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  • Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
  • Study
  • Public health and data
  • What about public health?
  • Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health
  • Study
  • Public health and data

What about public health?

People Community Disease

Why public health?

Be proud of what you do

Public health is a rewarding career where your actions and decisions can make a difference to people’s lives and wellbeing.

people on a red background.

Loads of variety

You can work in lots of different roles promoting health and wellbeing. You’ll also tackle health inequalities and respond to infectious diseases.

faces on a red background.

Learn how diseases spread

Learn about the causes and effects of health and disease in populations.

person on a yellow/orange background.

Travel to different countries

You may choose to travel to other countries to help improve global health.

world map or globe  on an green background.

Things you didn’t know about Public health

Q and A with a disease

An interview with tuberculosis.

Gameshow

Welcome to the wheel of public health fortune.

Big questions

Exploring big questions in public health.

5 things you didn't know

Think you know about public health?

How to stop a disease

How do you stop a disease from spreading?

Where can you go?

Where can you go after studying public health at Manchester?

What is the course like?

Hear what some of our students have enjoyed about studying public health at Manchester.

Be a public health detective

Bia talks about how she came to study public health at Manchester, and how it became her passion. She explains that sometimes you can feel like a detective, working out why some people get sick, and others don’t.

Read Bia's blog : Bia's blog

Hand-drawn cartoon of Bia .

Keep people healthy

Aayush explains what studying public health at Manchester is like. From learning how to keep people healthy and solving big problems that affect communities, to finding out how diseases spread.

Read Aayush's blog : My blog

Hand-drawn cartoon of Aayush.

Public health in the community

Gallant describes his experience of studying public health and its importance to communities. He explains how in the future he’d like to travel to developing nations to improve healthcare and contribute to healthier and happier communities.

Read Gallant's blog : Gallant's blog

Hand-drawn cartoon of Hannah.

Where can you work?

Healthcare

  • Consultant in public health
  • Communicable disease consultant
  • Epidemiologist
  • Health protection specialist
  • Occupational health advisor
  • Public health manager/officer
  • Public health practitioner
Hand-drawn cartoon of hospital with ambulance leaving.

Research and education

  • Health educator
  • Lecturer
  • Epidemiologist
  • Public health researcher/research assistant
  • Toxicologist
Hand-drawn cartoon of the Whitworth Building, University of Manchester.

Data science

  • Biostatistician
  • Public health intelligence analyst/assistant
  • Public health statistician/analysist
Hand-drawn cartoon illustration of a desktop computer.

Charities

  • Working for charities to help improve the lives of vulnerable people
Hand-drawn cartoon of a building with heart flag.

Community

  • Community development worker
  • Health promotion officer
Hand-drawn cartoon illustration of town or village

Government Agencies/Local Authorities

  • Public health teams in local authorities
  • Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
  • Government departments.
Hand-drawn cartoon of a government

The Facts

Money

There are so many career opportunities to explore with a public health degree and salaries range depending on job role and responsibilities. For example, a Junior Researcher can earn around £25,000, local authority roles start at £23,000, a Biostatician earns approximately £55,000 a year and the highest paid positions can earn £100,000+.

Find out more at:

14 public health degree careers (with salaries and duties) | Indeed.com UK

Public health jobs

Everyone

Public health is about everyone and how we live in our communities as well as global health. It’s all about stopping diseases before they happen, helping people live longer, making sure everyone has a chance to be healthy, the environment and the impact of climate change.

41,000

It is estimated that around 36,000 to 41,000 people work in core public health roles in the UK.

(source: Centre for Workforce Intelligence).

24%

The demand for public health professionals in the UK rose by 24% in 2021.

(source: NHS England’s capacity review).

3.8 million

There are around 3.8 million community health workers globally (just one of the many roles you can choose), working across approximately 98 countries. However, this number isn’t enough to meet global demands (source: The Global Fund).

Information correct at time of publication: January 2025.

Public health at Manchester

The public health degree at Manchester is a really dynamic and interesting course.

It covers so many areas of health, preparing you for a career that could span the globe.

You’ll become a critical thinker, always asking why and considering new ways of working to help you become the best public health practitioner you can be.

Take the first step in discovering more about public health courses at Manchester.

Study public health

Join a diverse and exciting field with a variety of career paths depending on what you’re interested in.

More about public health

Public health student in student cluster

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The University of Manchester
Oxford Rd
Manchester
M13 9PL
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