An assessment of the health communication job market across multiple typesof organizations

This study seeks to answer three questions: (1) What is the employment outl ook for health communication practitioners? (2) What specialized knowledge and skills should a competent health communication practitioner possess? an d (3) How much academic training or professional experience is necessary to become a competent health communication practitioner? To this end, 104 emp loyers of health communication practitioners, representing different types of large, medium, and small companies and organizations from various region s of the United States, were interviewed by telephone. The interview protoc ol was based on nine core health communication responsibilities identified by a working group of health communication academicians and practitioners. The study suggests a positive employment outlook, where those seeking jobs in health communication before the year 2000 could enjoy varied job opportu nities in the wake of an anticipated moderate expansion in the field. Those with 1 to 10 years of experience are most in demand. While an undergraduat e degree provides an academic background to perform most responsibilities, for six of the nine core responsibilities an advanced degree was preferred by at feast one-third of respondents.