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Disease intervention specialist education requirements

Updated January 8, 2025
4 min read

There are several educational requirements to become a disease intervention specialist. Disease intervention specialists usually study psychology, public health, or biology. 69% of disease intervention specialists hold a bachelor's degree, and 21% hold an master's degree. We analyzed 502 real disease intervention specialist resumes to see exactly what disease intervention specialist education sections show.

The most common colleges for disease intervention specialists are the University of South Florida and the University of South Florida.

There are also many online disease intervention specialist courses to help get the education required to be a disease intervention specialist.

There are certain disease intervention specialist certifications that you should consider. These disease intervention specialist certifications include Certified Phlebotomy Technician (CPT) and Certified Nurse Assistant (CNA).

What education do you need to become a disease intervention specialist?

What degree do you need to be a disease intervention specialist?

The most common degree for disease intervention specialists is bachelor's degree, with 69% of disease intervention specialists earning that degree. The second and third most common degree levels are master's degree degree at 21% and master's degree degree at 8%.
  • Bachelor's, 69%
  • Master's, 21%
  • Associate, 8%
  • Diploma, 1%
  • Other Degrees, 1%

What should I major in to become a disease intervention specialist?

You should major in psychology to become a disease intervention specialist. 13% of disease intervention specialists major in psychology. Other common majors for a disease intervention specialist include public health and biology.

Most common colleges for disease intervention specialists

Disease intervention specialists often get their degrees at University of South Florida, Temple University, and Ohio State University. Here are the most common colleges for disease intervention specialists in the US based on their resumes.
Disease intervention specialist common collegePercentages
University of South Florida8.64%
Temple University7.41%
Ohio State University7.41%
Florida State University7.41%
Southern Illinois University Carbondale4.94%

Best majors for disease intervention specialists

RankMajorPercentages
1Psychology12.7%
2Public Health12.0%
3Biology7.8%
4Business7.5%
5Social Work7.1%

Best colleges for disease intervention specialists

The best colleges for disease intervention specialists are Northwestern University, Duke University, and Vanderbilt University.

A disease intervention specialist with advanced education typically earns a higher salary and has access to better jobs. That's why Zippia looked into the best colleges for disease intervention specialists. We based this list on several metrics: admissions rate, retention rate, mean earnings of graduates, the ratio of working vs. non-working students ten years after admission, the average cost of attendance, and median debt for graduates who become disease intervention specialists.

1. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

In-state tuition

$55,695

Enrollment

6,596

2. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Enrollment

31,503

3. SUNY at Binghamton

Vestal, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$9,808

Enrollment

13,990

4. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Enrollment

13,871

5. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Enrollment

16,205

6. University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Ann Arbor, MI • Private

In-state tuition

$15,262

Enrollment

30,079

7. California State University - Fullerton

Fullerton, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,886

Enrollment

34,637

8. University of California - Davis

Davis, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$14,402

Enrollment

30,698

9. Clemson University

Clemson, SC • Private

In-state tuition

$15,374

Enrollment

19,564

10. University of Washington

Seattle, WA • Private

In-state tuition

$11,207

Enrollment

30,905

20 best online courses for disease intervention specialists

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1. Global Disease Masterclass: Non-communicable Diseases

coursera

Welcome to this course on the aetiology, epidemiology and interventions for non-communicable diseases of the Global Diseases Masterclass. We’ve selected four disease areas and will go through each in turn. The diseases we’ve chosen are: Colorectal Cancer, Cardiovascular Disease (CVD), Dementia, and Diabetes. We have selected these non-communicable diseases because they span a range of different types of disease process and because of the expertise and experience that our School of Public Health...

2. Global Disease Masterclass

coursera

The Global Disease Masterclass specialisation aims to provide students with an overview of core health challenges and lines of epidemiological research being undertaken, across a range of infectious and non-communicable diseases.\n\nThe specialisation begins by examining the global distribution of diseases and the major trends that we have seen in the last several decades. Simultaneously, we consider the data that are used to construct such estimates. We then consider the role of social...

