INSIGHT & INSPIRATION FROM APHA’S 2012 MIDYEAR MEETING

10
Survive All In This Friends Prevention, Strategies
& Thrive Together For Health Opportunity & Equity for Health
Revitalizing the
Public Health Workforce
Will public health have the people, skills and training to excel and adapt in the new century? It’s
an issue that the nation’s top public health agency is tackling head-on.
Widening the pipeline into the public health profession, investing in emerging public health disciplines,
and strengthening the linkages between public health and health care are top priorities
at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Session presenter Denise Koo, director
of CDC’s Scientific Education and Professional Development Program Office, said the majority
of the agency’s workforce development efforts falls into five categories: recruiting new talent;
training workers in new disciplines; training the existing workforce; providing services and
technical assistance; and developing a workforce strategy. Much of the attention is going toward
recruiting new talent, Koo said, highlighting CDC’s service and learning fellowships.
“In this day and age, we really feel that the deep experience that (students) get through fellowships
is needed more than ever,” Koo told attendees.
CDC has created a virtual one-stop shop for fellowships at cdc.gov/fellowships. Koo reported
that nearly 300 fellows have been assigned to work in the field with local and state public
health agencies. The fellowships are two- to three-year training programs that are similar to
the medical residency model, but unique within the public health field. She noted that there
are more than 8,000 residency opportunities for physicians, but really only a handful for public
health practitioners. Today, about 75 percent of CDC fellows go on to secure a job in the public
health field.
North Carolina State Health Director
Laura Gerald speaks at opening session.