Improving the public health pipeline by teaching epidemiology to high school students

Background: Recruitment and retention of highly skilled public health professionals, particularly in the field of epidemiology, is problematic. The public health pipeline can be improved by teaching high school students basic epidemiology skills through summer enrichment programs.

Methods: A six-week seminar on infectious disease epidemiology was taught to sixteen students in the summer after their sophomore year in high school. Students were introduced to a number of topics relevant to epidemiology. The seminar was organized in a way to expose students to a variety of different learning experiences using individual and group activities. Students completed an evaluation form on the last day of the seminar to rank the different topics and teaching materials used.

Results: Students were interested in the majority of the topics covered in the seminar. However, students were most interested in “flashy” topics and least interested in the more conceptually challenging topics. They enjoyed a wide variety of learning modalities.

Conclusions: The authors found that not only are high school students receptive to learning about epidemiology, but that they are also capable of understanding difficult epidemiologic concepts and applying them to various public health issues. Suggestions to other public health professionals who are considering teaching a public health seminar to high school students will be presented.