Unprecedented global challenges have turned the spotlight over to the public health field. Today, public health plays a critical role in promoting health, preventing disease, and empowering individuals to make lifestyle changes, manage illness and disabilities. Every scientific finding, new individual, group or community intervention, awareness campaign, and new policy has the potential to positively impact the lives of millions of people around the world.
There’s never been a better time to pursue a public health programme to advance your knowledge and skillset. It opens doors to various career opportunities, both within and outside of the field of public health. Because many of the skills gained through public health education are highly transferable, you can also explore fast-growing careers such as medical and health services managers, information research scientists, healthcare professionals, and more, according to the World Economic Forum 2025 Job Report.
If a secure future within the public health sphere is up your alley, these institutions have postgraduate programmes comprehensive enough to help you fill the gap:
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai offers the tools you need to build a meaningful and impactful public health career. Source: Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Researchers at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai are busy. They are using AI to help emergency rooms predict admissions, finding ways to reduce our exposure to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) (often called “forever chemicals”), and exploring the link between microplastics and inflammatory bowel disease, among others. As they say here, “another day, another breakthrough.”
That’s the kind of environment that awaits those who joins its newly redesigned Master of Public Health. Like all the other school’s programmes, the MPH offers an “extraordinary education.” That hasn’t changed. The latest iteration merely brings it up to date to meet the urgent public health challenges of our time. The updated MPH now includes cutting-edge concentrations, flexible pathways, and future-focused courses, such as AI in Public Health and Climate Health.
The MPH is part of the school’s suite of master’s programmes that advance your career potential and empower you to become specialists. Whether it’s the Master of Health Administration or MS in Clinical Research, all programmes stand out for their supportive learning environment, interdisciplinary approach, and rigorous curriculum with access to the latest in technology, biodata, and health research and practice. Other master’s programmes offered include the MS in Epidemiology, MS in Biostatistics, and the Clinical Research Training Programme.
Learning takes place in the heart of New York City, within a pioneering school and a world-class healthcare delivery system. Mount Sinai Health System encompasses seven hospital campuses in the New York metropolitan area, as well as a large, regional ambulatory footprint. Globally, it’s acclaimed for excellence in research, patient care, and education across a range of specialties.
The school alone is home to over 7,000 faculty, 1,200 students, and 2,500 residents and fellows. To know more about how it’s shaping the future of healthcare one student, one professor, one patient, one researcher, and one study at a time, learn more about the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai today.
The Department of Public Health Sciences at UC Davis is dedicated to improving human health using approaches based in epidemiology, biostatistics, health economics, and behavioral science. Source: UC Davis
UC Davis
The University of California, Davis is a top-tier public university with some of the best degrees in the country – one of it being the public health programme. Embedded within the Department of Public Health Sciences, the programme trains students to be highly qualified public health professionals and leaders in the field. Enrolling here means being with other students who have a strong passion for promoting health and a goal of making a global difference by solving problems in new ways.
The department offers a few graduate degrees, with the Master of Public Health being one of its most popular. The reason? The programme’s curriculum works in partnership with the public health community, on and off campus grounds. Not only will you work with other university departments, but you will also collaborate with local county health departments and non-profit agencies that comprise teaching, student mentorship, field placements, research, and support for you to achieve your goal of becoming a leader in public health.
It also helps that the programme is located near the California Department of Public Health, one of the most innovative public health agencies in the US. This opens doors for networking opportunities to build a professional relationship before you become part of the industry.
Offering two concentration areas, General Public Health and Epidemiology, the MPH is designed for those looking to get into the field of public health quickly because this programme can be completed in 10 to 12 months.
Achieve your career goals and promote health, well-being and justice for all. Source: Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University
Saint Louis University’s (SLU) College for Public Health and Social Justice is the first choice for those looking to pursue a master’s programme in this field. Apart from being one of the top Jesuit universities in the world with a strong mission toward social justice, the college is also ranked among the top 25% of public health schools in the United States by US News and World Report 2025.
SLU offers a Master of Public Health — one of the oldest and largest programmes in the Midwest — that connects students to a vast network of alumni and public health leaders for applied practice experiences and job placements. Featured concentrations include behavioural science and health equity, biostatistics, epidemiology, health management and policy, and public health practice, with the first three options designated as STEM OPT-3 eligible programmes for international students.
Options are available for those wishing to diversify. Other graduate offerings include dual pathways, such as the Juris Doctor/Master of Public Health, Master of Public Health/Medical Doctor, Master of Science in Nutrition and Dietetics, Public Health and Physician Assistant Master of Medical Science, and Master of Social Work and Public Health. Interested in doctoral studies? The Public Health Studies PhD programme offers expertise in research design, methods, and dissemination within an interdisciplinary setting.
Recent alumni surveys have reported that 96% of public health graduates found full-time employment before graduation or within the first six months after. They go on to work as academics in universities and researchers at medical centres, government, non-governmental health agencies or community-based organisations.
*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Study International
