According to the American Public Health Association: 

Public health promotes and protects the health of people and the communities where they live, learn, work and play.

While a doctor treats people who are sick, those of us working in public health try to prevent people from getting sick or injured in the first place. We also promote wellness by encouraging healthy behaviors.

From conducting scientific research to educating about health, people in the field of public health work to assure the conditions in which people can be healthy. That can mean vaccinating children and adults to prevent the spread of disease. Or educating people about the risks of alcohol and tobacco. Public health sets safety standards to protect workers and develops school nutrition programs to ensure kids have access to healthy food.

Public health works to track disease outbreaks, prevent injuries and shed light on why some of us are more likely to suffer from poor health than others. The many facets of public health include speaking out for laws that promote smoke-free indoor air and seatbelts, spreading the word about ways to stay healthy and giving science-based solutions to problems.

According to the American Public Health Association: 

The clinical health care provider — your doctor, nurse, or dentist — helps you with your own personal healthcare issues. Let’s say you have asthma. It’s the clinical care provider who listens to you describe your symptoms. He or she does the necessary tests, makes the diagnosis, and prescribes the right medicines. You go home breathing better.

The public health approach is different. Public health takes a look at the whole neighborhood (or city, county, state, etc.) and figures out how many people have asthma and what’s putting them at risk. Then, public health professionals get to work figuring out how to reduce those exposures and cut down on the number of new asthma cases. Public health is also concerned with whether the people with asthma have access to doctors and are getting good care. If the folks on our side do their jobs right, the whole neighborhood breathes easier.

• First responders
• Restaurant inspectors
• Health educators
• Scientists and researchers
• Nutritionists
• Community planners
• Social workers
• Epidemiologists
• Public health physicians
• Public health nurses
• Occupational health and safety professionals
• Public policymakers
• Sanitarians