3. Crisis Intervention Seminar

udemy
4.4
(634)

The emphasis is on the development of fundamental clinical skills in the area of crisis intervention...

4. Infectious Disease Modelling

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Mathematical modelling is increasingly being used to support public health decision-making in the control of infectious diseases. This specialisation aims to introduce some fundamental concepts of mathematical modelling with all modelling conducted in the programming language R - a widely used application today.\n\nThe specialisation will suit you if you have a basic working knowledge of R, but would also like to learn the necessary basic coding skills to write simple mathematical models in...

5. Extracellular Vesicles in Health and Disease

coursera

This course aims to provide current understanding about extracellular vesicles (EVs) and their role in health and diseases. The EVs are known to be involved in cell to cell communication. Apart from maintaining normal cell physiology, EVs deliver messages that can drive or influence the progression of a disease. This course discusses recent advances made in the field to give an introduction on their function in health as well as in disease.This course includes four modules. Module 1 is an...

6. Population Health: Syndemics

coursera

Do you wish to contribute to breaking cycles of ill-health in disadvantaged populations? And explore co-occurrence of diseases, such as substance abuse, infectious and chronic disease, and the relation with social factors (disparities)? Are you disappointed in the poor effectiveness of interventions for combined social and medical problems? Then this syndemics course might provide you with some answers. In medicine, diseases are generally approached as distinct entities, in isolation from other...

7. Measuring Disease in Epidemiology

coursera

Epidemiological research is ubiquitous. Even if you don’t realise it, you come across epidemiological studies and the impact of their findings every single day. You have probably heard that obesity is increasing in high income countries or that malaria is killing millions of people in low income countries. It is common knowledge that smoking causes cancer and that physical activity is protective against heart disease. These facts may seem obvious today, but it took decades of epidemiological...

8. Evaluation of Digital Health Interventions

coursera

This course focuses on data, evaluation methods and the economic evaluation of digital health interventions. This module focuses on key data considerations for digital health including data management, data visualisation and methods for evaluating digital health interventions. The key focus is on experimental and quasi-experimental design approaches that can be applied to evaluating digital health interventions and key considerations for the economic evaluation of digital health interventions...

9. Global Health Policy

coursera

In this course, learners will become familiar with principles and theories of global health problems, and major challenges and controversies in improving global population health as well as practical applications of quantitative methods to analyze and interpret issues and challenges for policy. Topics will include health and foreign policy, health governance, acute disease surveillance, non-communicable diseases, burden of disease, universal health coverage, health systems strengthening, health...

10. Data and Health Indicators in Public Health Practice

coursera

Epidemiology is often described as the cornerstone science in public health. Epidemiology in public health practice uses study design and analyses to identify causes in an outbreak situation, guides interventions to improve population health, and evaluates programs and policies. In this course, we'll define the role of the professional epidemiologist as it relates to public health services, functions, and competencies. With that foundation in mind, we'll introduce you to the problem solving...

11. Epidemics

coursera

“If history is our guide, we can assume that the battle between the intellect and will of the human species and the extraordinary adaptability of microbes will be never-ending.” (1) Despite all the remarkable technological breakthroughs that we have made over the past few decades, the threat from infectious diseases has significantly accelerated. In this course, we will learn why this is the case by looking at the fundamental scientific principles underlying epidemics and the public health...

12. Myocardial Infarction

coursera

Cardiovascular diseases are – according to the (World Health Organization (WHO) – the number one cause of death globally. Myocardial infarction (heart attack) is the most prominent under the Cardiovascular diseases. In Switzerland alone, the risk to develop a coronary heart disease during life time is around 25% for men and 18% for women. Most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing behavioral risk factors, the understanding of these risk factors, their mechanisms and impact on...

