Advancing the Public Health Workforce: Insights from Virginia Tech

August 15, 2024

Pictured: back row, left-to-right Amanda Talbert, Dr. Sophie Wenzel, Dr. Laura Hungerford, Nicole Holt, Dr. Emily Burke, front row left-to-right Dr. Noelle Bissell, Gary Coggins

Last month, ASPPH staff met with Virginia Tech Public Health Program(Virginia Tech) faculty and staff and their partners at New River Health Districtto learn about their Academic Health Department model. Meeting attendees discussed collaborative efforts to advance community partnership, public health workforce recruitment, retention and development, and student training.

Findings will inform the work of the ASPPH Center for Public Health Workforce Development, which is supported through funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under OE22-2201 "Strengthening the Population and Public Health Workforce Pipeline." ASPPH continues to plan meetings with schools and programs of public health to learn about formal and informal partnerships with state, Tribal, local, and territorial health departments. Findings will be synthesized and shared with ASPPH members and partners to inform, advance, and prioritize academic and practice partnerships.

ASPPH would like to thank Dr. Sophie Wenzel, Assistant Professor of Practice and Associate Director of the Center for Public Health Practice and Research at Virginia Tech, for hosting this meeting. If you're interested in learning more, please contact Emily Burke, ASPPH's Senior Director of Workforce Development and Applied Practice.