March 28, 2024

What is the Public Health Specialty Area Known As Biostatistics?

Biostatistics is the development and application of statistical reasoning and methods to address, analyze and solve problems in public health, Healthcare, and biomedical, clinical and population-based research. Biostatistics is the branch of statistics responsible for interpreting scientific data that is generated in the biology, public health, and other health sciences. Biostatistics is crucial in the advancement of knowledge in biology, health policy, clinical medicine, public health policy, health economics, proteomics, genomics, and other disciplines.

How is Biostatistics Used in Public Health?

Biostatisticians work in pharmaceutical companies, public health agencies, or hospitals. They design studies testing whether drugs successfully treat diseases or conditions. They also work for hospitals or in public health agencies to identify the sources of outbreaks of illnesses and diseases in the population and identify the best way to use their resources for treatment. In order to prevent epidemics, the goal is finding the correct way to treat an infected person and more importantly to stop spread in the general population. In both infectious diseases and behavioral research, the intervention provided to individuals will impact others in the community. This research method requires investigation of the relationship between responses at the individual patient and population levels.

What Level of Education is Required to Work as a Biostatistician?

Most jobs within the field of public health will require you to have minimally a Master’s Degree. A Master’s Degree in Public Health (MPH) with a focus on Biostatistics will provide a career path with more responsibilities and a higher level of income.

What is Salary Scale and Job Prospect Outlook for Those Trained in Biostatistics?

Most Biostatisticians will earn a respectable salary, particularly if you hold a Master’s Degree in Statistics or an MPH with a concentration in Biostatistics. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) states that the median salary for statisticians is $72,000 but this rate is dependent upon educational level and area of employment. Job growth for Biostatisticians will be close to fourteen percent by the year 2020, higher than the national average when compared to other fields. Growth in the biostatistics and healthcare field will be greater because of the rising demand for healthcare services. The BLS also states that there are 25,000 statisticians employed in the US as of 2012, and there will be about 3500 new jobs in the field by 2020.

Where are the Most Common Places of Employment for Biostatisticians

According to the United States BLS Occupational Handbook, nearly thirty percent of biostatisticians work in federal, state, and local governments, including research universities. Other professionals work in a variety of healthcare and medical settings such as pharmaceutical companies, finance and insurance firms, public health agencies, or hospitals. As pharmaceutical companies develop new treatments and medical technologies, biostatisticians will be needed to do research and clinical trials.

A career as a Biostatistician requires Graduate training, but upon graduation job opportunities are prolific. These highly skilled statisticians can create lasting impact on direct patient care and the healthcare industry as a whole.