Ahead of Schedule: PHIT Workforce Development Program Students at UTHealth Exceeding Expectations

Three years into the Public Health Informatics and Technology (PHIT) Workforce Development Program ―an effort funded and led by ASTP to boost the public health information technology workforce in the US―the University of Texas Health Houston (UTHealth) has exceeded expectations and completed award milestones ahead of schedule. The program exceeded its original goal of training 1,900 students, reaching 2,065 students one year ahead of schedule. UTHealth's efforts to provide its students with opportunities to secure meaningful, cutting-edge internships and jobs will help improve the health and well-being of the surrounding communities.

How the PHIT Workforce Development Program Works

UTHealth is one of ten institutions nationwide to receive a PHIT Workforce Development Program award. Over the course of four years, the ten recipients―which include Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, Asian American and Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions, and other universities-have the privilege of jointly training more than 5,000 students in public health informatics and technology.

UTHealth trains students and provides internship opportunities through the Gaining Equity in Training for Public Health Informatics and Technology Program, known as GET PHIT. The GET PHIT Program is led by the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics (MSBMI) at UTHealth Houston and UTHealth Houston's School of Public Health.

Student Success Stories

Through the GET PHIT Program, students participate in on-campus and virtual bootcamps, professional development courses, and other public health informatics and technology-related courses at consortium institutions: Huston-Tillotson University, Prairie View A&M University, Texas A&M International University, Texas Tech University Health Science Center, University of Texas at Arlington, University of Texas at El Paso, University of Texas at Tyler, University of Texas Permian Basin, and University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

GET PHIT also provides students with paid internships through its consortium partners. These enriching, one-semester experiences are open to students studying at the universities within the UTHealth consortium (listed above). The GET PHIT Program project team aims to complete 400 internships by the time the four-year funding period ends; the team is on track to exceed that goal.

The PHIT Workforce Development Program and GET PHIT Program strive to help students gain long-term employment in public health informatics. UTHealth has already made great progress toward its employment goals, with students accepting full-time positions after completing internships with employers such as the Texas Department of State Health Services (DSHS) and the Research Triangle Institute, International (RTI).

The internships and jobs earned through the GET PHIT Program have proven to be hugely impactful―both for the career trajectories of the students who are participating, and the communities being enriched by the new opportunities. For example, one UTHealth SPH graduate student completed an internship that transitioned into full-time employment as an Epidemiologist I. During this internship, the student conducted a comprehensive needs assessment to identify communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, addressing critical issues such as disparities in access, language barriers, and transportation challenges. Similarly, another UTHealth MSBMI student leveraged their internship experience, which progressed into part-time and ultimately full-time employment as a Data Scientist. This student played a key role in analyzing data from the Census and other sources to focus on the social determinants of sexual and reproductive health.

We look forward to seeing what the GET PHIT Program and its students achieve during the final year of the award and beyond.

About the coauthors: ASTP thanks Dr. Susan Fenton, Vice Dean of Education at the McWilliams School of Biomedical Informatics, and Dr. Kimberly Baker, Assistant Professor and Assistant Dean of Practice at UTHealth Houston's School of Public Health, for their contributions to strengthening U.S. public health IT efforts and expanding workforce diversity.