists with grant applications and reports, analyzes community health needs assessment data, and works with coalitions on special projects.

Trish found her job through her MPH practicum experience, which was also through the Community Health Division. She was happy to start full-time at Johnson County Public Health shortly before graduation. Trish feels that the knowledge she gained in her coursework and experience from her graduate assistantship, graduate research assistantship, and MPH practicum were invaluable in both finding a job and successfully completing her job responsibilities.

Jana  2007 PhD Alum   Community and Behavioral Health

Current Employment:  Postdoctoral Fellow, Rehabilitation Research & Training Center (RRTC) on Health and Wellness for Adults with Long-term Disabilities, Oregon Health & Science University, Portland, OR.

Jana explains that the RRTC is funded by the National Institute on Disability and Rehabilitation Research of the US Department of Education to conduct research and training to support the health and wellness of persons with long-term disabilities.  Jana is participating in two strands of research at the RRTC: 1) identifying health promotion interventions that promote health and wellness and minimize the occurrence of secondary conditions for persons with disabilities; and 2) identifying strategies to overcome barriers that impede access to routine health care for individuals with disabilities.   Jana is a primary member of the research team on health promotion, with a lead role on some projects and a participatory role on other projects.

Jana says, "I work with a national expert panel on health promotion for people with disabilities. I feel very confident in my public health and research knowledge when collaborating with leaders in the field. Despite my recent graduation, I know that my contributions are respected by my colleagues. I am very pleased that the research and career mentorship that I received from the CBH faculty has prepared me so well for this next stage of my career."

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Melissa 2006 MS Alum Community and Behavioral Health

Current Employment:  Epidemiologist at the Sinai Urban Health Institute (SUHI), a research center of Mount Sinai Health Systems, Chicago, Ill.

Melissa explains that Mount Sinai Health Systems is located in one of the poorest neighborhoods of Chicago, serving primarily the city's African-American and Hispanic populations. SUHI identifies and creates effective approaches that improve the health of urban communities. One of the major health threats to the communities served by SUHI is pediatric asthma. SUHI implemented a pediatric asthma health education program in response to this concern. Because of striking results from the first year of work, SUHI received a grant to implement a statewide asthma education program entitled Controlling Asthma through Education and Collaboration .

As part of the epidemiology team at SUHI, Melissa is in charge of coordinating the evaluation component of the asthma study for each of the participating sites. Her responsibilities include monitoring the study design, collection of data, dissemination of study findings, as well asproviding technical assistance to each of the surrounding sites.

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Lance 2006 MS Alum Health Communication Community and Behavioral Health

Current Employment:  Research and Evaluation Analyst, Research and Evaluation Department, Children's Services Council (CSC), Palm Beach County, FL

Lance explains that the mission of CSC is to enhance the lives of children and their families and enable children to attain their full potential.  Primary goals at this time are to increase the number of children entering school ready to learn and the number of children succeeding in school throughout Palm Beach County. 

Lance works closely with early care and education division programs to develop and assist with logic models; theories of change; planning, implementation and evaluation worksheets; and data collection. The programs that Lance works with focus on parenting, school readiness, early identification and developmental screening, and professional development within the early child care arena. Lance also works with some after school programs, and evaluates the teen pregnancy prevention programs that CSC funds.

Lance states that the skills he gained through CBH theory and research courses, as well as the practical experience he received through his raduate assistantship in the Iowa Center for Evaluation Research have been invaluable.  He says, "The preparation provided by the department of Community and Behavioral Health has been essential to my success in this position."

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Erin 2005 MPH Alum Community and Behavioral Health

Current Employment:  Research Analyst with the California Tobacco Control Section (CDHS-TCS) Evaluation Unit, Sacramento, CA.

The goal of the Tobacco Control Section is to improve health by reducing illness and premature death attributable to the use of tobacco products.  The Tobacco Control Section empowers statewide and local health agencies to promote health and quality of life by advocating social norms that create a tobacco-free environment.  The Evaluation Unit performs surveillance, evaluation and dissemination. This provides feedback to theCalifornia Tobacco Control Program along with data that can demonstrate the program’s impact and effectiveness.

Erin assists in evaluating statewide efforts including the media campaign and tobacco use prevention education in schools and is responsible for planning, implementing and monitoring grants and contracts under the Tobacco Control Program.  She is also responsible for local program evaluation; consultation and technical assistance regarding the use of surveillance and evaluation reports and datasets; and leadership on various research projects focused on dissemination, community-based evaluation and health policy.

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Janelle 2005 MPH Alum Community and Behavioral Health

Current Employment: Partnership Program Coordinator for both the National Cancer Institute Cancer Information Service, and the Comprehensive Cancer Control Program in Nebraska.

