PROGRAMS
AmeriCorps VISTA Hub
▸ California Academic Health Department
Public Health Training Center
Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG)
California Academic Health Department
Strengthening the public health workforce and building a new generation of public health leaders
The need for strong local health departments has never been greater. The public health workforce is rebuilding from the enormous impact of COVID-19 response, and attrition and burnout are at an all time high. Even prior to COVID-19, more than 61% of staff in supervisory roles and 44% of those in nonsupervisory roles at the California Department of Public Health were eligible for retirement (Health Force Center at USF, 2020).
Academic Health Departments are a proven model to strengthen public health infrastructure by building bridges between academia and local health departments. The California Academic Health Department (CAHD) initiative aims to revitalize California’s local public health workforce by creating pathways for public health students, recent graduates and faculty to serve in local health departments. In our effort to strengthen the public health workforce in health professional shortage areas of California, special consideration is given to local health departments located in the Inland Empire and Central Valley regions.
Join the initiative
Start your career in local public health and make an impact
CAHD Programs Overview
CAHD has funded opportunities for public health students and recent graduates to engage in paid internships, residencies, and fellowships at local health departments in California. These opportunities are immersive public health training programs, providing on-the-ground experience in local public health. The CAHD Program Office (PHI Center for Health Leadership & Impact) serves as a recruitment partner to local health departments and professional development provider to CAHD program participants, offering virtual monthly workshops and guided tools to deepen practice-based learnings. Local health departments and affiliate health organizations serve as the employer of CAHD Interns, Residents, and Fellows.
Current Opportunities
CAHD is not actively recruiting program participants. If you would like to learn more or be added to our interest list, please email cahd@healthleadership.org.
Build pathways for future public health leaders to work in your health department and stronger partnerships with schools and programs of public health (SPPH)
Become a CAHD Host Site
CAHD has partnered with local health departments and placed interns, residents, and fellows on high-need projects from community engagement to accreditation activities, increasing local public health workforce capabilities. CAHD provides partial funding for the roles. Through CAHD programs, our local health department host sites serve as training grounds for the next generation of public health leaders, cultivating a talented pool of candidates to hire into their organization.
Current Opportunities
CAHD is not actively recruiting host sites. If you would like to learn more or be added to our interest list, please email cahd@healthleadership.org.
Strengthen your relationship with local health departments
Build Career Pathways for Your Students and Recent Graduates
CAHD has funded opportunities for public health students and recent graduates to engage in paid internships, residencies, and fellowships at local health departments in California. These opportunities are immersive public health training programs, providing on-the-ground experience in local public health. We partner with schools and programs of public health to support CAHD recruitment activities. Some of the benefits of CAHD programs include:
Deepening their academic learning and public health skills in roles at local health departments
Being part of a learning cohort with other CAHD participants working in local health departments across California
Gaining practice-based experiences and become better prepared to secure future employment opportunities.
Receiving close supervision and mentorship from experienced public health leaders
Scholars-in-Residence Program
The Scholars-in-Residence Program brought the latest science to the frontlines of public health through building bridges between research and practice. Scholars worked on high priority public health projects to help to advance health equity in local communities in partnership with local health departments. CAHD provided a stipend to public health faculty to directly support their community-based work and partnerships with their local health department.
The program was a partnership between the CAHD and the California Alliance of Academics and Communities for Public Health Equity (Alliance). The Alliance was a statewide initiative to advance health equity and catalyze substantive policy change. The Alliance was composed of California’s schools and programs of public health (SPPH), governmental agencies, and community-based organizations working together to support, monitor, guide, and resource the coalition’s goals and collective impact.
Current Opportunities
CAHD is not actively recruiting program participants. If you would like to learn more or be added to our interest list, please email cahd@healthleadership.org.
ABOUT THE INITIATIVE
PHI’s California Academic Health Department (CAHD) initiative seeks to:
Prepare a more engaged public health workforce in California to partner successfully with and support the diverse communities served by local health departments
Strengthen academic-community partnerships through building relationships between faculty, community-based organizations, and local health departments
Develop and launch workforce programs such as internships, residencies, and fellowships at local health departments to create public health career pathways for students and recent graduates