13. Major Depression in the Population: A Public Health Approach

coursera

Public Mental Health is the application of the principles of medicine and social science to prevent the occurrence of mental and behavioral disorders and to promote mental health of the population. This course illustrates the principles of public health applied to depressive disorder, including principles of epidemiology, transcultural psychiatry, health services research, and prevention. It is predicted that by 2020 depressive disorder will be the most important cause of disease burden in the...

14. Stanford Introduction to Food and Health

coursera

Around the world, we find ourselves facing global epidemics of obesity, Type 2 Diabetes and other predominantly diet-related diseases. To address these public health crises, we urgently need to explore innovative strategies for promoting healthful eating. There is strong evidence that global increases in the consumption of heavily processed foods, coupled with cultural shifts away from the preparation of food in the home, have contributed to high rates of preventable, chronic disease. In this...

15. Foundations of Public Health Practice

coursera

This specialisation will enable you to reflect on and cultivate the behaviours you require to become an effective public health professional –whether as an academic, practitioner, clinician, manager or leader.The specialisation is shaped into four courses covering the origins of public health, health improvement, behaviour change, and health protection. The specialisation will draw upon learning from the Statistics for Public Health and Epidemiology for Public Health specialisations, and builds...

16. Bats, Ducks, and Pandemics: An Introduction to One Health Policy

coursera

Welcome to "Bats, Ducks, and Pandemics: An Introduction to One Health Policy". One Health is the concept that human, animal, and environmental/ecosystem health are linked. The concept provides a useful framework for examining complex health issues such as food safety and security, emerging and vector-borne diseases, and antimicrobial resistance. It can be used to analyze government policies to determine if they are effective in improving health and well-being. Agriculture is the foundation of...

17. Sustainable Food Production Through Livestock Health Management

coursera

Learn about the impact of infectious disease on sustainable animal-based food production by understanding the science of growth, immunity, and infection and by learning the problem-solving skills needed to advance animal health and food production through optimal management practices. There is a growing global need in agricultural production for a workforce that is capable of integrating knowledge of animal health and production with an understanding of consumer preferences in the context of...

18. Reflections from 40 Years Fighting International Epidemics

coursera

Reflections on patients, policies, pan-epidemics, prose and medical humanities from a 40-year career fighting epidemics around the world by an infectious disease public health physician. Examples include HIV/AIDS, Anthrax, SARS, MERS, H5N1 and H1N1 influenza, Nipah, Ebola (with MSF 2014), Zika, Plague (with WHO 2017) and COVID-19. Working side-by-side with international colleagues to provide hands-on patient care and to share stories is an expression of medical humanities. Dr. Lucey is the...

19. Cervical Cancer Risk Prediction Using Machine Learning

coursera

In this hands-on project, we will build and train an XG-Boost classifier to predict whether a person has a risk of having cervical cancer. Cervical cancer kills about 4,000 women in the U.S. and about 300,000 women worldwide. Data has been obtained from 858 patients and include features such as number of pregnancies, smoking habits, Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD), demographics, and historic medical records...

20. Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 2

coursera

This course, Public Health in Humanitarian Crises 2, addresses public health issues of people affected by disasters, both natural or conflict-related. It discusses the many changes that occur in people’s lives when they are uprooted by a disaster, including many important topics related to humanitarian crises, such as when there is an epidemic a public health emergency; what do we mean with the humanitarian development nexus; what are the basics of disaster epidemiology and surveillance;...

Top 10 most affordable universities for disease intervention specialists

The most affordable schools for disease intervention specialists are Hunter College of the City University of New York, university of florida, and california state university - long beach.

If the best universities for disease intervention specialists are out of your price range, check out these affordable schools. After factoring in in-state tuition and fees, the average cost of attendance, admissions rate, average net price, and mean earnings after six years, we found that these are the most affordable schools for disease intervention specialists.

