Should I think about getting an advanced degree in public health?

Believe me! I am aleady thinking about the next pandemic and its possibility of originating from farms in the US! Dr. Michael Greger discusses that conclusion bases on his public health research in his book How to Survive a Pandemic. I’m not opposed to working in international settings, though.

I have a Bachelor of Science in Biology I obtained in 2013. My work has been shipping/receiving and administrative in nature since then. Only in the past two years have I started doing some lab work to support researchers.

I appreciate you taking time out of your day to reply to my post.

Hello,

I currently work in the US (U.S. Citizen) for a large biotech product company called Thermofisher Scientific. I do lab services as a contractor for another biotech company which involves shipping/receiving samples for researchers, managing inventories, preparing and delivering media for researchers, and monitoring and coordinating maintenance and repairs of equipment. I have been working at the position for two years now and plan to stay in the company for at least another three years so that my 401K becomes fully vested.

In terms of maximizing positive impact in the world, I see two possibilities.

1. I can move up the corporate ladder and make as much money as I possibly can so that I can donate it to effective charities (my company will also match donations to some effective charities including Helen Keller International and Against Malaria Foundation).
2. Get good at managing and operations so that I can transfer to a good non-profit organization.

I don’t need to focus on any particular problem area, but biorisk, global health problems, solving poverty via GiveDirectly, and climate change are causes that I gravitate towards. Should I default to option 1 or consider option 2?

Also, are there any companies as an American I should look into working for in the future to maximize my income or add more value to one of the cause areas I mentioned?

Hello,

I currently work in the US (U.S. Citizen) for a large biotech product company called Thermofisher Scientific. I do lab services as a contractor for another biotech company which involves shipping/receiving samples for researchers, managing inventories, preparing and delivering media for researchers, and monitoring and coordinating maintenance and repairs of equipment. I have been working at the position for two years now and plan to stay in the company for at least another three years so that my 401K becomes fully vested.

In terms of maximizing positive impact in the world, I see two possibilities.

1. I can move up the corporate ladder and make as much money as I possibly can so that I can donate it to effective charities (my company will also match donations to some effective charities including Helen Keller International and Against Malaria Foundation).
2. Get good at managing and operations so that I can transfer to a good non-profit organization.

I don’t need to focus on any particular problem area, but biorisk, global health problems, solving poverty via GiveDirectly, and climate change are causes that I gravitate towards. Should I default to option 1 or consider option 2?

Also, are there any companies as an American I should look into working for in the future to maximize my income or add more value to one of the cause areas I mentioned?