284: Public Health Careers Website Launches

ROBERT JOHNSON:

This is Public Health Review Morning Edition for Monday, October 17th, 2022. I'm Robert Johnson.

Now, today's news from the Association of State and Territorial Health Officials.

JOANNE PEARSOL:

The work of public health is ubiquitous and it's everywhere and it never sleeps, so we need a good talent pool in a range of roles and professions to keep it going.

JOHNSON:

That's the voice of Joanne Pearsol, ASTHO's director of workforce development. She's excited about the debut of ASTHO's new public health jobs website, publichealthcareers.org.

While the site is online and stocked with available positions, Pearsol wants agencies to add it to their recruiting routine.

PEARSOl:

So, we need people with high levels of skill in better known fields and roles such as nursing, epidemiology, health, education, nutrition.

And we also need roles that people might not typically think of, like IT science, communications, data.

And we also need people that may not have a degree or a training, but who are connected to their local communities and can facilitate the work of public health within those communities.

JOHNSON:

Pearsol notes agencies play a big role in the success of the site.

PEARSOL:

One is to post openings to the ASTHO job board. It's an extra step in some cases to get those positions posted, but the reach is tremendous and has so much more potential—so, the action will be worth it.

Secondly is to help us drive traffic to the site by promoting it within their networks and to partners in their communities, such as academic institutions who are educating the future workforce and organizations that are doing work on the ground in the communities that they serve.

JOHNSON:

Pearsol says if people and agencies promote the website, it can become a valuable tool to help develop and grow the public health workforce.

PEARSOL:

Spread the word far and wide. We need to drive people to the website to look for their positions, and drive agencies to the site to post their positions to reach that wider audience.

JOHNSON:

You can visit publichealthcareers.org using the link in the show notes.

If you're looking for new ways to help people dealing with opioid use disorder, consider the work happening in Tennessee.

O'Keyla Cooper has more.

O'KEYLA COOPER:

In Tennessee, pregnant women with opioid use disorder now have better access to treatment and to higher quality of care. ASTHO interviewed Elizabeth Harvey, a CDC assignee to the Tennessee Department of Health. She gives us her thoughts on the state's progress on opioid use disorder throughout its maternal and child health population. You can find the full interview located in the show notes.

JOHNSON:

Also this morning, you have a little more than a week left to sign up for ASTHO's Insight and Inspiration event.

On October 26th, Simon Sinek master trainer Stephen Shedletzky will help you find the "why" to your public health work. He says now is the right time for this conversation.

STEPHEN SHEDLETZKY:

Now, more than ever, is the time to come together. Now, more than ever, is the time to talk about why healthcare matters, why coming together as professionals matters, and why we became passionate about public health in the first place.

JOHNSON:

Again, the event is Wednesday, October 26th at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You can sign up using the link in the show notes.

Finally today, did you know that inequities experienced by d/Deaf sign language users are almost always caused by miscommunication? ASTHO outlines accessible communication strategies in a new blog article. You can find it using the link in the show notes.

You can also find more news like this in your email inbox every week when you sign up for ASTHO's Public Health Weekly newsletter. Get it now using the link in the show notes.

That'll do it for today's newscast. We're back tomorrow morning with more ASTHO news and information.

I'm Robert Johnson. You're listening to Public Health Review Morning Edition. Have a great day.