Public health management leaders of tomorrow in New York State

Recent studies have highlighted the need to improve knowledge and skills of the current public health workforce and to prepare the next generation of public health workers. The University at Albany School of Public Health has implemented a multi-tiered initiative to provide graduate-level public health training to county and state health department personnel in New York and to provide incentives for MPH and DrPH students to pursue careers in state and local health departments. The Public Health Management Leaders of Tomorrow program (PHMLOT), a collaboration with the New York State Department of Health, is financially supported by the state legislature. One goal of the program is to help health department staff strengthen their public health skills through graduate coursework. The program pays for them to take courses without committing to a degree program, to enroll in a certificate program, or to work toward an MPH or DrPH degree. Many of the courses are offered online, enhancing statewide access. Students in counties far from campus are encouraged to form local study groups among their co-workers. To promote the second goal – encouraging current MPH and DrPH students to pursue health department careers – the program provides tuition assistance and funded health department internships for students who commit to work in a health department upon graduation. Finally, to foster leadership among health department staff, the program provides scholarships for enrollment in the Northeast Public Health Leadership Institute. This presentation will discuss lessons others can learn from the development and implementation of the PHMLOT program.