-: So the first thing you need to do
is have a major that enables you to do this kind of work.
So something in the field of human nutrition foods
and exercise, community health,
public health, health education.
You have to have the correct background.
I could even go as far as saying
a biology biochemistry major as well.
But then my job almost always across
the board requires a masters degree.
So you would have to then set yourself up
for a masters degree in public health
or community health or health education.
Something related and then you can sit for
your certified health education specialist exam.
A lot of times you have to have that
as a requirement to get a health education job
at a university.
The other thing I would do as an undergraduate
would be to involve myself in something
that teaches about peer education.
So become part of any peer education program
that interests you.
This will give you an idea of things
that you liked in your own peer education program
or things that if you go on to do this work
you would want to do it completely differently.
But peer education is almost always
part of college health work.
And finally I would learn how to teach
and just get myself in front of as many people
as possible teaching and programming
and learning how to learn information and
then translate that in to effective workshop development.
I know through the National Commission
of Health Education Credentialing
which is the body that provides
the Certified Health Education Specialist Certification.
They're very protective of that certification
because they don't want people who
are just coming in off of the street
and thinking, "Oh I like health
so I'm gonna be a health educator."
They want to protect our field
and really provide jobs to people who have studied it
and researched it and know how to
implement successful programs.
So getting your foot in the door.
I think having experience in peer education programming
or even another organization that teaches health,
whatever that may be, is certainly going to
give you a leg up in your interview process.