Reflective Paper: Factors in Pursuing a Public Health Career

This reflective paper explores the critical factors necessary for embarking on a career in public health, emphasizing the importance of advanced degrees, practical experience, and the development of essential skills. The author discusses the need for strategic college selection, exposure to seminars and workshops, and securing internships to gain practical knowledge. The paper highlights the author's existing strengths in intuition and logical thinking while also identifying areas for improvement, such as decision-making abilities. Strategies for enhancing these skills, including meditation, mentally stimulating activities, and mentorship, are proposed. The paper underscores the challenging and competitive nature of the public health field and emphasizes the commitment required to achieve success through continuous learning, practical experience, and networking.

Running head: REFLECTIVE PAPER
Reflective Paper
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Pursuing a career in public health seems exciting but it is not as exciting or as easy as it
seems. There are many factors that need to be taken into consideration in order to kick start the
process of initiating a career in the field of public health. The competition in this field is
immense and there are many qualifications and levels of expertise that need to be attained in
order to be able to pursue an occupation that is full time in nature in this particular field or
profession (Zweigenthal et al., 2019). In this assignment, I will discuss the factors that I need to
consider to embark on a career in public health, with special focus on how my intuition, logical
thinking and decision making abilities can be improved for this purpose.
One of the foremost factors which I need to consider if I am to embark on a career in
public health and be a success in it is to first apply for the right colleges, or reputed colleges for
that matter where I can pursue advanced degrees in the subject, that will both complement and
supplement the basic degrees that I have in this field. It is imperative to be as well-educated and
as qualified in this subject as possible, in order to be able to land a job in the field of public
health that can be done over the long term and which pays well. To prepare myself for the types
of questions that can be asked during job interviews or as part of interviews that are designed to
provide an entry into higher educational programs in public health, I need to expose myself more
to seminars and workshops. By attending seminars and workshops, I will be able to gain
exposure to expert lectures and discussions that I am sure will provide me with the valuable
insights that I need in order to be able to answer questions on the subject matter adeptly and with
the precision and efficiency that is required or expected (Lee, 2015).
I also need to acquire as much practical experience as possible in order to be able to
pursue a career in the field of public health someday. This is something that is absolutely
imperative if I want to be a successful careerist in the domain of public health someday.

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Theoretical knowledge on the subject of public health is something that needs to be
supplemented with plenty of practical knowledge and experience on the same, since public
health primarily involves looking into the physical and mental wellbeing of people, especially
surrounding matters pertaining to hygiene. In order to acquire practical experience on the subject
of public health, I will be applying for internship positions at top medical research institutes that
specialize on the matter of public health. It is not going to be easy to land an internship too easily
especially given the competition that prevails in the field of public health today. However, I am
going to try my best in this respect and apply to several institutes at the same given time so that
some institute or the other considers the option of giving me the chance to pursue an internship
in this field (Gjerde & Rothenberg, 2004). I am painfully aware of the fact that the internship is
going to be an unpaid internship and that I am not going to gain financially through such
internships. However, I am willing to make the sacrifice that is needed and forego payment as I
know that the experience that I acquire in the process of doing an internship is something that is
going to help me far more in the future, especially it comes to landing a full time and permanent
job that actually pays me well and which provides me with financial security in both the
immediate and distant future (Lee, 2015).
I believe that there are certain skills that I possess, that will serve me well when
embarking on a profession in the field of public health and medication. For instance, my intuition
is quite sharp and I am also capable of logical thinking and reasoning, among other things. I
have a gut instinct when it comes to handling critical situations and can act quickly in order to
avert a crisis (Calabretta et al., 2017). Yet there are certain areas of my ability to think and
reason logically, that require work as well, such as my capacity to take good decisions. In order
to improve my decision making abilities, I believe I need to narrow my options down when it

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comes to choose and following a career in public health, evaluate the significance of these
options and weigh the pros and cons of a given situation to determine that the decision I am
making is the best one in that particular predicament (Yates & De-Oliviera, 2016). To make my
intuition stronger, I need to recognize when it is that my intuition is speaking to me, to ask
questions if needed and take action immediately instead of wasting time dwelling on issues
(Hamilton et al., 2016). To improve my ability to think and act logically, something that is
definitely required for a career in public health, I believe that taking part in yoga and meditation
and participating in activities that are mentally stimulating in nature, can be a good idea (Corbin
et al., 2015).
Finally, I will try to engage as much as it is possible to do so with people who are
actually working full time in the field of public health and who can give me the practical
guidance and expert advice that I need in order to be a success in this field. It is essential I
believe to have a mentor in the area of public health who is aware of the various pitfalls that are
associated with the profession and who can show me the tricks of the trade, which in turn will
help me to navigate through this profession with the calmness and the success that is needed.
Once again, finding a mentor is something that is going to be difficult to do but I look long and
hard for such a mentor at the places where I get accepted for an internship and later on when I
start working for a public health organization (Allen et al., 2019).
Thus, as discussed above, there are quite a few essential steps which I need to take in
order to be able to embark upon a career in the field of public health. This is one of the most
challenging and competitive of professions and to get well placed in a career in this field is
something that is going to take a lot of time, effort and energy and it is going to take plenty of

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effort and extra reading, in addition to attending workshops, lectures and interning in public
health organizations.

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