The ongoing international fight for global health employs many people around the world. Many organizations, such as the World Health Organization and Medecins Sans Frontieres, employ and dispatch medical professionals on a daily basis to crisis areas. These include doctors, nurses and paramedics.

However, many people do not realize that there is a multitude of global healthcare workers behind the scenes making sure that the proper aid reaches the people who need it the most. Many of these people spend time studying aspects of global health such as policy, law and financing. These global healthcare jobs are considered non-clinical careers. Below are the top five jobs in global health that focus on non-clinical work.

Global Health Policy Analyst

A global health policy analyst is usually a government-based job, which means that the analyst will be grounded in the country of the government or organization that is sending the aid. A worker in this field will gather data, assess healthcare initiatives, assess new developments and policies and consult with other global healthcare professionals.

Many times a global health policy analyst will deal with foreign aid and medical relief, both in receiving it and deciding how to distribute it. They will also analyze other countries’ global health policies and be an influencer in deciding when to distribute medical-based foreign aid to other countries.

Global Health Educator

Global health is an important issue around the world and to be able to help as much as possible, the public must be informed. A global health educator is a trained professional that manages and provides educational programs for maintaining a healthy lifestyle. These programs can be geared towards individuals, families or even entire communities.

An educator will collect data to identify a community’s health needs as well as the current policies and environment. Global health educators can also provide medical and financial resources to the community.

Community Health Worker

A community health worker works directly with the community they serve and are considered one of the frontline global healthcare professionals in any designated area. Many times a community health worker will serve as a link between the people of the community and health institutions, governments and aid agencies.

These global health workers also work to build strong relationships with the local community, becoming a trusted and informative person for those in need of medical assistance to lean on. Community health workers can be found in rural and urban areas and in some of the richest and poorest countries in the world.

Health Systems Planner

A health systems planner is an integral non-clinical worker in global health. Planners support the health system of individual countries through population-based planning, research and innovations. They also establish relationships with clinical and non-clinical workers, global governments and relief groups.

Though a health systems planner rarely works directly with the communities they are responsible for helping, all of the planning and research they do is in direct correlation with the community’s growth and needs.

Clinic Administrator

Administration is an important variable to the success of global health. A clinic administrator usually manages a health clinic for physicians and other medical personnel. They take care of the clinic’s financial and budgeting needs.

In addition, they are usually in charge of hiring new staff. This is particularly important in health clinics, as they need to be equipped with a whole host of doctors to deal with a variety of problems.

These are the top five jobs in global health. Every global healthcare worker is an integral part of the fight for global health, whether they are doctors or administrators. These jobs in global health outline how important each aspect of the various and complex global healthcare systems are.

– Courtney Wallace

Photo: Flickr