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Legislation introduced Thursday in the Senate would establish scholarships and loan repayment programs for students going into public health professions.

The bill, S. 1882, introduced by Sens. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., aims to increase the pipeline of qualified public health workers at the federal, state, local and tribal levels by providing scholarships to students pledging to go into the field.

Additionally, the legislation encourages graduates to stay in the profession by providing student loan repayments in exchange for a commitment of service to public health. The bill would require an employee to serve at least three years, with potential longer periods as determined by the Health and Human Services secretary and the employee, said Mike Buttry, a spokesman for Hagel.

According to a recent report by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, the government will need to fill more than 35,350 mission-critical medical and public health federal jobs in the next two years, including spots for more than 20,000 nurses and thousands of physicians, pharmacists and occupational therapists.

"There are critical public health workforce shortages in federal, state, local and tribal health agencies," Hagel said in a statement. "We must address this problem before it becomes a crisis."

The legislation comes as the government is looking for ways to offset a potential retirement wave, with 60 percent of the federal workforce eligible to retire within the next decade.

Hagel and Durbin said in a statement that the average age of lab technicians, epidemiologists, environmental health experts, microbiologists, information technology specialists and public health administrators making up the public health workforce is 47 -- seven years older than the average age of the nation's workforce.

According to Kristine Simmons, vice president for government affairs at the Partnership, the legislation would better prepare the federal government to address many of the country's greatest threats, including bioterrorism, pandemic flu and food-borne illnesses. The government "has a lot of health-related challenges," she said. "This bill is a way to help build the pipeline of talent and address those challenges."

The legislation would authorize $35 million per year for student scholarships and $195 million per year for loan repayments, the senators said. Eighty percent of the funds would be dedicated to placing public health workers at the state and local level, with bonus payments made available to those who agree to work in underserved areas.

Buttry said the loan repayment program would be available to current public health employees who have graduated within the last 10 years with an associate, undergraduate or graduate health degree.

COMMENTS

• wonderful. I currently work for the state division of public health and will start my MSPH in January at a very reputable albeit costly school. For me, the bottom issue is this: can I justify the cost of a masters in public health degree when I intend to turn around and seek employment in the non-profit sector (or will i feel financially burdened/pushed into private/civilian employment to make the dollars to pay off my loans). In a field as inherently altruistic as public health I think it is important to recognize that although we do not go into public health for the money it becomes a factor when we are faced with our loans come graduation. knowledge is costly Posted August 30, 2007 3:09 PM
• I have to agree that this is an excellent proposal. I disagree with the comment that few people will take up the offer because they will make more money in the private sector. On the contrary, there are a limited number of jobs for epidemiologists, behavioral scientists, and other public health professionals in the private sector if you are not interested in academia. There are many positions available (and some more appealing and better paying) with the CDC, NIH, state health departments, and other government organizations. There are also opportunities to receive loan repayment if you commit to research in the government sector for two years. These opportunities are quite appealing to those of us with large school loans who won't be earning a physician's salary in the years to come. No one goes into the public health sector to make money! I, personally, am a doctoral student in epidemiology who is lucky enough to have received funding from my academic institution to earn my current degree, but I have a very large amount of school loans from my MPH education. I welcome any loan forgiveness I could receive, particulary if the strings are attached to an excellent job in a reputable public health institution such as the CDC or NIH. I also think many people do not understand what public health is, and assume it means doctors working for the poor. It is much greater, and while physicians and physician-scientists play an integral role, many of the foot soldiers of public health are not people with MDs who have the opportunity to make great salaries elsewhere. Those of us with public health degrees from accredited schools of public health are not well paid, yet have a very specific and beneficial skill set to offer. I say, bring on the incentives! Kate Eddens Posted August 3, 2007 9:40 AM
• I find it hard to believe that legislators would want to waste their time with this issue when the government is sending thousand s of jobs to the private sector through the A76 mandate. Did these legislators forget that 90% of all government jobs are considered inherently non governmental. So why would a person right out of school want to work for the federal government when a week after they get there they are put in a competition with the private sector to justify their salaries and worth? Makes me wonder how the federal government gets anything done! government mule Posted August 2, 2007 8:30 AM