1. Hunter College of the City University of New York

New York, NY • Private

In-state tuition

$7,182

Cost of attendance

13,998

2. University of Florida

Gainesville, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,381

Cost of attendance

21,034

3. California State University - Long Beach

Long Beach, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,798

Cost of attendance

18,306

4. California State University - Fullerton

Fullerton, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,886

Cost of attendance

17,645

5. University of South Florida

Tampa, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$6,410

Cost of attendance

20,456

6. Brigham Young University

Provo, UT • Private

In-state tuition

$5,620

Cost of attendance

18,136

7. Florida State University

Tallahassee, FL • Private

In-state tuition

$5,656

Cost of attendance

21,623

8. California State University - Dominguez Hills

Carson, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,942

Cost of attendance

14,469

9. California State University - Bakersfield

Bakersfield, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$7,309

Cost of attendance

16,714

10. California State University - San Bernardino

San Bernardino, CA • Private

In-state tuition

$6,922

Cost of attendance

18,522

Top 10 hardest universities to get into for disease intervention specialists

The hardest universities for disease intervention specialists to get into are Northwestern University, Duke University, and Vanderbilt University.

Some great schools for disease intervention specialists are hard to get into, but they also set your career up for greater success. The list below shows the most challenging universities to get into for disease intervention specialists based on an institution's admissions rates, average SAT scores accepted, median ACT scores accepted, and mean earnings of students six years after admission.

1. Northwestern University

Evanston, IL • Private

Admissions rate

8%

SAT average

1,508

2. Duke University

Durham, NC • Private

Admissions rate

9%

SAT average

1,516

3. Vanderbilt University

Nashville, TN • Private

Admissions rate

10%

SAT average

1,514

4. Johns Hopkins University

Baltimore, MD • Private

Admissions rate

11%

SAT average

1,513

5. Columbia University in the City of New York

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

6%

SAT average

1,512

6. Northeastern University

Boston, MA • Private

Admissions rate

19%

SAT average

1,466

7. University of Virginia

Charlottesville, VA • Private

Admissions rate

26%

SAT average

1,427

8. University of Southern California

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

13%

SAT average

1,445

9. University of Rochester

Rochester, NY • Private

Admissions rate

29%

SAT average

1,422

10. New York University

New York, NY • Private

Admissions rate

20%

SAT average

1,419

Top 10 easy-to-apply-to universities for disease intervention specialists

The easiest schools for disease intervention specialists to get into are Mount Saint Mary's University, d'youville college, and bluefield college.

Some schools are much easier to get into. If you want to start your career as a disease intervention specialist without much hassle, check out the list of schools where you will be accepted in no time. We compiled admissions rates, average SAT scores, average ACT scores, and average salary of students six years after graduation to uncover which were the easiest schools to get into for disease intervention specialists.

1. Mount Saint Mary's University

Los Angeles, CA • Private

Admissions rate

84%

SAT average

1,031

2. D'Youville College

Buffalo, NY • Private

Admissions rate

100%

SAT average

1,072

3. Bluefield College

Bluefield, VA • Private

Admissions rate

95%

SAT average

980

4. University of North Texas at Dallas

Dallas, TX • Private

Admissions rate

83%

SAT average

992

5. Gwynedd Mercy University

Gwynedd Valley, PA • Private

Admissions rate

92%

SAT average

1,031

6. Wayland Baptist University

Plainview, TX • Private

Admissions rate

98%

SAT average

1,003

7. Curry College

Milton, MA • Private

Admissions rate

93%

SAT average

1,026

8. Holy Names University

Oakland, CA • Private

Admissions rate

70%

SAT average

849

9. Felician University

Lodi, NJ • Private

Admissions rate

81%

SAT average

999

10. Barry University

Miami, FL • Private

Admissions rate

91%

SAT average

1,006

Average disease intervention specialist salary by education level

According to our data, disease intervention specialists with a Master's degree earn the highest average salary, at $49,906 annually. Disease intervention specialists with a Bachelor's degree earn an average annual salary of $45,309.
Disease intervention specialist education levelDisease intervention specialist salary
Master's Degree$49,906
High School Diploma or Less$39,751
Bachelor's Degree$45,309
Some College/ Associate Degree$40,036

Disease intervention specialist education FAQs

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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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