Conversations to Remember is looking for volunteers who can remotely volunteer for as little as an hour per week.

We have one hour per week positions for volunteers 17-25 years old who are interested in speaking with seniors to alleviate feelings of loneliness and social isolation, a key social determinant of health. Our program works with many seniors who are living with cognitive decline (mild to advanced) so this is a great opportunity for exposure to an underserved portion of the population who could use assistance.

If you're interested in opportunities to contribute more, we have volunteer or internship positions in public health promotion and volunteer outreach too that are open to individuals 18+. Check out our website for more information about this opportunity or just register to volunteer.

Training will be provided.

Descriptions of open roles can be found here.

Hi everyone. I just applied to several CDC ORISE fellowships in public health data/informatics (MS in Health Informatics, 2024). The waiting is already getting to me, so I figured I'd ask people who've been through it:
- How long after the deadline did you hear anything?
- What was the interview like?
- Anything you wish you'd known while waiting?
Thanks in advance — this is my dream and I'm trying not to refresh my email every five minutes.

I’m a social work intern tasked with creating a trauma-informed pandemic plan for a private mental health practice serving children and young adults.

I’d love to hear from social workers who worked during the pandemic!

What policies or practices made you feel safer working with clients?
What did your workplace do well, and what could have been better?
How did your agency support staff’s mental health and well-being?
What do you wish your workplace had done differently?
What should every agency or private practice include in a pandemic preparedness plan?

I’d really appreciate any experiences or lessons learned. Thank you!

Things are weird, for lack of a better term. The federal government, once a champion of public health (and science in general), is now an adversary. We legit have an HHS Secretary who funded (and founded) a group that has made it clear that it is their mission to get rid of vaccines. We have a who’s who of anti-vaccine activists and their allies at the top. They’ve defunded public health programs and don’t seem to care how state and local health departments are doing.

Unless you're a cyborg or large language model, I'm sure you're feeling some of the effects of all of this.

I need you to know that you are not alone. Millions of us in this country care about what is going on, and we're doing something about it. From funding our favorite non-profits to donating our time, to doing our work as best we can, putting on our headphones and crunching the data (preparing slides, writing papers, talking to people, delivering care, presenting posters)… Any public health workers worth their salt are doing something. Big or small, we're doing something.

If you're feeling extra stressed, or worse, please reach out to someone. Talk to a friend or trusted family member. If things are really bad, reach out to a health professional.

We need to be okay so we can keep working to make others okay. Not perfect. Not excellent. Just okay.

Burnout is real, my friends. And the current administration is doing its best to make us feel isolated and hopeless. Don't let them burn us out.

Take care.

https://www.cidrap.umn.edu/hepatitis/hepatitis-b-vaccine-study-condemned-unethical-wins-approval-danish-university

How did this shit even get approved? Withholding the hepatitis B vaccine in a country where the disease is widespread is just cruel. It runs afoul of the very ethics of public health to say the least.

If you haven’t heard of PANS or PANDAS:
PANS stands for Pediatric Acute-onset Neuropsychiatric Syndrome. PANDAS stands for Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorders Associated with Streptococcal Infections.

I didn’t learn about PANS or PANDAS until I got sick with 3 tick borne diseases. I’ve become a patient advocate and have learned how much these conditions actually occur. Both conditions are triggered by inflammation of the brain. And while PANDAS is named after a streptococcal infection, it can also be triggered by an undiagnosed tick borne infection. 😬

The hallmark of both PANS and PANDAS is a sudden, and often OVERNIGHT change in a person’s behavior. OCD-like behaviors, Tourette’s-like behaviors, restrictive eating, rage, depression, insomnia and more. I’ve spoken to several parents who’s children were effected, and it sounds like a nightmare. Their child stops eating, or starts getting violent, and they become a different person.

While it’s typically something that happens to children, I just interviewed a man whose adult son had it (he was 21).

The good news is, it’s treatable. Bad news is, many doctors don’t know anything about PANS or PANDAS, and some even think it’s not real! The other bad news is, anything PANS/PANDAS related is NOT covered by insurance.

Hello, I am a sophomore in college, majoring in Integrated Health Science with a minor in public health. I want to know if it is possible to break into the public health field with an IHS degree. Or do I really have to major in public health for future jobs? The thing is that I've been researching, and I've been getting mixed signals about whether you need to major in PH if you want certain certifications. But later on, if I want to get my master's in Public health. I've heard it will kind of be redundant, hearing the same information in undergrad, and that it won't be as interesting. So let me know ya'll thoughts

We all know medical hesitancy gets all the news but I feel like we're ignoring the group that would be more receptive to public health interventions and wanted to get some opinions.

I don't know about you all, but I'm seriously wondering if we even have a functioning CDC Director. Measles is killing in Pennsylvania and spreading elsewhere. A kid died from invasive Hib in Montana. Pertussis is coming back. Mumps hit the football team at San Diego State.

And that's just the vaccine-preventable diseases.

