What Does a Public Health Consultant Really Do?
Welcome to The PublicHealthPreneur™ Newsletter! ✨ Be the first to know — join our mailing list 📬 for the latest insights on public health entrepreneurship!
If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me what a public health consultant does, I'd be a millionaire by now! It's one of the most frequent questions I get. In this newsletter, I'm here to finally give you the answer.
Last week, I shared how entrepreneurial principles can transform public health initiatives. Listen to the latest episode of The PublicHealthPreneur™ Podcast Season 2 here.
What Is a Consultant?
A consultant is someone who provides specialized advice and guidance in their area of expertise. Consultants come in all types — business development, marketing, IT, legal, education — the list goes on. As a public health consultant, you're primarily focused on improving public health.
In public health, consultants work with a variety of organizations including healthcare systems, non-profits, foundations, academic institutions, and sometimes even corporate clients. Ultimately, you're helping these organizations find ways to improve public health outcomes in specific populations.
The Public Health Consultant as a Business Owner
Being a public health consultant also means you're a business OWNER. You are the BOSS. You are in CHARGE! This is important because public health consultants don’t always operate as entrepreneurs, when that is in fact what they are.
Even if you are still working full-time, if you have an established “side-hustle” that means you are also self-employed and need a business model that sustains your work. Whether it's through a non-profit, for-profit, social enterprise, or consultancy service, you're building a venture that can make a real impact on public health while ensuring your business stays viable.
Roles and Responsibilities
As a public health consultant, you're driving change in the public health landscape. Here's a glimpse of the many roles and responsibilities you might take on:
Public Health Consultant Specialties
Public health is a diverse field, and as a consultant, you can specialize in areas like epidemiology, biostatistics, health education (my background!), policy analysis, program management, or global health. Your expertise helps you tailor your services to the needs of the clients you're working with.
Types of Work You Might Do
The types of projects you'll work on as a public health consultant are vast and varied. Here are a few examples:
Start Where You Are
If you're thinking about becoming a public health consultant, consider this:
▶️ What are you already doing in your 9-to-5?
▶️ Are you developing programs, sitting on committees, or doing strategic planning?
Whatever you're doing in your day job could easily transition into consulting work. It's not as hard as you think when you leverage your existing skills and experience.
What’s Next?
This newsletter just scratches the surface of what public health consulting involves. Tune in to the full episode here. Next week, I’ll share data-driven insights on the public health consulting landscape.
👍🏾 Did you like this newsletter? Check out my book, Public Health Entrepreneurship: Navigating the Intersection of Purpose and Profit. It's packed with tips, strategies, and examples of the diverse types of work public health consultants do.
🔗If you found this helpful, share this link with your network and invite your followers to sign up!