258024 A Framework for Sustained Training of Public Health Laboratory Directors: California's LabAspire Model

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 : 12:56 PM - 1:08 PM

Adela de la Torre, PHD , Center for Transnational Health, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
Linda Whent, PHD, MEd , Center for Transnational Health, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA
Edward Desmond, PHD, Chief, Mycobacteriology and Mycology Section, MDL, CDC, CID, CDPH , Division of Communicable Disease Control, Center for Infectous Diseases, California Department of Public Health, Richmond, CA
Jessica Marie Nunez de Ybarra, MD, MPH , Division of Communicable Disease Control, California Department of Public Health, Sacramento, CA
     
In California, a critical shortage of public health laboratory (PHL) directors exists due to retirement and new Federal mandates, creating a lack of qualified applicants prepared to enter local PHL director positions. Within the allied health professions, programs in nursing, dentistry, and pharmacy have increased recruitment efforts by partnering with local colleges and universities to meet this demand. Increasing the PHL workforce, a less examined, yet crucial sector, of public health, however, is a more complicated task than other sectors. Similar to retention and recruitment issues faced by other public health employees, the PHL workforce must meet specific educational and practice requirements, further complicating recruitment efforts.

In response to this recruitment problem, California's 2006 Budget Act provided an annual commitment of $2.5 million dollars in state allocated general revenue funds to finance several levels of education and training for qualified professionals to become eligible to assume state and county PHL director positions. As a result of this funding, this workforce training program became known as LabAspire.

A major goal of this article is to provide a description of the evolution, implementation, and workforce outcome of California's LabAspire model, which may provide other states with a unique model for the successful training of a new generation of public health laboratory directors. The model involves a strong statewide partnership between academic institutions and public health laboratories, as well as specific efforts to engage and recruit diverse students early in their careers, and connect pubic health laboratories with academic partners and pipeline trainees.

Learning Areas:
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs

Learning Objectives:
Identify the looming shortage of public health laboratory directors nationally and in California. Discuss recruitment models and strategies to improve public health employment options and relevant training of public health students trained in university based settings. Describe the evolution, implementation and workforce outcome of California Department of Public Health’s LabAspire model.

Keywords: Education, Health Care Workers

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: As the public health medical officer responsible for state level oversight of the California Department of Public Health Laboratory Director Training Program, I am knowledgeable about its mission and the various and strigent educational, training and experiential requirements to qualify as a public health laboratory director. I also serve as volunteer clinical faculty at University of California Davis School of Medicine's Department of Public Health Services MPH Program and faculty for CDPH Preventive Medicine Residency.
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.

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