UTHealth Houston School of Public Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services collaborate for new job training program

Students at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health now have the opportunity to work with the Office of the National Coordinator of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. (Photo by UTHealth Houston)

UTHealth Houston School of Public Health will partner with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) to equip students with the knowledge and skills needed to pursue successful careers in public service, particularly in health and human services.

Over the next three years, this partnership will focus on developing a pipeline of students trained to enter the public service sector. Through paid internships and entry-level positions, students will gain valuable experience and contribute to the advancement of medicine, public health, and social services.

Under the program, students will analyze the critical need for health data and the contributions to health information and distribution to the public. At the ONC offices, personnel work to standardize the collection of health data across public and private hospitals leading the digital wave of data information. For the last 20 years, the ONC offices have advanced health information technology to centralize records.

At a national level, the DHHS offices support state and local governments to benefit the population through resource programs, research, and work to uplift the health of the nation. The ONC advances health through the collection and dissemination of data to benefit the population. Through this collection, ONC drafts systematic health improvements from the collection of health data.

To ensure successful transitions for students to apply for opportunities with ONC, the school hosted the Pathways to Public Service program. This information session allowed students to obtain in-person guidance on pursuing paid internships and entry-level opportunities to better position themselves as the best applicants when applying for open positions with the partnerships.

“We are extremely excited about the opportunities that this new partnership will bring for our students at UTHealth Houston School of Public Health,” said Kim Baker, DrPH, assistant dean of practice. “Here at the School of Public Health, we strive to prepare the future workforce for the challenges of today and tomorrow, and this brings us closer to that goal.”

School of Public Health students enrolled in the Master of Public Health programs are required to complete a practicum to ensure they become skilled, knowledgeable public health professionals after completing their degrees. The practicum experience challenges students to design and complete a real-world public health project in a supervised setting while creating a stepping stone to their career development.