B.A. in Public Health Education
What is Public Health Education?
As Public Health Educators, we empower individuals and communities to reach their full potential. Specifically, we do this by sharing knowledge, encouraging healthy choices, and supporting positive change through balancing the science of research, data analytics and evidence-based best practices with the art of compassion, understanding and meaningful human interaction.
Students majoring in public health education gain practical and professional preparation. As a result, graduates are ready to work as health educators in a variety of health and wellness settings. These include health departments, volunteer organizations, and service-based agencies.
Graduates also work in corporate worksites or health care environments.
Earning a Credential
During the final semester of the senior year, students sit for a national certification exam.
Students who pass the exam earn the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) credential. Earning the CHES credential demonstrates professional knowledge and competency. It also signals credibility and preparedness to potential employers.
Specifically, the credential shows competence in the following key areas:
Area I: Assess Needs, Resources and Capacity for Health Education/Promotion
Area II: Plan Health Education/Promotion
Area III: Implement Health Education/Promotion
Area IV: Conduct Evaluation and Research Related to Health Education/Promotion
Area V: Administer and Manage Health Education/Promotion
Area VI: Serve as a Health Education/Promotion Resource Person
Area VII: Communicate, Promote, and Advocate for Health, Health Education/Promotion, and the Profession
Course Checklist/Four Year Plan
Internships
Health and Sport Sciences requires all Public Health Education majors to complete an internship their senior year.
This requirement ensures students apply classroom learning in real-world settings.
Through this experience, students integrate academic preparation with a semester-long professional placement. As a result, they gain practical skills, professional confidence, and career readiness before graduation.
Internship Program Goals
- Enhance professional growth by providing hands-on, supervised experience in the field.
- Expand understanding of professional roles by exposing students to real health and sport work environments.
- Develop core workplace values and skills, including communication, responsibility, and ethical decision-making, through off-campus experience.
- Add depth and relevance to academic coursework by connecting theory to real-world practice.
- Explore diverse career paths within health and sport industries to support informed career decisions.
- Improve job-search and interviewing skills through practical experience and professional networking.
FAQ About Internship
What are the benefits of interning through Otterbein?
It’s all about location, location, location. Columbus, the capital city of Ohio, and its surrounding communities offer many opportunities for you to gain access to a wide variety of work settings including government, corporations, commercial, recreational, and public and private agencies.
Where do Otterbein students intern
Recently, our students have interned at:
- Planned Parenthood
- OhioHealth
- YMCA
- Equitas Health
- Otterbein University
- Office of the Chief Wellness Office – Buckeye Wellness
- American Cancer Society
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital Nutrition and Fitness program
- Riverside Methodist Hospital
- Children’s Hunger Alliance
- The Crawford Crew
- MACC (Multiethnic Advocates for Cultural Competence)
- JDRF (Diabetes Research Foundation)
- The Ohio Commission on Minority Health
- Columbus City Schools
Careers
Students majoring in public health education will be prepared to apply those seven areas of responsibility for health educators in a variety of work settings.
Community Health – Positions such as Community Health Educator, Program Coordinator, or Health Education Consultant
- Health Departments
- Voluntary Health Organizations
- Health Service Organizations
Worksite – Positions such as Health Educator, Health Promotion Manager, Wellness Coach, Health Promotion Specialist, Community Facilitator, Wellness Coordinator
- Private companies
Health Care – Positions such as On-Site Health Educator, Community Wellness Coordinator, Patient Health Educator, Health Coach Consultant
- Hospitals
- Clinics
Alumni currently work here
- Ohio Department of Health
- Licking County Health Department
- County Commissioners Association of Ohio
- Columbus Urban League
- Nationwide Children’s Hospital
- University of Toledo
- Area Agency on Aging
Bureau of Labor Statics Classification
The U.S. Department of Labor – Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has a classification of health educator and defines health educators (SOC 21-1091.00) as those that provide and manage health education programs that help individuals, families, and their communities maximize and maintain healthy lifestyles. Health Educators collect and analyze data to identify community needs prior to planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating programs designed to encourage healthy lifestyles, policies, and environments. They may serve as resource to assist individuals, other health professionals, or the community, and may administer fiscal resources for health education programs. Excludes “Community Health Workers” (21-1094).
- According to the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), there were an estimated 57,570 health educators in 2016.
- Employment of health educators is projected to grow 21 percent from 2012 to 2022, faster than the average for all occupations.
- 5 out of 10 health educators work in healthcare and social assistance.
- 2 out of 10 work in state and local government
U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Division of Occupational Employment Statistics (2012).
Resources
Otterbein is a proud member of Eta Sigma Gamma National Health Education Honorary.
| Student Learning Outcomes | University Learning Goals (KMERI*) |
| 1. 80% of the students will pass the CHES exam. | Knowledgeable |
| 2.Students will develop and implement a health fair in the course of a semester. a) They will conduct an appropriate needs assessment, b) synthesize the results from a needs assessment and recommend topics to be covered in the health fair, c) evaluate the health fair based on predetermined criteria. | Multi-literate, Engaged |
| 3. In conjunction with National Health Week, students will a. write appropriate process, learning and behavioral objectives, b. create a logic model based on their own chosen program, c. write an evaluation report based on the data collected during the program and present the findings to their peers. | Knowledgeable, Multi-literate |
| 4. Student will create and present an epidemiological poster based on a public health related topic. As a result of this project, students will be able to a. summarize secondary data obtained by the student, b. analyze hypotheses with results and form conclusions, and c. make recommendation for future study design and implications for public health practice. | Responsible, Inquisitive |
| 5. Each student will participate in courses that help them understand appreciate and value diverse values and beliefs while developing their own ethical beliefs and principles. Each student will write an essay assessing their personal beliefs based on a set of criteria supplied by their professor. | Responsible, Inquisitive |
| 6. Each student will challenge him/herself and become life-long learners. They will feel comfortable with not only educating themselves, but understanding and using appropriate sources to do so. | Multi-literate, Inquisitive |
*NOTE: KMERI refers to Otterbein's learning goals. It stands for Knowledgeable, Multi-literate, Engaged, Responsible, and Inquisitive. To learn more about KMERI, visit our University Learning Goals page.
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