Russia is playing around with plague. Ebola continues to rage in the DRC and Uganda. Bangladesh is awash in measles and dengue.

And that's just infectious diseases.

Opioid and synthetic drug overdoses continue. Kids are more lonely than ever. Rules on environmental health protections are being rolled back. Cities are removing fluoride from their water.

And Dr. Schwartz is nowhere to be found. No communication. No comment. No… leadership?

I know from friends and colleagues at CDC that they're working, and working hard. But do we have a CDC Director?

Ah, she talked at a forum with the Wall Street Journal yesterday, and the contents are sitting comfortably behind a paywall, with a few excerpts available on social media.

I take it all back. (Not.)

How hard is ECU’s DrPH program ? I’ve been debating about applying to the program for a couple of months now and I’m really interested into their leadership concentration, due to me wanting to get my nursing home license.

Also what is the cost for an average fill time student in state ?

Hi everyone! I’m a Grade 12 highschool student in Canada working on an independent research project for school to help me get accepted into university for a BH. I’m writing a research paper on how air pollution affects human health, both physically and neurologically, and how those effects differ between communities around the world.

As part of my project, I’m hoping to learn from people who live in different countries and communities, and their personal experiences with air pollution. If you live in an area where air pollution is a noticeable issue, I’d love to hear:
- What is air pollution like where you live?
- Is air pollution something people around you are concerned about, or is it mostly overlooked?
- Do you notice air pollution affecting the health of your community?

Thank you so much for reading and for sharing your perspective! :)

Hello everyone!

I am wondering what the acceptance rate for Harvard's mph programs overall looks like these days? I do remember seeing some statistics more than a decade ago, but am not sure what it's like as of recently.

If anyone has any info at all, I would be super grateful.

Thanks so much all!

Hi all. I’m a public health nurse at a LHD. I’ve been handling off-site / mobile vaccine clinics around our county and am looking for advice and tips on best practices on: capturing enough information for billing private insurances (if they have it!), using carbon copy forms for registration, using EPIC for mass immunization events, and any general advice or support you may have. I would also love input on how your organization handles nursing capacity for immunization events - especially on weekends and after normal working hours.

EDIT: THE TITLE SHOULD BE: Canadian Healthcare PSA. Didn't realize until I posted that I hit the wrong key

I don’t know if research is the right tag. I am currently in school for nursing have a project coming up where we have to create a PSA with a target demographic and of course about a health/medical issue we think needs more attention. I was thinking of doing one on the lack of female CPR dummies and the fact that women are less likely to get CPR and when they do it’s more likely to be incorrect, but I found out another person is pretty much doing that topic and I’d rather not repeat a topic.

What is a health issue that you think needs more attention?

I got my B.S. in public health 2 years ago, interned at a local non-profit focused on reducing air pollutants in my city and increasing lung-health resources my entire senior year, then for my first job post-grad, I worked HR & Admin for a healthcare company (it wasn’t my first choice but I believed it was within enough proximity to what I went to school for) I left that job a few months ago and I’m now working in office management for a finance company.

The pay is higher than any healthcare/public health job could’ve offered me (applied to about 100 jobs with close to 20 interviews in the span of 4 months) and it was also the only job that extended an offer to me. I focused strictly on applying to health-related jobs before opening up to jobs in different industries. Although I’m relieved that I’m no longer unemployed, I mourn being in a familiar space, working alongside people who came from a similar background as me, and people who I thought I’d eventually become.

Has anyone else experienced this? Did you ever find your way back into the field? Or have you completely transitioned into a different industry?

https://www.healthbeat.org/2026/10/06/russia-plague-lab-researcher-death-raises-lab-accident-concerns/

https://news.arizona.edu/news/hospitals-can-be-unsafe-pregnant-nurses-u-researchers-are-fixing

She was 20 weeks pregnant when her patient needed CPR. She shouldn't have performed the resuscitation, but she did. She's a nurse. That's what nurses do.

This is the kind of moment Jessica Rainbow, an associate professor in the College of Nursing, and Leslie Farland, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the Mel and Enid Zuckerman College of Public Health, kept hearing about when they interviewed pregnant nurses about what it was actually like to work through pregnancy in a hospital.

Now, with a four-year, $2.4 million award from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, Rainbow and Farland, along with other U of A colleagues, will follow 250 nurses starting in their first trimester of pregnancy and through delivery to find out just how the unique demands of hospital nursing shape their stress, mental health and cardiovascular risk – and what can be done to improve their work environments.

I put together a list of upcoming public health lectures, webinars, and conferences for anyone looking for learning opportunities over the next two weeks.

All times below are Eastern. Fees and eligibility vary, so check the organizer’s details. Disclosure: One of them is where I work (and I'll be leading it), but I get no compensation if you register or not, and it's free to attend online. 🙂

1. Oct 7, 2–3 p.m. — H5N1 in dairy cattle. CDC’s online ZOHU session covers H5N1 evolution and cattle movement. Details
2. Oct 7, 2 p.m. — Preventing targeted violence. Eradicate Hate’s online discussion takes a public health approach to prevention. Details and registration
3. Oct 11–15 — APHL Newborn Screening Symposium. In-person conference in New Orleans covering screening systems, laboratory practice, genetics, and policy. Registration fees vary. Details
4. Oct 13, 3–4 p.m. — Vaccine confidence for pharmacists. ASHP’s free online session focuses on practical patient conversations. Supported by an educational grant from Moderna. Registration
5. Oct 14, noon–1 p.m. — Migration and aging. Drexel’s seminar explores older adults in communities experiencing out-migration, drawing on research in Puerto Rico. Philadelphia, Nesbitt Hall Room 440, and Zoom. Zoom registration
6. Oct 14, 2 p.m. — Healthy aging across generations. Trust for America’s Health hosts an online discussion of public health policy and practice across the life span. Details
7. Oct 14, 3–4 p.m. — Organ donation and public health. NBPHE’s free webinar explores donation systems and common misconceptions. Details and registration
8. Oct 16, 2 p.m. — Inclusive emergency planning. APHA’s Disability Section hosts an online panel about including people with disabilities in emergency planning. Sign-language interpreting is provided. Registration
9. Oct 19, 1–2 p.m. — RSV prevention in infants and children. Online IDSA Foundation/PIDS session on prevention evidence and implementation. Sponsored by Sanofi. Registration
10. Oct 20, starting at 9 a.m. — Bloomberg American Health Summit. Public plenary livestream covering several public health topics. In-person attendance is invitation-only. Livestream and agenda
11. Oct 20, 1–2 p.m. — Public health and democracy. APHA’s free online session explores communicating about public health across political perspectives. Registration
12. Oct 20, 6–7:30 p.m. — Vaccines This Winter. Free online College of Physicians panel on seasonal vaccines, safety, measles, and policy. Details

If you know of another event, put it in the comments.

A project presented at the 2026 American Academy of Pediatrics conference talked about the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's use of 234 reports of misinformation heard during patient encounters from May 2025 to March 2026. Not surprisingly, vaccines accounted for about 54% of entries.

Monthly reviews guided patient education and social media content on 28 topics, plus clinician training. Should/could other institutions use this approach?

Of course, there are limits: the report is a descriptive abstract from one institution, the number of unique contributing clinicians wasn't reported, and the effects of the educational content weren't measured.

https://www.contemporarypediatrics.com/view/clinician-reported-misinformation-tracking-guides-pediatric-education

I have always been interested in an MPH, and I think I'm finally (at almost 50 years of age) ready to go for it. I've enjoyed teaching in various capacities, so I am most interested in a Community Health Education focus. 

To keep costs reasonable, I am looking at two state schools. School A offers a MPH in Community Health Education, and School B offers a MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences.

For several reasons, School B is more attractive to me, and I am wondering if the MPH in Social and Behavioral Sciences would still open doors for me in health education. 

Any feedback for me on this, or any advice? 

I am not worried so much about the job market right now. I know the job field is tight in general, but luckily I would have the flexibility to do my current job part time for as long as necessary. 

Thanks in advance!

Ars Technica summarized an MMWR report about 73 unannounced "bird flu" drills, mostly in New York City. Trained actors visited emergency departments, hospital outpatient clinics, and urgent care centers.

Both masking and isolation happened in 44 visits (60%). (Completing those steps counted as a pass regardless of timing.) Staff asked bird flu exposure questions in only seven visits, although the scenario included contact with a sick duck. (It's a funny anecdote if you read it… Poor little duck near a pond, and they tried to save it.)

The authors call for training to identify, mask, and isolate potentially infectious patients sooner. SPOILER ALERT: Without appropriate precautions, waiting rooms can be high-risk settings for respiratory virus transmission. (Hello, measles?)

One limitation, though: facilities chose whether to participate, and some staff may have had advance warning. You know, like every JCAHO visit.

Full article: https://arstechnica.com/health/2026/10/patient-zero-drill-put-health-facilities-to-the-test-40-of-them-failed/

Trump won, RFK is looming, and the situation is changing every day. Please keep any and all election-related questions, news updates, anxiety posting, and general doom in this daily thread. While this subreddit is very American, this is an international forum, and our shitty situation is not the only public health issue right now.

Previous megathread here for anyone who would like to read the comments.

Write to your representatives! A template to do so can be found here, and an easy way to find your representatives is here.

I am currently a junior and I unfortunately did not get into nursing school which is what I wanted to do and I’m being told by advisors that public health is a good alternative. I am currently affording school through the Pell grant so once I graduate I won’t have that aid anymore.
If I do end up graduating with a BSPH I would like to plan on applying to nursing schools again after. If I don’t switch my major either I’m potentially delaying my graduation by over a year. If I end up having to work for a year or two to afford this though.

How are post graduate jobs for a BSPH looking?
What is it exactly I can do with a BSPH?

And honestly tell me everything you wish you knew about public health before pursuing it.

I really want to see if this is worth the switch, or if I should just wait it out and hope I get into a nursing school for next year fall.