2017 PHAP (Public Health Associate Program)

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I've made my peace with the process. I think we'll be fine
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DecisionTime2017 said:
I've made my peace with the process. I think we'll be fine
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Re-uploading to the application manager (instead of only using USAjobs) worked. Everything was processed in about 10 minutes. You just have to indicate that your school verification form is in the "transcript" category since there is no "other" category. But, as long as they receive everything, I think you're good. Good luck to everyone applying! If anyone has any questions about working with the CDC, please let me know. I had an internship with them a couple of summers ago.
 
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unicornshadow888 said:
Re-uploading to the application manager (instead of only using USAjobs) worked. Everything was processed in about 10 minutes. You just have to indicate that your school verification form is in the "transcript" category since there is no "other" category. But, as long as they receive everything, I think you're good. Good luck to everyone applying! If anyone has any questions about working with the CDC, please let me know. I had an internship with them a couple of summers ago.
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Where do I find the application manager upload?
 
"We’re sorry for the inconvenience, but there appears to be a slight problem
bringing up the page you requested.
We’re working on it and will have it back up soon.
Thank you for your patience – the USAStaffing team."

That's the message I'm getting when I try to login to the Application Manager Link from the confirmation email.
 
My application status on USAJobs as of this morning has changed to received. What a relief :)
 
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unicornshadow888 said:
Re-uploading to the application manager (instead of only using USAjobs) worked. Everything was processed in about 10 minutes. You just have to indicate that your school verification form is in the "transcript" category since there is no "other" category. But, as long as they receive everything, I think you're good. Good luck to everyone applying! If anyone has any questions about working with the CDC, please let me know. I had an internship with them a couple of summers ago.
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I think I might have mislabeled my verification form. I was confused that they had a category for resume and transcript but not for the verification. I believe I chose a third category by mistake. Should I send them an email? I turned everything in, but the verification is not under the transcript category. I'm starting to freak out.
 
JDGBruin1317 said:
I think I might have mislabeled my verification form. I was confused that they had a category for resume and transcript but not for the verification. I believe I chose a third category by mistake. Should I send them an email? I turned everything in, but the verification is not under the transcript category. I'm starting to freak out.
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I classified the verification under "transcript" because there was no other option that was close to it. You don't necessarily have to include it under "transcript". The USAJobs uploads for mine were processed the day after the deadline, so they have access to everything twice. Perhaps the same thing happened to you.
Either way, I wouldn't worry about it, personally. You don't have to freak out, as there was no way to properly label the verification form in the application manager. In the far right column of the application manager, the original file names are indicated. As long as you indicated which form was which (e.g. Name_PHAP_Transcript.pdf or Name_PHAP_Student Verification.pdf), then I think you're good. I think the application manager wanted us to re-upload everything to their server so that the application is received, but I don't know.
 
I'm interested in this program because I don't really have any real public health experience and I would like to gain more exposure to my career interest of epidemiology, but I'm open to working in other areas of public health because I'm graduating college this June and I would like to know what area I'm best fit in before I apply to grad school.
 
I really hope I continue to the next stage. I am willing to work hard, and I am open to any geographical placement. The PHAP program would be a great opportunity. Good luck to everyone, and thank you to all who have been sharing information about the application process. :)
 
unicornshadow888 said:
May I ask why everyone is interested in this program? Just curious. :)
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Similar to what @JDGBruin1317 said, I am interested in the program because I do not have a lot of professional public health experience and this opportunity would likely help me decide what kind of public health I want to study in grad school/what kind of job I want down the line!

Also, has anyone else read about Trump's hiring freeze? It does exempt "military, public safety, and public health" so I'm guessing (a.k.a. hoping) PHAP won't be affected, but you never know! Any thoughts?
 
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This may be a reach, but does anyone know if PHAP will be affected by the federal hiring freeze?
 
Woah...what hiring freeze??? As in the government agencies won't be hiring?
 
JDGBruin1317 said:
Woah...what hiring freeze??? As in the government agencies won't be hiring?
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The President signed an executive order today for a federal hiring freeze. Military, public safety, and public health are exempted so I don't think PHAP will be affected.

