Speaking as a recent graduate of Public health, finding jobs and other employment opportunities is really difficult in the field of public health. So in this competitive field you need to make yourself skillful and should stand out from other applicants in order to get a good position. In this article, I will walk you through some tips on how to gain new skills to showcase in your resume.
1. Learning R programming
Data analysis is one of the most important in the field of public health. R is a programming language and environment for statistical computing and graphics. If you see the vacancy and requirements in any public health job, R remains at the top. Most Jobs in public health require skills of R. So learning R will certainly increase your probability of getting your dream public health job.
About R
R provides a wide variety of statistical (linear and nonlinear modeling, classical statistical tests, time-series analysis, classification, clustering, …) and graphical techniques, and is highly extensible. R is a free software and to learn more about R visit the link: https://www.r-project.org/about.html
Where to learn R
There are different platforms where you can get R courses. Here are a list of a few websites, I personally prefer.
- Udemy : https://www.udemy.com/topic/r-programming-language/
- Coursera: https://www.coursera.org/learn/r-programming
- Linked In Learning: https://www.linkedin.com/learning/learning-r-18748884
2. SPSS
SPSS stands for Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Also known as IBM SPSS. IBM® SPSS® Statistics is a powerful statistical software platform. It offers a user-friendly interface and a robust set of features that lets your organization quickly extract actionable insights from your data. Advanced statistical procedures help ensure high accuracy and quality decision-making. All facets of the analytics lifecycle are included, from data preparation and management to analysis and reporting.
You can download the latest version of SPSS from the website: https://www.ibm.com/spss. But it’s not free to download to free. However, most of the universities buy SPSS for their student so it won’t be a problem. The software is easy to use for data entry and different types of analysis. So if you are planning to study public health then learning SPSS might be a good investment for your career. Learning SPSS skills is a strong component for your resume as well if you are looking for the position of a graduate research assistant.
3. Dedoose
Dedoose is software used for qualitative research analysis. This allows for the analysis of research data that is both qualitative, such as text, audio, images, or video, or quantitive such as spreadsheets, test scores, or demographics. You can even mix both qualitative and quantitative data in your analysis.
4. Stata: statistical software for data science
Stata is a powerful statistical software that enables users to analyze, manage, and produce graphical visualizations of data. It is primarily used by researchers in the fields of economics, biomedicine, and political science to examine data patterns. It has both a command line and graphical user interface making the use of the software more intuitive. See the video below for a quick tour of the Stata interface.
