The Nassau County Department of Health (DOH) has been selected as a host site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Public Health Associate Program (PHAP). The DOH successfully applied for, and was awarded, three Public Health Associates out of the 200 awarded nationally. PHAP is a competitive, two-year paid fellowship within the CDC, which is geared toward recent baccalaureate and master’s level graduates who are interested in a career in public health. Since this program became a nationwide public health training program in 2010, Nassau County DOH has been awarded 10 Public Health Associates. These associates have gained broad experience in the day-to-day operation of public health programs within the Nassau County DOH.
“I am honored that once again, out of approximately 3,000 local health departments in the United States, the CDC has awarded multiple Public Health Associates to Nassau County,” said Dr. Lawrence Eisenstein, commissioner of health. “The associates are funded by the CDC, and their projects help us achieve our vision of leading a public health system that works to create healthy communities.”
PHAP’s mission is to establish a pipeline of entry-level, frontline public health professionals who, through training and field experience, are capable of meeting public health workforce needs at the federal, state, local, tribal and territorial levels. During this two-year program the associates will work on projects at the Department of Health aimed at the prevention of childhood lead poisoning, public health emergency preparedness, communicable disease control, environmental protection and injury prevention. Upon completion of delivering frontline program services for the Nassau County Department of Health, these associates will be qualified to compete for entry-level career positions as a CDC public health advisor and equivalent positions in public health operations at the local and state levels throughout the United States.
Visit www.cdc.gov/phap for additional information on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Associate Program.
