April 25 the Department of Labor’s Office of Apprenticeship and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) marked the beginning of a unique federal collaboration to prepare workers in the healthcare field of Public Health Informatics using the Registered Apprenticeship model.

John Ladd, administrator for the Employment and Training Administration’s Office of Apprenticeship and Denise Koo, director of Scientific Education and Professional Development for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, sign-off on the National Standards of Apprenticeship for the occupation of Public Health Informatician.

At a signing ceremony at the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, I joined CDC Director of Scientific Education and Professional Development Denise Koo to designate the CDC’s Public Health Informatics Fellowship Program as a Registered Apprenticeship program.  This program will train new Public Health Informaticians and will mark the first time MD’s and PhD’s will participate in an innovative Registered Apprenticeship program.  This effort also signifies an important step in expanding the use of the Registered Apprenticeship model to train workers in other healthcare professions. 

The Registered Apprenticeship system is preparing to celebrate the 75^th Anniversary of the signing of the National Apprenticeship Act which established a national system to oversee the training and safety of America’s apprentices.  The signing of the CDC’s Public Health Informatics Fellowship program as a Registered Apprenticeship sponsor is an illustration of the innovation and collaboration we are working to highlight during this summer’s celebration.  This effort is an example of the efforts underway throughout the Registered Apprenticeship system to meet our nation’s 21^st century workforce development challenges, and provide sustainable career opportunities for all US workers.

Leadership from the Department of Labor and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention provide remarks during the signing ceremony for the signing of CDC’s Public Health Informatician Registered Apprenticeship program.

The training of these new Public Health Informaticians using the Registered Apprenticeship model should prove beneficial to the public health community at large, and both the CDC and DOL expect that this program will lead to the further development of training of this kind in other health professions, as well.  The CDC program should also have an impact on the development of entry-level, as well as other occupations within the public health informatics field, leading to the expansion of the profession through the development of career ladders.

Within the Registered Apprenticeship community, we are excited to be working with the CDC and look forward to furthering the use of Registered Apprenticeship as the premier training model for training US workers in all industries.