Use of Skills of Population Health Professionals
Question Description
In the past 10 weeks, you have engaged with a wide range of complex themes intended to deepen your understanding of the U.S. healthcare system through a population health perspective. As you reflect on the course themes, it is useful to ask what your role might be in contributing to population health efforts. Clearly, there are many needs that depend on a prepared workforce.
For this Assignment, you will examine population health workforce trends and consider your own interests and professional development.
To prepare:
- Review this week’s resources and reflect on the future of health systems and healthcare systems and the influence on the health workforce trends.
- Research and identify credible sources of information from peer-reviewed journals or reliable online sources that address emerging career trends (past 3–5 years) as a result of a focus on population health.
- Consider the topics covered in this course as they relate to workforce trends. Revisit workforce partnerships, responding to workforce shortages, and global crises.
The Assignment: (2–3 pages)
Write a 2- to 3-page paper that address the following:
- Identify two industries showing an increase in the utilization of the skills of population health professionals in the past 3–5 years. Explain why there is an industry-wide shift in health workforce needs. Provide examples of population health positions responding to each industry’s needs. Be specific, and support your paper with scholarly research.
- Describe two career paths/positions that have emerged in the past 3–5 years as a result of population health trends.
- Explain how each path/position applies population health skills in society.
- Identify at least one position in which you might be interested currently or in the future. What qualifications do you have or need to develop to be competitive for the position?