Goal seems to be to curb the federal bureaucracy through attrition. It's not unlike what's been going on here in CA at the county level and I've still managed to intern within the county, so I'm not exactly worried.
 
DecisionTime2017 said:
The President signed an executive order today for a federal hiring freeze. Military, public safety, and public health are exempted so I don't think PHAP will be affected.

Goal seems to be to curb the federal bureaucracy through attrition. It's not unlike what's been going on here in CA at the county level and I've still managed to intern within the county, so I'm not exactly worried.
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I thought it was just the military that is exempt, so that's a relief! Thank you.
 
Re: hiring freeze
According to this thread, public health was set to be exempt in Trump's 100 day plan (see my previous comment), but the actual executive order he signed only specified military to be exempt. Hopefully we'll hear something at some point from PHAP about how this freeze may affect us :/
 
I called to ask about the hiring freeze issue because as Spoitier said the actual order signed by Trump only exempts military and in some cases public safety from the hiring freeze. Public health was not in there despite it being listed in Trump's 100 day plan. After doing some searching on facebook it seems like CDC employees have said the hiring freeze will impact the CDC. I decided to call PHAP and get a solid answer. The lady I spoke to on the phone said she hadn't heard about the hiring freeze, or even about the presidential memorandum. She advised me to email. I sent out an email. I will let you all know if/when they respond.
 
Hi all -- former PHAP here (2015 class, left early for permanent employment). When my class came on board there was fear of a strike due to congress' inability to agree on the budget. Although the freeze does not effect public health, note that PHAP salaries are paid with free/leftover funds from various CIOs or centers at CDC. You are then placed in a program area related to the CIO that provided your funding. Idk how or where else the current WhiteHouse admin plans to make cuts, but I expect there to be a smaller PHAP class this year as CIOs may have to use funds for other essentials. Also, Dr. Frieden is gone and unfortunately many of his personal projects (chronic disease related) are being axed. I hope this helps, feel free to PM me with any questions, thoughts on the program/the field etc. Good luck on your PHAP journey!
 
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They emailed me back

"All Federal agencies received notification of the President’s Executive order on Monday, January 23, 2017, at this time we do not

have any additional information regarding the impact of the Federal hiring freeze on the 2017 class for PHAP. "

So, it doesn't seem clear what the impact will be. I guess we will all have to wait it out and see.
 
thriving4health said:
They emailed me back

"All Federal agencies received notification of the President’s Executive order on Monday, January 23, 2017, at this time we do not

have any additional information regarding the impact of the Federal hiring freeze on the 2017 class for PHAP. "

So, it doesn't seem clear what the impact will be. I guess we will all have to wait it out and see.
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Thank you for relaying this information to us. I really hope this hiring freeze will not impact the 2017 PHAP program. All we can do is hope and pray that everything will continue to move forward as planned.
 
I think the best thing to do is to stay positive, focus on personal statements for phase 2, and see how this plays out over the next month.
Wishing everyone good luck!
 
If people were starting to wonder when we would hear about the next round, I just got the email about 30 minutes ago! Good luck everyone!
 
Cami177 said:
If people were starting to wonder when we would hear about the next round, I just got the email about 30 minutes ago! Good luck everyone!
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I just got my email as well to move onto the second phase. Does anyone have the link for the different geographic regions?
 
Hi everyone!

I just got the email about going on to the second phase so I'm really excited right now (also excited to find this forum...I didn't know it existed)! I never really expected to hear back so also kind of shocked; I was wondering if I could just get a feel of who else is applying? Like different degrees or experiences? Just want to get a feel of who else is applying because I feel like I'm coming from a non-traditional path.

For reference, I'm an undergraduate senior graduating in May with degrees in Microbiology and Genomics and Molecular Genetics and I've interned at my state health department and have been working at an epidemiology research lab on campus.

:)
 
I got the email about moving forward to the next phase as well. Anyone know how many applicants were eliminated/how many 2nd stagers get it?
 
squirelle said:
Hi everyone!

I just got the email about going on to the second phase so I'm really excited right now (also excited to find this forum...I didn't know it existed)! I never really expected to hear back so also kind of shocked; I was wondering if I could just get a feel of who else is applying? Like different degrees or experiences? Just want to get a feel of who else is applying because I feel like I'm coming from a non-traditional path.

