Jon Rosenberg - Virtual Mentor Panel
1. What was your first leadership role and how did you obtain it?
I was chief of an occupational health section in the California Department of Public Health from about 1985-1990, as a result of multiple leadership changes. However, my first true leadership role was chief of the CDPH HAI Program in 2008, for which I had been seeking funding and support for beginning in 1993, and was finally created through legislation.
2. How do you learn new skills on the job?
I was self-taught for almost all my new skills, technical and supervisory/management. Now supervisory/management training is required of all new managers in CDPH.
3. What are the day-to-day work and responsibilities like in your current position?
As a retired annuitant I am restricted by law to working no more than half-time as a consultant/advisor/mentor and excluded from tasks that can be done by regular staff.
4. What skills do you think new members of the public health workforce need to be building?
Information gathering, data analysis and interpretation including information technology, program and prevention efficacy analysis, problem solving, project management, collaboration, health education and communication, literature evaluation.
5. Where do you see public health going in the future as a field?
Rebuilding infrastructure and regaining public trust, addressing health inequities, data modernization, incorporating scientific and technological innovation, addressing climate change, customizing approaches at the community and individual level, increased networking and partnerships.
6. What gaps in the field of public health do you think need to be filled?
Funding, infrastructure, addressing inequities.
7. What advice do you have for early career professionals in public health?
Don't be discouraged by current levels of underfunding, political interference, and lack of public trust. Be flexible about program areas of interest and gain as much knowledge outside of your current area of interest and focus, while at the same time pursue opportunities in your area of interest. Seek out, be aware of and take advantage of opportunities when they arise to advance or broaden your knowledge and work with effective mentors.
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