Public Health Associate Program

Dear Colleague,  

I would like to make you aware of a public health training program opportunity with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and encourage you to share this information with your students.

The Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) gives recent graduates with a bachelor’s or master’s degree a valuable opportunity to get hands-on public health experience. This two-year program provides opportunities for associates to gain broad experience working in public health programs in state, tribal, local and territorial (STLT) public health organizations; community-based organizations; public health institutes and associations; academic institutions; and CDC quarantine stations. PHAP also provides competency-based training designed to build the next generation of public health professionals.  

As CDC “assignees,” associates enjoy the following benefits:

·       As employees of CDC, associates are recognized as part of the nation’s leading public health agency. They receive a salary, paid sick and vacation leave, health insurance, and access to support services and resources.

·       Assignments provide associates with unique opportunities to build an extensive portfolio of public health experiences and demonstrate competency in a wide variety of activities related to the delivery of public health services. For example, many Associates have supported the ongoing response to the 2014 Ebola outbreak. 

·       Associates receive regular supervisory and mentoring support throughout the entire program.

·       Associates develop valuable career skills and on-the-job training, which enables them to become well-rounded public health professionals.

Upon completion of a two-year PHAP assignment, associates are qualified to compete for entry-level career positions at CDC and equivalent positions in STLT public health organizations and non-governmental public health organizations (NGOs), and many recent PHAP graduates have successfully continued their careers at CDC. Others have enrolled in graduate-level public health programs or gone to work in other areas of the public health workforce. Hannah Silveus, a 2012 PHAP associate, said, “My time in the PHAP program was a unique period in my life where I had the opportunity and support to try a lot of public health activities, and that experience shaped my goals going forward.”

The next PHAP associate application period will open January 12–16, 2015. Interested candidates should visit the PHAP website (www.cdc.gov/phap) and check back periodically for link to apply for the program, which will be posted in early January.

I encourage you to let your students know about this unique opportunity.

  

Sincerely,

Judith A. Monroe, MD

Director, Office for State, Tribal, Local and Territorial Support

Deputy Director, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention