A health director is responsible for the management of health care programs and related organizations. He/She organizes, plans, directs, and manages multiple programs and projects. He/She develops departmental budgets and allocates funds to relevant programs and initiatives. Asides from that, he/she evaluates health-related data and determines areas that require attention. Also, he/she meets with health employees to know about pertinent health issues. Additionally, he/she creates and monitors emergency response plans to ensure safety.
To become a health director, most employers require a state license to practice. Additionally, you must have a master's degree in a health-related field. You must have at least three years of experience in health administration. You must possess time management, communication, leadership, and organization skills. Also, you must be conversant with health practices and policies. Your salary range falls between $64,688 and $81,797. You'll earn an average salary of $71,605 yearly.
There is more than meets the eye when it comes to being a health director. For example, did you know that they make an average of $44.22 an hour? That's $91,972 a year!
Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 18% and produce 71,600 job opportunities across the U.S.
There are certain skills that many health directors have in order to accomplish their responsibilities. By taking a look through resumes, we were able to narrow down the most common skills for a person in this position. We discovered that a lot of resumes listed analytical skills, communication skills and detail oriented.
If you're interested in becoming a health director, one of the first things to consider is how much education you need. We've determined that 51.5% of health directors have a bachelor's degree. In terms of higher education levels, we found that 23.5% of health directors have master's degrees. Even though most health directors have a college degree, it's possible to become one with only a high school degree or GED.
Choosing the right major is always an important step when researching how to become a health director. When we researched the most common majors for a health director, we found that they most commonly earn bachelor's degree degrees or master's degree degrees. Other degrees that we often see on health director resumes include associate degree degrees or doctoral degree degrees.
You may find that experience in other jobs will help you become a health director. In fact, many health director jobs require experience in a role such as staff nurse. Meanwhile, many health directors also have previous career experience in roles such as registered nurse or director.