Department of Health Awarded Three Public Health Associates
Mineola, NY – Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today congratulated the Nassau County Department of Health (DOH) on again being selected as a host site for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) 2016 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 mater’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.
“The Department of Health was awarded three Public Health Associates from a large competitive field nationwide,” said County Executive Mangano. “Nassau County will again benefit from associates who have attained academic success and now seek to further develop their public health training through placement at the Department of Health. I am proud of the Health Department’s accomplishment and I am honored that these associates will assist Nassau County in frontline public health programs.”
“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 2-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.
For additional information on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Public Health Associate Program visit https://www.cdc.gov/phap/