ABSTRACT
This chapter introduces the reader to public health, what it is, its history and objectives, as well as what has been achieved to date, with a particular focus on the recent pandemic. It then outlines who is in the public health workforce, how they are categorised and the main areas of public health practice in the UK. It sets out a broad introduction to careers in public health and how they are entered, bearing in mind structural and organisational differences in each UK country which can affect how and where the workforce is employed and deployed.
