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Ashanti Glass:
Hello. I’m Ashanti Glass, and I developed this program and poster in collaboration with Rochelle Whitaker, our Public Health Workforce Development Director. I’m excited to share the Public Health Immersive Experience, or in short, PHI, a one-day program designed to engage high school students’ interest in public health careers. Our goal is to inspire students from various backgrounds to see themselves in this field and strengthen Wake County’s future public health workforce. PHI welcomed 37 students from five local high schools and one homeschool participant during the 2024-2025 school year. The day includes an overview of Wake County Public Health Services, a building tour, two-hour shadowing sessions with professionals in our field, and a networking lunch. Students also receive a career readiness toolkit with helpful resources. We partner with schools and community organizations for recruitment and gather feedback through post-program surveys to measure impact and guide improvements. The feedback was incredibly positive. 98% would recommend PHI to a peer. 98% reported increased knowledge of public health careers, and 75% said they would like to participate again. These results show PHI’s power to build confidence and interest in public health careers.

We did face a few barriers, including limited program capacity, where programs had a maximum number of students who could shadow in one area, therefore limiting the total number of students who could participate in the program. There were also challenges with transportation logistics, where schools were not able to reserve buses for students to be transported to our building, as well as students having to find their own method of transportation. There are also scheduling conflicts, as schools have a structured calendar, and they require a 60-day advance notice for travel. There are also limitations with final exams and the timeline for students to take part in the program.

Moving forward, we aim to grow participation by 20% bring PHI into schools and communities, meaning we take our education as professionals in the field into the schools and create more educational opportunities in that format. And we also aim to support this program’s replication as a scalable model for public health workforce development. Thank you for your time and for listening. Programs like PHI are helping shape the next generation of public health professionals, and this is just the beginning.