No matter the healthcare career path that you follow, you will likely find great job stability. Doctors, nurses, physical therapist, hospital administrators–these professionals all come to mind when considering careers in healthcare. But, what about marketing? Are there career opportunities for marketing professionals in the healthcare arena? The answer is yes, and they are plentiful.
If you have yet to earn your marketing degree, you will greatly benefit from earning a Master of Science in Health Communication. This type of degree takes about two years to earn after you have earned a bachelor’s degree in a marketing-related field of study. During this type of program, you will study disease management, how to write press releases, methods of disease prevention, how marketing affects healthcare communications and much more.
The type of job that you can get in the healthcare industry with a marketing degree will depend on the level of degree that you earn. You will benefit the most from earning a master-level healthcare marketing degree when pursuing a healthcare-related job. Common places of employment that you may find yourself working at include biotech companies, pharmaceutical distributors, hospitals, federal health agencies and other types of healthcare organizations. After earning a marketing degree and seeking employment in the healthcare industry, you may find yourself working under any of the following titles.
Healthcare public relations director
In this line of work, you will be responsible for planning and directing an assortment of public relations programs. By carrying out effective programs, you will be helping to shape the organization that you work for. Some of your common duties will include writing press releases, researching trends, making recommendations and finding sponsors for corporate events.
Health writer
Within this occupation, you would be responsible for creating medical documents. As a health writer, you would likely be able to find employment in the pharmaceutical industry. You would spend your time working with doctors and researchers, creating press releases, medical journals and website material. You may even find yourself producing regulatory documents for drugs.
Disease prevention coordinator
The exact duties that you would perform as a disease prevention coordinator greatly vary and are based on your place of employment. Some employers may require you to perform lots of research. Other employers may require you to work directly with patients. Overall, your main responsibility in this line of work would be to help patients and organizations lead a healthy lifestyle by teaching them how to carry out disease prevention techniques.
Health communication director
On the marketing end, you will likely work for a large organization as a health communication director. Your responsibilities will include creating and disseminating messages so that the public can understand both basic and complicated health-related topics. Acting as a mediator, you will have a large impact on how the public perceives a large number of health-related issues. As a health communication director, you will likely find yourself working close with research communities as well as coordinating the reporting of clinical trials.
There are many career options available to the professional who has a passion for both marketing and healthcare. Combining the two fields can lead to a very satisfying career.
