225561 YPHI: Creating public health leaders in the WiFi generation

Monday, November 8, 2010 : 12:32 PM - 12:44 PM

DYuanna L. Allen, MPH , Metro Public Health Department, Nashville, TN
Michael Paul , College of Health Sciences, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN
Krystal Massey , College of Health Sciences, Tennessee State University, Nashville, TN
According to national estimates, more than 20 to 25% of the current public health workforce will be eligible for retirement this year (2010). Public health systems (local, state, federal) arguably have an urgent need to ensure a competent public health workforce and should further explore innovative opportunities to create sustainable public health pipeline programs that engage secondary, post-secondary, graduate academic institutions as well as professional practitioners in the public and private sectors. For more than 10 years, the Metro Public Health Department has invested in pipeline programs to engage potential public health professionals at all levels (e.g. high school, undergraduate, graduate, and professional). The 2010 Youth Public Health Institute (YPHI), supported under a cooperative agreement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through the Association of Schools of Public Health, is designed to increase knowledge and awareness of post-secondary career and academic pathways to public health (PH) opportunities for more than 1,050 public high school students and their health science educators with collaboration between public and private academic institutions and the local public health system. Guided by local PH graduate students and professionals, it is reasonably anticipated that 100% of YPHI enrollees will demonstrate an increase in public health knowledge and career opportunities as well as 100% of their educators will create and teach public health lesson plans for their classrooms, strengthening the community's overall PH awareness. The longitudinal implications include potential replicable pipelines directly into the local workforce and undergraduate/graduate public health training programs.

Learning Areas:
Administer health education strategies, interventions and programs
Planning of health education strategies, interventions, and programs
Program planning
Public health or related education

Learning Objectives:
1. Identify opportunities to replicate youth pipeline programs/initiatives that include the local public health system, public/private partnerships and post-secondary academic institutions. 2. Describe 3 to 5 components of successful secondary and post-secondary public health youth pipeline programs and initiatives. 3. Discuss the benefits of the creation and support of youth pipeline opportunities as part of larger, innovative health promotion, workforce development and other public health training programs.

Keywords: Public Health Careers, Youth

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I provide managerial and fiscal oversight of the metro adolescent health programs, serve as the Chamber of Commerce adolescent health consultant for metro public schools initiatives and serve as a public health guest lecturer for undergraduate and graduate degree programs at 3 academic institutions for more than 5 years.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.