Josh Young, a Bachelor of Health Studies and Master of Public Health alum, has put his degrees to good use as a current program specialist and emergency room technician. And to further his education, Young will soon be attending University of Washington to attain his Master of Clinical Health Services and become a physician assistant.
After completing his Master of Public Health degree, Young aims to continue his education in the clinical setting.
“I’ve been working on the clinical side for so long that it feels like the natural next step in progressing my understanding of the world and my career,” Young said.
His experience in the Master of Public Health program, he said, provided him with important context that helped him bridge the gap between public health and clinical positions.
“The public health body of knowledge is really relevant and applicable clinically,” he said. “As a student and future physician assistant, I think it will help me to grasp the full picture behind why certain kinds of cases tend to exist.”
Additionally, Young said that his public health background put the administrative side of health into more realistic and understandable terms.
“I think the public health side of things equips people to understand healthcare finance in a really detailed way — more specifically, insurance coverage on medical services,” Young said.
Once he graduates, Young hopes to return to Boise and further his career as a physician assistant. In the long term, he hopes to make more efforts toward integrating public health with clinical understanding.
“Ideally, I would like to get a healthy dose of both worlds, working clinically to help people in immediate need, while still contributing to the more societal changes needed to help improve people’s health outcomes,” he said.
This integration is an important step for clinical professionals, Young said.
Ultimately, Young wants to highlight “the importance of making sure that both sides are integrated to ensure that we’re able to approach the improvement of well-being with a more holistic view.”