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Primary Submission Category: Public Health Communication and Trust
How recent changes in public policy and scientific funding have shaped career decision-making among US public health trainees
Authors: Elisabeth Stelson, Matthew Lee, Mary Kathryn Poole, Uzoma Asiegbu, Erica L. Kenney, Sarah N. Bleich, Eric Rimm,
Presenting Author: Beth Stelson*
Background: The US is at risk of losing a generation of the public health workforce with advanced methodological training. For many years, individuals with doctoral-level training have exited public health. Recent, large-scale changes to federal policies and scientific funding during the Trump Administration may worsen early career public health workforce attrition. Ensuring a robust public health workforce with advanced training is critical to protecting Americans’ health.
Objective: To ascertain how recent policy changes to health, education, and scientific funding shape career decisions of advanced public health trainees (doctoral candidates, postdocs).
Methods: We are currently conducting 40 semi-structured Zoom interviews of trainees, purposively sampled from programs of public health in the U.S. Transcripts will be double-coded in NVivo15, used to calculate intercoder reliability (κ=0.60). We will employ an immersion-crystallization approach to conduct thematic analysis.
Preliminary results: To date, we have interviewed 19 doctoral candidates and 13 postdocs from 17 institutions located in 13 states of differing political leanings. Preliminary analysis indicates that while trainees intend to search for public health jobs, most expressed substantial uncertainty securing employment. Participants reported federal scientific funding and immigration restrictions—at times coupled with state education policies and censorship—reduced psychological safety and employment opportunities. Some participants described redefining future public health employment to include jobs in non-public health industries, which may have positive public health impacts, while others report shifting research to match ideological and funding restrictions. Participants emphasized how recent policy changes exacerbate longstanding training difficulties, namely limited training in scientific and public communication and grant writing; precarious employment as trainees; and inconsistent mentorship.
Conclusion: Recent federal policy shifts are driving many doctoral-level public health trainees away from public health careers, severely weakening the pipeline of advanced public health talent. Dedicated efforts are needed to support and retain an effective, advanced public health workforce and improve longstanding higher education training practices.