SPH Receives $1.5 Million from HRSA to Strengthen the Public Health Workforce

 ALBANY, N.Y. (Oct. 18, 2022) - The School of Public Health has received $1.5 million from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to enhance the public health workforce, with a special focus on preparing individuals to address health disparities and social determinants of health, especially in underserved populations.

The funding comes from HRSA’s Public Health Scholarship Program, which provided support to 29 organizations to develop scholarship programs that encourage students to pursue public health education and careers. At the School of Public Health, the grant supports the development of the University at Albany Strengthening the Public Health Workforce Scholarship Program (SPHWSP), a 3-year initiative that will provide students accepted into this program with a scholarship that covers full tuition and fees.

According to the de Beaumont foundation, approximately 80,000 new full-time positions are needed to adequately meet public health needs across the country. New York faces shortages at the state, county, and local community level, with additional workforce recruitment and retention challenges reported by community health centers, which serve some of the most vulnerable communities.

“This is a critical time in the public health field— not only do we need more public health professionals, but we need a diverse future workforce that is prepared to engage in recovery activities related to COVID-19 and to address the important public health priorities of underserved communities in New York,” said Mary Gallant, interim dean of the School of Public Health and the grant’s principal investigator. “Because of our strong partnership with the New York State Department of Health and our close relationship with many community organizations, our school is well equipped to train students to help ensure that the public health workforce is more effective at the local, state, and national level, and this funding will help us immensely to recruit new students to enter and advance in the public health workforce.”

SPHWSP will recruit and support a diverse group of public health scholars who will complete the Master of Public Health (MPH) program. These trainees will also be required to complete a graduate certificate in either health disparities or maternal and child health to equip them with further knowledge to address social determinants of health. Scholars will also attend a seminar series that will focus on providing them with practical field skills that have been highlighted by the COVID-19 pandemic as essential for the public health workforce.

Both traditional prospective graduate students and current public health workers will be encouraged to apply for SPHWSP, and trainees will be selected based on qualifications, interest in future employment with state/local health departments, and their desire to address health disparities and social determinants of health. The selection process will focus on admitting a diverse group of students— with an emphasis on racial/ethnic diversity, first-generation college status, and rural residence. Approximately 45 trainees will be selected to participate over the three years of the program.

“We know that the cost of attending a graduate program is a deterring factor for enrollment, as more than one fifth of our accepted students last fall did not matriculate due to financial reasons,” Gallant said. “SPHWSP will eliminate financial barriers and allow us to recruit an economically diverse group of trainees, and equip them to take on the challenges facing our most vulnerable communities.”

Along with the MPH and their graduate certificate, the students will be required to complete two internships—one with the New York State Department of Health or a local health department and the other in a community-based organization— in order to ensure all trainees receive broad practical experiences.

“Hands-on learning is a core component of our programs, and we already have a strong internship component in our MPH program. We also have a well-established academic-to-employment pipeline in which a significant number of our MPH graduates enter employment at the state health department,” Gallant explained. “Through SPHWSP, we are excited to train a diverse group of public health professionals who will be especially well prepared to address the health inequities that disproportionately impact socially vulnerable communities and improve community resiliency during public health emergencies.”