Job Outlook

Public health is a data-driven field. This degree will teach you how to use advanced data science techniques to improve the way public health is practiced around the globe. As the number and diversity of data sources relevant to public health rapidly increases, so too does the demand for public health data scientists with expertise in collecting, managing, visualizing, and analyzing complex health data, and with the skills to communicate results to stakeholders and policymakers.

Job prospects for data scientists are excellent, with Glassdoor reporting a median base salary of $108,000.

What Do Graduates Do?

This program is ideal for students who are seeking new roles as public health data scientists in government, non-profit, and for-profit organizations in the public health and biomedical fields, as well as working professionals already employed in such organizations, who would like to use data more effectively to advance their missions.

Many of these organizations are smaller in scale and have fewer resources at their disposal than the tech giants. Thus, students will be equipped to:

• Understand potential sources of bias in data sources relevant to public health;
• Formulate data-driven questions using existing data sources;
• Organize, assemble, and process raw data;
• Apply appropriate analysis tools and prediction models;
• Communicate results clearly and succinctly; and
• Ensure reproducibility throughout the data analysis process

Furthermore, students will receive solid, core training in public health, resulting in a truly interdisciplinary experience.

​​Examples of Positions Held by Public Health Data Scientists

• Public health analyst
• Public health data analyst
• Clinical research data coordinator
• Clinical research data analyst
• Study coordinator
• Clinical research associates
• Clinical research coordinator
• Other positions that are required to set up databases, explore data, and/or create data visualizations

Nearly all graduates of our biostatistics MS and MPH programs are employed immediately after graduation. They obtain jobs locally, nationally, and internationally.

Local employment opportunities are plentiful, and include public research institutions such as:

• University of Minnesota Masonic Cancer Center
• Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation
• Mayo Clinic
• Hennepin County Medical Center
• HealthPartners
• United Health/Optum
• Minnesota Department of Health
• Medtronic
• Boston Scientific
• North American Science Associates (NAMSA)

Competitive Edge

As one of the top biostatistics programs in the world, the Division of Biostatistics at the U of M School of Public Health is widely recognized and respected by researchers and employers, providing our graduates distinction in competitive career environments.