Marc Schenker Quotations

Worldwide, the need for public health efforts to reduce the disease burden from infectious and emerging diseases is urgent and enormous.

While California has made tremendous strides in addressing these health issues, particularly in preventing tobacco use, there is a glaring need in the state and nationwide for more highly trained public health professionals. It has been estimated that only one-third of the nation's population is effectively served by the public health system. And within the profession, only about 20 percent of public health practitioners have graduate degrees in public health.

The teaching that complements these research efforts will benefit the next generation of public health specialists, as well as local, state and global health agencies.

The challenge is exacerbated by the aging of both the population, in general, and of the public health workforce. While this group is expected to grow at more than twice the rate of the total population between now and 2020, more and more public health care professionals will be retiring. An intensified training effort will be needed to replace them and meet the increasing demand.