Applied Public Health Informatics Fellowship

Position type: Fellowship, full-time

Fellowship Program description:  

Applications for the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) Applied Public Health Informatics Fellowship (APHIF) program are now open for Class 8 (fellowship positions will start in the summer of 2024).

The goal of the APHIF program is to provide a high-quality on-the-job training experience in public health informatics for recent graduates and prepare fellows for long-term career placement at the state and local level. During their fellowship, fellows develop a set of core competency skills related to public health informatics, communication skills, and public health practice and policy. Fellows provide valuable service to their host site placement. Based on their interests and available positions, fellows are matched to a State, Territorial, Local, or Tribal (STLT) health department for 12 months under the guidance of two experienced mentors. The fellowship is a full-time, paid position with a limited term of 12 months, with the possibility of an extension pending funding availability.   

Host site placements are limited to the approved host sites. Health departments interested in hosting a fellow must apply to CSTE, identifying two qualified mentors and a set of projects which fellows. Remote, hybrid, and in-person placements may be available. As host sites are accepted, CSTE will post location details to the CSTE APHIF website.   

CSTE is the sponsoring organization for this fellowship program, which is funded through our cooperative agreement with CDC. All the host sites where fellows will work are STLT health departments. 

Compensation:  

• Master's level: $55,505.84 
• Doctoral: $70,905.90 
• The stipend is a fixed non-negotiable amount. The stipend is considered by the IRS as taxable income. CSTE assumes no tax liability and will not submit a Form 1099 at the end of the year during the fellow’s training but will provide a summary of earnings for each calendar year. Fellows are advised to seek individual tax advice as necessary from qualified professionals. 

Benefits:  

• Relocation assistance 
• Professional development funds to attend conferences and trainings 
• Career development 

Work Location: Multiple locations 

Minimum eligibility requirements:  

• Citizenship: United States citizenship or permanent residency is required. Individuals requiring visa sponsorship are not eligible for this fellowship. 
• Education: Advanced degree (master’s or doctoral) from an accredited academic institution 

• Current students who will complete their degrees by summer 2024 are welcome to apply. 
• Degree areas: Biostatistics, Public Health Informatics, Informatics, Data Science, Statistics, Epidemiology, Computer Science, Information Sciences, Public Health, Information Technology, Medicine, or another related field 

• Application: Complete an online application. CSTE will review all completed applications submitted through our online application system.   

How to Apply 

Applications open on Friday, May 17th. To apply for this fellowship, view and complete the online application. Complete applications will be reviewed on a rolling basis and fellows will start work by the end of summer 2024. 

For more information about this fellowship program, visit our website. If you have questions about the fellowship or application, please contact CSTE via email at aphif@cste.org. 

Is this the right role for me? 

As a training program, this fellowship is especially recommended to recent graduates and early career professionals looking to launch their public health informatics careers. Fellows work on a variety of public health subject areas and project types. The fellowship model means that successful applicants will be joining a cohort of other new public health professionals. Previous fellows greatly value the mentorship they received at their host sites, flexibility to explore their professional interests, and ability to network with STLT public health professionals. 

Based on their career aspirations, skills, knowledge, and interests, successful fellow candidates are carefully matched to a state or local health agency to work under the guidance of an experienced mentor. The exact responsibilities and desired skills for any fellow will vary depending on the specific state or local health agency. Health departments complete their own application to be included as a placement site in this fellowship program.  

Interested candidates should use the free-text fields, work experience, and personal statement components of the online application to describe both (1) the skills and knowledge they possess that make them a strong candidate and (2) the reasons they are interested in this opportunity.  

Attributes of ideal applicants: 

In addition to meeting the minimum eligibility requirements, ideal applicants will have the following attributes: 

• Data analysis skills that they are ready to apply to real-world problems  
• Willingness to learn new methods and subject area content, including through self-study (e.g., you are familiar with SAS but open to learning R, you haven’t worked with infectious disease epidemiology before but enjoy learning a new subject area) 
• Desire to work in the public sector at the state or local level in governmental public health practice 
• Critical thinking and communication skills 
• Interest in health disparities and health equity 

Desired skills in an ideal applicant: 

While each applicant will bring a unique set of skills, knowledge, and professional goals, the following is a list of some of the in-demand skills and experiences host sites are looking for in ideal fellow candidates. This list is not exhaustive, nor would it be expected that any applicant would possess all these skills. 

• Previous work experience in a state, local, tribal, or territorial health department  
• Familiarity or experience with public health data 
• Background in informatics or computer science 
• Strong collaboration and customer service skills 
• Strong communication skills, including with technical and non-technical audiences 
• Project management skills 
• Experience cleaning data, linking datasets, or managing databases 
• Experience with data visualization 
• Familiarity with epidemiology and disease surveillance methods, such as case reporting, outbreak investigations, contact tracing, reportable conditions, and electronic lab reporting 
• Knowledge of or experience using any of the following software programs or languages: Excel, SAS, R, Python, SQL, Power BI, STATA, Tableau, REDcap, Microsoft Azure Cloud Analytic Tools, Rhapsody, and/or ArcGIS 
• Familiarity with electronic data/health information technology standards such as HL7, SNOMED, or LOINC 

What kind of projects will I work on?  

• Fellows work on various projects in many public health subject areas, including environmental health, chronic disease, maternal and child health, and infectious disease. Some of the informatics activities fellows are involved in include: 

• Creating an interactive data dashboard to communicate cancer surveillance data from hospitals, medical facilities, and other data sources. 
• Automating data flows between multiple data sources including vital statistics and registry data and an environmental health data dashboard 
• Collaborating with different branches within state health department (e.g., Vital Statistics, Communicable Diseases, Environmental Quality, Transportation, and syndromic surveillance) to foster new data sharing relationships 
• Managing projects in REDCap such as chemical hazard spills and outbreak response 
• Developing informatics infrastructure for a data warehouse to connect local public health with data sources used for public health surveillance and analysis 
• Using the HL7 specification FHIR to enhance a web-based application enabling individuals to access their Covid-19 vaccination records 

• Citizenship: United States citizenship or permanent residency is required. Individuals requiring visa sponsorship are not eligible for this fellowship. 
• Education: Advanced degree (master’s or doctoral) from an accredited academic institution 

About CSTE

CSTE works to advance public health policy and epidemiologic capacity. We also provide information, education, and developmental support of practicing epidemiologists in a wide range of areas as well as expertise for program and surveillance efforts. CSTE is an organization of member states and territories representing public health epidemiologists. CSTE works to establish more effective relationships among state and other health agencies. It also provides technical advice and assistance to partner organizations and to federal public health agencies such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). CSTE members have surveillance and epidemiology expertise in a broad range of areas including occupational health, infectious diseases, environmental health, chronic diseases, injury, maternal and child health, and more. CSTE supports effective public health surveillance and sound epidemiologic practice through training, capacity development, and peer consultation. CSTE acts as the professional home for applied epidemiologists representing multiple levels of public health practice. Active members are engaged in the practice of epidemiology for a governmental public he...alth authority at the state, local, tribal, or territorial level. Associate members are former active member or those practicing epidemiology in federal, military, or international settings, as well as at academic institutions or corporate settings. Student members are currently enrolled full-time in an undergraduate or graduate program pursuing a degree in public health or a related field. Find out more at CSTE.org!

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