Public health lends itself to interdisciplinary study. Several schools offer programs where you can combine your degree in public health with a degree in another program such as medicine, social work, or law.

Many public health schools offer a number of different kinds of master's and doctoral degrees. Professional degrees such as the Master's in Public Health (M.P.H.), the Doctor of Public Health (Dr.P.H.), and the Master's in Health Administration (M.H.A.) prepare you toward practical applications of public health. Academic degrees such as the Master's of Science (M.S.), the Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), or the Doctor of Science (Sc.D.) prepare you for a career in academic research or teaching at the university level.

At the bachelor's degree level, this program tends to be called "community health." Sometimes, this indicates that the school focuses on public health at a more local level; in other cases, the difference is just in the name.