profile

The Public Health Millennial

5 Transferable Skills To Develop as A Public Health Student (Pt 2)

Published over 1 year agoΒ β€’Β 6 min read

There are many transferable skills that can be learnt and developed to make you a competent public health professional no matter what career path you take.

This is adding on to part 1 of transferable skills for public health students and professionals.

Qualitative Research Skills

Quantitative research skills are what allow public health practitioners to get information, insights, and knowledge from data that does not involve numbers. These skills are important for public health practitioners who want to better understand the nuances behind a certain population.

When you think qualitative research skills, think:

  • Survey development & analysis
  • Focus groups
  • Participant observation
  • In-depth interviews
  • Story-telling/taking techniques

This can be a skill that you become the expert on on your team after graduation so put in the time to develop this skillset.

Develop Qualitative Research Skills through:

  • Final projects, practicums, and internships
  • Use LinkedIn or IG to create polls or post google forms to get more insights on topics. And share back the results
  • ​CDC Field Epidemiology Manual​

Presentation Skills

Presentations skills allow public health practitioners the abilities to deliver a compelling, engaging, informative, transformative, education, insightful, and or instructive presentation. This centers public speaking - which comprises not only the material you are sharing, but also how you share it, your body language, tone of voice, and your delivery of said information.

Presentations are dreaded by most people, however you are going to have to do presentation in one form or another in your career. This could be:

  • Trying to convince your team to do things your way
  • Presenting to a community group
  • Speaking in front of a board
  • Having a conversation with someone at a conference

No matter what you do in public health - there is always going to be a time where you need to present your ideas to either get feedback or to move work forward

The best way to get better at this is to practice and get feedback on your presentations. Don’t make it daunting, start off easy and build your confidence in the skill as your progress

Develop Presentation Skills through:

Grant research and writing skills

Grant research and writing skills though often conflated are two different skillsets. Both are important. This is especially true if you plan to work or start a a NFP, or want to do research in an academic setting

Grant research is concerned with finding grant opportunities - essentially opportunities to get funding to do a specific project or to support the capacity of your organizations.

This deals with knowing who has funding opportunities that relate to the work that you do as well as understanding how the grant opportunity aligns both with your needs and your funders needs. There are grants from federal, state, and local governments, from private/public/community/family foundations, as well as corporate grants

Grant writing on the other hand is used to actually write the grant opportunity you found.

Your goal is to persuade the funding organizations that your work and your organization is the right fit to do the work they are asking for. Grants can be 10s of pages like for federal grants or they may be just a short few questions.

Regardless, grant writing skills allow you to show with data and a narrative how your work would be effective at meeting a specific goal.

Develop Grant Research and Writing Skills through:

Critical Thinking Skills

Critical thinking is the ability to analyze data, facts, and narratives objectively to form a conclusive judgement.

If you are studying public health, you inherently have this skill as it is something you have been utilizing throughout most of your classes. You have a lot of information from your lived experience, academic experience that can be honed to form unique perspectives of value on a certain topic

When you think of critical thinking skills, think of:

  • Solving problems using creative and innovative ways
  • Being able to question problems to understand it deeper
  • Organizing your thoughts and articulating them in a concise and coherent manner
  • Flexibility of thought (looking at things from many perspectives)

Critical thinking is an essential skill that can be built by being intentional during your courses.

Use your time in school to think critically and question things you are hearing, share your unique perspectives

Critical Thinking Skills through:

Project Management Skills

Project management skills are traits and characteristics that help you to move something from idea, to a project, to completion.

So thinking about applying your knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques to project activities to meet a specific project requirement or outcome

Project management consist of many skills coming together such as

  • Collaboration
  • Organization skills
  • Time management
  • Team management/delegation
  • Problem solving & troubleshooting
  • communication with stakeholders

This is a skill that can be somewhat hard to get during school, however you can use your class projects and other assignments as a smaller form of project management skills

Take on opportunities while you are in school to gain some better understanding of project management skills as this can be invaluable.

You can also gain this skill by taking LinkedIn courses or other courses to streghten your understanding and how you can manage projects.

Develop Project Management Skills through:

In Summary

Start to develop your transferable skills now so that you can benefit from them no matter where you decide to go in your career.

Leverage your skills and experiences for career success.

Keep learning and keep thriving! Watch the YouTube vid here:

video preview​

Interesting reads πŸ“š:

Books

Interesting listens 🎧:

Career Opportunities πŸ€“:

Jobs

Internships

BTS πŸ’“:

I will be launching an online community by the end of the year. If you are looking for a community of likeminded people that are focused on improving community - this is for you!

If you want to get updates as I think about how and when to launch - click here!

I've also got overwhelming responses on people wanting to have an in-person event this year! The top choice city is Atlanta right now. I will definitely have one (or two in NC) too! I look forward to sharing space with you all!

Next Steps βœ…:

  1. ​Connect with me on LinkedIn​
  2. Follow The Public Health Millennial on Instagram​
Omari Richins, MPH (he/him)
Founder, The Public Health Millennial

Follow on all platforms:

Show gratitude for something small today!

The Public Health Millennial

Helping public health people navigate career success. Helping you learn, navigate, and transform your public health career with valuable insights. Host of Public Health Careers Podcast 🎧

Read more from The Public Health Millennial

Lately, I’ve been taking a more intentional approach to how I engage with media. It’s easy to get caught up in the constant stream of news, but I’ve realized that detaching from it and choosing when and how I engage has helped me stay focused on what really matters. With all the shifts happening in public health, I want this community to be a space where we grow, support each other, and take meaningful actionβ€”without feeling overwhelmed. With that in mind, here are a few exciting updates: πŸŽ™...

5 days agoΒ β€’Β 2 min read

We knew that change was inevitable. Recent executive orders by President Trump spark discussions about the future of public health (and health). Not all of these polices may ultimately be implemented or survive legal challenges. However, they offer a clear window into the administration's priorities and intent. From changes to health care access to the banning of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) initiatives. These actions signal a shift in public health that could reshape health care,...

14 days agoΒ β€’Β 7 min read

Public health has increased US life expectancy (by 25 years since 1900). Public health is a cheat-code for making everyone healthier. After years of wanting to be a physician, I came across a field of work that impacts the upstream factor of health - at a population level. That field is public health. Public health is important because it: Improves the health of populations Addresses root causes of health issues Focuses on prevention of disease rather treatment (Join early access waitlist for...

11 months agoΒ β€’Β 6 min read