Training of diverse women leaders in public health: Data supporting a new training model for creating a healthy graduate training community

The shortage of diverse doctorates in the United States has been called a national crisis, even as a special theme issue of the American Journal of Public Health was devoted to this topic and related concerns. The task of training diverse women leaders in public health who have successfully completed graduate training, including obtaining the doctorate, emerges as a high priority. This is especially so, given that health disparities in this nation need to be addressed by professional leaders in public health who are diverse; and in being diverse are likely to bring interest, commitment, and cultural sensitivity and competence in addressing public health problems related to health disparities. There are also barriers to training diverse women leaders in public health, including a shortage of mentors and a lack of cultural competency training among many mentors. Given this background, there is value in teaching other educators how to implement a model for training diverse women leaders in public health while they are in graduate school. The principles upon which the model is based are taught to participants, including how to overcome barriers to training diverse women leaders in public health. The value in others implementing the model is stressed through presentation of data. The data compares graduation rates of those with doctorates in health education for the period before the new training model was implemented (1993-2002) versus after the new training model was implemented (2003-2010). The data make a compelling case for replicating the training model.