How To Become A Public Health Physician: What It Is and Career Path

What is a public health physician and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

Quoted expert

Janet Williams Ph.D.

Public health physicians are highly trained medical professionals who focus on large-scale health improvements of the population, as opposed to treating patients one-on-one. They strive to implement measures for disease prevention to better the lives of communities.

Working in this position, you will be responsible for collecting data and researching potential public health issues. You will probe into root causes exploring factors on a societal level that might contribute to the presence of certain illnesses.

It will be your job to design strategies to improve the community's health and oversee the implementation of these plans. You will work closely with public health officials to create legislation that enforces policies prioritizing improved health conditions for the population.

What general advice would you give to a public health physician?

Janet Williams Ph.D.

Professor of Biology, College of Our Lady of the Elms

Students who wish to continue their education in healthcare (MD, DO, DMD, DVM, PA, PT, OT, and many other areas), should ensure that they have plenty of experience in healthcare by becoming certified as an EMT or CNA, and spend at least 1-2 years working or volunteering in that capacity. Students should graduate with strong GPAs, over 3.5 on a 4.0 scale, and should have taken all of their prerequisite courses. Students should be prepared to take standardized admissions exams, and plan to do well in them.

ScorePublic Health PhysicianUS Average

Salary

10.0

Avg. Salary $199,316

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

10.0

Growth rate 7%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

1.7

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.17%

Asian 18.91%

Black or African American 5.39%

Hispanic or Latino 10.11%

Unknown 4.52%

White 60.91%

Gender

female 67.94%

male 32.06%

Age - 48

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 48

Stress level

10.0

Stress level is very high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

10.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

7.1

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a public health physician

Explore public health physician education requirements

Most common public health physician degrees

Bachelor's

31.0 %

Doctorate

22.7 %

Master's

15.3 %

Start to develop specific public health physician skills

Skills	Percentages
Patients	38.56%
Primary Care	13.10%
Patient Care	10.21%
Urgent Care	6.58%
Family Practice	5.11%

Complete relevant public health physician training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 4-10 years on post-employment, on-the-job training. New public health physicians learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a public health physician based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real public health physician resumes.

Research public health physician duties and responsibilities

Develop skills in managing diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension.
Educate employees about the prevention of hypertension, diabetes and hyperlipidemia.
Develop, administer, and follow up on new to EHR competency assessments complete by new hires during EMR training.
Work and supervise patients with severe emotional problems.

Prepare your public health physician resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your public health physician resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a public health physician resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable public health physician resume templates

Build a professional public health physician resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your public health physician resume.