Masters in Public Health in Nigeria: Things To Know

Do you want to acquire a masters degree in public health in Nigeria? Here are things you should know before embarking on the journey. If you have a bachelor’s degree in the sciences, life sciences or courses related to medicine, you have a chance of doing a masters in Public Health.

In pursuit of a masters degree in public health, you should be passionate about doing research work as you’ll be doing a lot of laboratory and field research during the course of your study. Be aware that almost all Nigerian universities offer masters in Public Health and the requirements for this course are almost the same for all varsities with a slight difference here and there.

Things to Consider Before Embarking on Going for A Masters in Public Health

To start with, if you are a Higher National Diploma (HND) holder and you want to study public health for your masters, you will need to first go for a Post Graduate Diploma (PGD), and after the successful completion of your PGD, you can now apply to the university of your choice with your post graduate diploma certificate to study public health.

A large number of Nigerian Universities basically admit Nigerian graduates with second class upper degrees. Some however, admit graduates with second class lower degrees. If you graduated with a second class lower degree, do look out for the institutions that admit prospective masters degree students with your class of degree.

Third class degree graduates get admitted too but not every school offers direct admission. Many would rather prefer that a third class degree graduate obtains a PGD certificate before they are admitted for masters degree in public health. This is why you should check with the particular institution you are interested in order to know their requirements for admission.

Most schools accept a bachelor’s degree in any science-related course. There are however, some schools that demand the student to have a degree in life sciences before they can be admitted to study public health.

Research Orientation For Masters in Public Health

As earlier stated, public health is research oriented, be it in the laboratory or in the field and for you to succeed in your study, you must love research work a lot. This course of study greatly requires research into various human diseases. Some of the popular research projects associated with masters in public health are as follows:

• Diarrhoea Project
• Tuberculosis Project
• Injection Safety
• Health Care Waste Management project
• Maternal and Newborn Health Projects
• Children Awareness Project
• Behavioral Science Projects
• Demographic Surveillance Project and its Relationship To Health
• Urban and rural reproductive health project
• Family Health Project

Certification

Before you become a full-fledged masters degree holder in public health, you will have to sit for certification examination conducted by the National Board of Public Health Examiners. Success in this exam certifies you as a master’s degree holder in public health.

In order to qualify for the examination, you are expected to have up to 5 years of experience in Public Health related works. You will be examined on various areas, like Program Planning, Systems Thinking, Public Health Biology, Leadership, Diversity & Culture, Communication & Informatics, Social & Behavioral Sciences, Health Policy & Management, Epidemiology, Environmental Health Sciences and Biostatistics.

Areas of application

The information below will give you an insight on the areas of application of public health. This field of study is very wide and it will expose you to diverse career paths.

Public Health is not only associated with those who have a degree in medicine or other medical-related fields, everyone can get involved in it. Even if you’re a graduate of statistics, you can go for a masters degree in public health.

With your certificate, you can work as a medical statistician, which is a very important aspect of public health. Truth is public health has no impact without proper statistical analysis and record keeping.

In actual fact, the core of public health is record keeping and statistics contributes a great deal to this.

Below are areas of application in your masters degree in public health:

• Public Health Doctor
• Tropical Disease Expert
• HIV Specialist
• Medical Director
• Management Policy Advisor
• Public Health Veterinarian
• Public Health Lawyer
• Public Health Dentist
• Director Of Family Health
• Public Health Engineer
• Health Center Administrator
• Industrial Hygienist
• Federal Or State Environmentalist
• Director Of NGOs
• Public Health Professor
• Behavioral Scientist
• Mental Health Researcher
• Outcomes Researcher
• Vaccine Researcher
• Bioterrorism Researcher
• Pharmacoepidemiologist
• Epidemiologist
• Infection Preventionist
• Legislative Policy Advisor
• Biostatisticians
• Environmental Health Emergency Response Expert
• Nurse Educator
• Academic Policy Advisor
• Health Communication Specialist
• Disease Ecologist
• Health Promotions Program Coordinator
• Nutritionist
• Public Health Information Officer
• Medical Writer
• Public Health Consultant
• Emergency Preparedness Coordinator
• Emergency Preparedness Specialist
• Consumer Safety Officer
• Behavioral Health Program Coordinator
• Health And Wellness Manager
• Environmental Health Technician
• Health Teacher
• Public Health Planner
• Disaster Preparedness Researcher
• Community Health Worker
• Reproductive Health Specialist
• Medical Investigator
• Public Health Journalist

As you can see, the field is wide indeed and career opportunities after your study are abundant in Nigeria.