Oklahoma Public Health Career – OK

By Joanna Pelletier, allied health world contributing writer
Published: February, 18 2010

How to Become a Public Health Professional in the State of Oklahoma

Public health is a broad, interdisciplinary field of study focused on keeping the general population safe and healthy. Like their cohorts in other States, Oklahoma public health students can indulge their interests in epidemiology, biostatistics, terrorism response, general public health, or health promotion.

Undergraduate public health students can expect to spend four to five years in college, following a course curriculum that combines biology, epidemiology, statistics, and chemistry classes with humanities, mathematics, communication, and English classes. An undergraduate education can cost anywhere from $ 30,000 to $ 120,000 per year, depending on where the student plans to go to school.

Graduate programs can cost up to $ 40,000, and may also take two to five years to complete. These programs are ideal for students and professionals who want to learn more about the field and commit themselves to helping other people.

General public health programs in Oklahoma take an interdisciplinary approach to the field of public health, providing students with classes in epidemiology, biostatistics, health promotion, and terrorism response. Students who follow a general program may also be able to customize their degrees to their specific interests, taking courses in public health law, cross-cultural perspectives in health, and environmental health.

Students who are interested in studying diseases and how they can be controlled typically pursue a Master's degree in Epidemiology. Oklahoma's graduate epidemiology programs combine an interdisciplinary approach with degree-specific courses in epidemiological methods, the National health care system, infectious diseases, chronic diseases, biomedical sciences, and biostatistics.

Students who prefer to work with data more than people may hold a particular interest in biostatistics, which combines statistical and mathematic reasoning with biological facts and concepts. Students in these programs typically follow a roster that combines classes in biostatistics, epidemiology, social and behavioral sciences in public health, integrated public health practice, and data analysis.

Bioterrorism students follow a similar class roster, but instead of focusing only on statistics, environmental health, psychology, and infectious diseases, these students concentrate on protecting others and themselves from extreme and dangerous environmental conditions. Bioterrorism students also study the different forms of terrorism, the various driving psychological forces for terrorism, sanitation, risk communication, and other special topics.

Health promotion also plays a major role in the field of public health. Students in these graduate programs combine their core biostatistics, social and behavioral science, environmental health, and epidemiology classes with courses in health program evaluation, health promotion, health education, and community assessment, organization and interventions.

Most public health students in Oklahoma must also complete an internship before they graduate. Students can customize their internships to their degrees and individual interests, gaining experience specific to Oklahoma public health careers in hospitals, government facilities, colleges, universities, corporations, and other organizations.