Tracking Public Health Workforce Retention: Observations From CDC's Public Health Associate Program

Area of Science:

• Public Health Workforce Development
• Career Trajectories
• Associate Programs

Background:

• The US Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) aims to recruit and train early-career professionals for public health roles.
• Understanding the long-term career paths of PHAP alumni is crucial for assessing program effectiveness and workforce retention.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the career trajectories of US Public Health Associate Program (PHAP) alumni over three years post-program.
• To assess the retention of PHAP alumni in public health employment.

Main Methods:

• A web-based survey was administered to a cohort of PHAP alumni at three time points between 2014 and 2017.
• Response rate was 76%.
• Descriptive statistics were calculated using SPSS.

Main Results:

• The majority of PHAP alumni remained employed throughout the study period.
• Employment in public health was 100% at program completion, decreasing to 86% at year 1, and 68% at year 3.
• Approximately one-third of alumni transitioned out of public health employment by the three-year mark.

Conclusions:

• PHAP effectively recruits individuals into public health careers.
• While immediate post-program retention in public health is high, longer-term retention rates suggest significant turnover.
• Further research is needed to understand factors influencing long-term retention of PHAP alumni in the public health workforce.