Janelle started her position two months after her MPH graduation. Priority areas that she is responsible for include clinical trials, tobacco control, breast & cervical cancer, and cancer disparities. One of Janelle's current projects is working with cancer centers to develop a searchable database available on the Internet that includes all the ongoing clinical trials in the State of Nebraska.Janelle says that one of the perks of her urrent position is the opportunity to travel and attend national meetings. This July she will be attending the International Cancer Conference in Washington, DC.  She believes that will be an excellent opportunity for professional development.

In regard to her studies at CBH, Janelle comments, "The CBH MPH training has been very helpful in obtaining my current position. The tools that I learned specifically in community based participatory research have been directly applicable to my current position."

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Careers In Community and Behavioral Health

With a master's degree, you could:

• Develop an outreach program in an urban community that reduces the incidence of diabetes
• Collaborate with a rural community to locate funding for a walking trail that will improve physical activity levels
• Generate a new menu and eating incentives at an industrial worksite that improve the nutrition habits of workers
• Train inmates in the prison system as peer educators, so that they can educate peers about prevention and treatment of STDs
• Implement programs in a developing country that improve the safety of female refugees and their children
• Organize a media campaign that reduces teen tobacco use
• Build a collaboration of lobbyists that secures funding for a new family violence prevention program
• Coordinate with local substance abuse treatment providers to ensure the adoption of empirically supported treatment and prevention methods
• Evaluate existing public health programs, to recommend improvements and verify effectiveness.

With a doctoral degree, you could:

• Conduct research on the effectiveness of various community based intervention trials
• Write research grants, articles and books
• Develop new theories
• Consult on research or evaluation projects
• Mentor new scientists as a professor at a research university

Below is a listing of sample positions that graduates of our master's and doctoral programs would likely be qualified for. Positions similar to these have been advertised in the past two years on the American Public Health Association's Career Mart and have been offered to CBH graduates.

Master's Level Sample Positions

Estimated starting salary range $30,000–$40,000

Public Health Educator II in a state health department

Plan, promote, coordinate, conduct, and evaluate community health education programs. Responsible for developing and maintaining collaborative relationships with community organizations and groups to promote health and prevent disease. The Health Department has a number of Public Health Educator II positions focusing on particular programs such as Adolescent School Health, Breast and Cervical Cancer Control Coordination, Pregnancy Prevention, and Violence and Injury Prevention.

Research Program Manager at a state partnership against tobacco

Manage research projects related to decreasing tobacco use, and help determine whether the programs are effective.

Coordinator of Health Promotion Programs at a private college

Plan health promotion programs at a college campus that focus on reducing alcohol and drug related harm among students.

Health Education Materials Developer at an education and research company

Develops and evaluates educational materials for tobacco control projects.

Health Program Coordinator at a kidney disease foundation

Recruit hairstylists for innovative community based kidney disease, diabetes and hypertension prevention program. Support stylists as they endeavor to persuade 25 clients to adopt preventive behaviors.

Research Assistant at a research university

Continuing to evaluate and implement a prevention program that focuses on developing a close relationship between health care providers and new parents.

Prevention Specialist at a national public health agency

Program participants will use their technical expertise and skills to develop, implement, and/or evaluate public health projects and programs. Assignment examples may include:

• Coordinating entertainment-education efforts with TV networks to encourage use of accurate health information and prevention messages in TV programs
• Developing strategies to implement community based prevention programs
• Drafting responses to CDC, HHS, or Congressional inquiries and legislative proposals for reauthorizations
• Developing a prevention research center web site

Health Educator at an HMO

Working with a team of health educators in designing, implementing, and evaluating all outreach and clinical health education programs in Southern California

Program Coordinator II for a state-wide prevention program

Develop, implement and evaluate childhood unintentional injury prevention programming, specifically designed for use by local coalitions and community organizations.

Program Manager at a nonprofit community-based women's health care organization

Overall manager for a women's health partnership, a nonprofit association of community-based primary care medical clinics which seeks to develop a system of accessible, affordable health care services through service, education and advocacy. Job duties include supervision of program staff, oversight of contractors and health consultants, planning and program management.

Doctoral Level Sample Positions

Estimated salary starting range $45,000–$60,000

Postdoctoral Research Scientist at a research university

Position provides training in medical, behavioral, and public health aspects of HIV/STD prevention through participation in federally funded research in an urban setting.

Tenure-track Assistant Professor at a research university

Position in the Division of Health Behavior and Health Promotion, School of Public Health. Teaching and research with a preference for expertise in the areas of program evaluation, media advocacy, and/or innovative technologies in health promotion.

Research Scientist within a mental health institute at a research university

The Institute seeks a Senior Research Associate to provide skilled research coordination and evaluation of tobacco use prevention initiatives for funded projects.