You don’t have to be a doctor to help people find the care and healing they need. If you feel called to a life of health care service, there are career paths to help others that don’t necessarily require you to wield a scalpel. The world of community health, integrative health, and health care coordination can offer you opportunities to provide care and connect people to the procedures and services they need to live healthier lives. Rio Salado College’s Associate in Arts (AA), Emphasis in Community Health can give you the skills and knowledge you’ll need to enter this rewarding field.
What You’ll Learn
Rio’s community health degree program will provide an expertly crafted overview of the United States healthcare system and the kinds of professional roles and responsibilities inherent to that system. Community health students will receive a grounding in the ethics, professional conduct, and legal standards of being a health worker. Students will learn about the human life cycle and the various ways the human mind and body develop throughout it. The program will explore how individual and broader social factors can influence and shape health outcomes and cause inequities in care. You’ll learn how to summarize scientific information and communicate it in a compelling way while also developing an analytical skill set to help you properly evaluate and interpret health care data and draw evidence-based conclusions from them.
What Can I Do With A Community Health Degree?
Completing the community health degree program at Rio Salado will provide you with a seedbed of career-ready skills and knowledge to cultivate and grow as a working professional. This associate degree can help prepare you for a future as a:
- Health education specialist
- Medical and health services manager
- Community health worker
- Epidemiologist
- Health coach
- Patient service coordinator
- Wellness consultant
- Research assistant
- Hospital administrator
- Health educator
- Social services manager
One thing to keep in mind is that some of these roles may require additional credentials and training. An associate degree can be a great way to enter the field but you may need to continue your studies to be skilled enough to qualify for certain community health careers.
What Does a Future in Community Health Look Like?
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, careers like community health workers, health education specialists, and social services managers are projected to grow at much faster rates than the average job. Community health as a field offers jobs with strong compensation options and the potential to do deeply satisfying work helping other people. Workers who possess the combination of “soft” people skills, specialized knowledge, and technical skills needed to thrive in this field are in-demand. While technology continues to rapidly advance, the need for people who can provide care and are willing to serve their community will remain evergreen.
Save Time and Money
Rio Salado’s class credits are transferable, which means that the progress you made at Rio can carry over to many universities and colleges across the country. Not all colleges take transfer credits, however, so be sure to check in with the school you’re planning to transfer to in order to make sure your Rio Salado credits will be accepted. Our tuition rate is much lower than that of a four-year university, so you can complete your general education requirements for your bachelor’s degree at Rio while saving a significant amount of money. With 40+ start dates throughout the year and flexible class schedules, you can take classes on a schedule that works best for you.
Learn More
If you are interested in learning more about our Community Health degree program, check out our program page and complete the request for information at the bottom of the page.
Article by Austin Brietta