Training Young Professionals to Protect the Nation’s Health

CDC has increased efforts to provide and improve key training programs designed to strengthen the public health workforce. One of these programs is the Public Health Associate Program (PHAP), which is housed within CDC’s Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support. PHAP is a highly competitive, two-year service and training fellowship geared towards recent baccalaureate college graduates (BA/BS). PHAP associates gain hands-on work experience at assigned state, tribal, local, or territorial health departments in one of the following program areas:

• Sexually Transmitted Disease (STD)
• Tuberculosis (TB)
• Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)
• Other communicable diseases
• Chronic disease
• Environmental health
• Public health preparedness
• Immunization
• Injury prevention
• Maternal and child health

PHAP associates gain valuable job experience and develop skills, such as program planning, building partnerships, and health promotion; associates then use these skills to support health departments in communities across the U.S. In this way, PHAP associates provide critical services to the public and contribute to the development of a strong public health workforce for the future. Since PHAP began in 2007, the program has trained 166 associates in approximately 96 public health agencies.