Organizations For Public Health Leaders
As a leader in public health, having the support of your colleagues could make a big difference to you both personally and professionally. Joining an organization for public health leaders gives you support and networking opportunities. Organizations for public health leaders such as the ones listed here facilitate growth, leadership skills and professional development.
American Public Health Association
The American Public Health Association is for everyone who works in public health. It has a section for leadership development, which is called the Public Health Leaders program. In this program, emerging leaders in different areas of public health work with other organizations and nonprofit groups in order to advance specific public health initiatives. Through the Public Health Leaders program, public health professionals may partner with the Centers for Disease Control or the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in order to conduct original research or provide educational opportunities for other workers in the field of public health.
Emerging Leaders in Public Health
The Kresge Foundation supports its in-house organization, Emerging Leaders in Public Health. This organization provides local public health workers with the skills and tools to develop leadership qualities within their areas of expertise. Public health leaders are paired and work together for 18 months in the program. The program offers action-oriented experiences in topics such as planning, health systems development and public health communications. The Emerging Leaders in Public Health organization also has a focus on public health infrastructure, including the technology that is needed to support data collection and efficient communications between leaders. An experienced leader and emerging leader work together on developing these competencies.
Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists
The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) is a membership organization for people who work as epidemiologists or who do epidemiological research. The CSTE puts on an annual conference that allows epidemiologists to present original research through poster presentations and oral presentations. Within the organization, public health leaders in epidemiology can volunteer as mentors for students who are earning their bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degrees in epidemiology. The CSTE has fellowship programs and offers workforce development for epidemiologists. In their career center, public health leaders can connect with others in their specialty in order to learn more and bounce ideas off of each other.
Society for Public Health Education
The Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE) is an organization for public health leaders who work in health education at research centers, in hospitals or in the community. This organization offers education, networking and leadership development in areas such as emergency preparedness, social marketing of public health messages, health disparities and patient education. Most large cities have SOPHE chapters, as do most schools and colleges of public health. In addition to accepting leaders in public health, SOPHE also accepts students and new graduates so that experienced leaders can mentor them through the early stages of their careers.
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Each of these organizations for public health professionals offers guidance and career development support. By joining one or more of them, you can keep up with the latest in public health research in the United States and around the world. These organizations are set up for you to share your expertise and to learn from the expertise of other successful public health leaders.