Workforce Education Episodes

July 15, 2026

1166: Building Better Trainers in Public Health

Kaylin Clonch, workforce essential learning director at the South Carolina Department of Public Health, tells us about the agency’s approach to strengthening its training culture.
June 10, 2026

1143: AI Literacy and the Future of Public Health Work

On today's episode, ASTHO's Ari Whiteman discusses the growing importance of AI literacy across the public health field, for the current workforce and incoming professionals.
May 20, 2026

1130: From Recruitment to Retention: Strengthening the Public Health Workforce

On today's episode, ASTHO'S Brianna Gorman discusses ASTHO’s new Workforce Employee Experience Implementation Tool. Later, LaShonda Freeman with the South Carolina Department of Public Health discusses South Carolina’s Supplemental Tuition Assistance Policy Program (STAP).
Jan. 22, 2026

1056: Keeping the Public Health Workforce Strong: What Data, Leadership, and Flexibility Tell Us

What does the public health workforce need to stay engaged, supported, and committed, and how can leaders act on those insights? Heather Krasna, associate dean of career and professional development at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, joins us to break down new research on what younger public health workers value most at work.  She explains why flexible schedules, remote or hybrid options, professional development, student loan repayment, and family-friendly benefits are increasingly important for retention, and how agencies can think creatively when salary increases aren’t always possible. Then, Omar Khalid, director of workforce at ASTHO, walks through key findings from the 2024 Public Health Workforce Interests and Needs Survey (PH WINS), the only nationally representative survey of the governmental public health workforce.
408
Oct. 2, 2025

1003: Anniversary Accomplishments, FHIR Pilot Program

Dr. Edward Simmer, ASTHO member and interim director of the South Carolina Department of Public Health, celebrates the department’s one-year anniversary with a recap of their achievements, including the highest health ranking in the state’s history; Dr. Bryant Thomas Karras, the Washington State Department of Health’s chief medical informatics officer,...