For reference, I'm an undergraduate senior graduating in May with degrees in Microbiology and Genomics and Molecular Genetics and I've interned at my state health department and have been working at an epidemiology research lab on campus.

:)
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That's not too untraditional at all! If you look at the MPH thread (where many people post their stats), you'll see that plenty of people apply to MPH programs with a biology/life sciences background. Public health is really interdisciplinary in general!

As for your question, this program is designed for those who are about to graduate either undergraduate or graduate programs or just have, so there's only so much experience us students can have. From what I understand, they accept almost equal numbers of undergraduate and graduate students - I can't find the exact source for that at the moment, but it's in one of the previous PHAP threads on this site.
 
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thewisherr said:
That's not too untraditional at all! If you look at the MPH thread (where many people post their stats), you'll see that plenty of people apply to MPH programs with a biology/life sciences background. Public health is really interdisciplinary in general!

As for your question, this program is designed for those who are about to graduate either undergraduate or graduate programs or just have, so there's only so much experience us students can have. From what I understand, they accept almost equal numbers of undergraduate and graduate students - I can't find the exact source for that at the moment, but it's in one of the previous PHAP threads on this site.
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THANK YOU! That was so helpful!
 
squirelle said:
THANK YOU! That was so helpful!
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That doesn't seem non-traditional to me at all! I'm majoring in Youth & Community Studies with a minor in sociology/social work and a professional concentration in youth & social services at UT Austin. I feel like this makes me super...noncompetitive.
 
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squirelle said:
Hi everyone!

I just got the email about going on to the second phase so I'm really excited right now (also excited to find this forum...I didn't know it existed)! I never really expected to hear back so also kind of shocked; I was wondering if I could just get a feel of who else is applying? Like different degrees or experiences? Just want to get a feel of who else is applying because I feel like I'm coming from a non-traditional path.

For reference, I'm an undergraduate senior graduating in May with degrees in Microbiology and Genomics and Molecular Genetics and I've interned at my state health department and have been working at an epidemiology research lab on campus.

:)
Click to expand...


That doesn't seem non-traditional to me at all! I'm majoring in Youth & Community Studies with a minor in sociology/social work and a professional concentration in youth & social services at UT Austin. I feel like this makes me super...noncompetitive.

Anyways, I have been a research assistant for about a year now. Working in a lab at my school allowed me to develop my own thesis, which I think is really what got me to the second stage.
 
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squirelle said:
Hi everyone!

I just got the email about going on to the second phase so I'm really excited right now (also excited to find this forum...I didn't know it existed)! I never really expected to hear back so also kind of shocked; I was wondering if I could just get a feel of who else is applying? Like different degrees or experiences? Just want to get a feel of who else is applying because I feel like I'm coming from a non-traditional path.

For reference, I'm an undergraduate senior graduating in May with degrees in Microbiology and Genomics and Molecular Genetics and I've interned at my state health department and have been working at an epidemiology research lab on campus.

:)
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2016 PHAP here who also majored in Microbiology and Human Biology. I work in epi right now in my host site and use so much of the knowledge that I learned through those degrees. I had ZERO public health experience before this. Most of my health experience was all global health, so it's all about how you frame your experiences. You are most definitely not coming from a nontraditional path. We have associates with all kinds of majors and backgrounds. That's the beauty of the diversity of PHAP.
 
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Good news, everyone! I got selected to move on to the next round! Congrats to everyone else who was selected!
 
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Moving on to the second phase! So happy to get the email notification.
 
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Hey y'all!
Is anyone else having difficulty opening the FWS application? I'm receiving an "Application window is closed. You cannot create a new application now" message.
 
all4one said:
Hey y'all!
Is anyone else having difficulty opening the FWS application? I'm receiving an "Application window is closed. You cannot create a new application now" message.
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The way I understood the directions, is that we can create the account now, and March 3 - March 8 we will be able to upload our personal statements and survey responses.
 
racinggirl said:
The way I understood the directions, is that we can create the account now, and March 3 - March 8 we will be able to upload our personal statements and survey responses.
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Thanks! And congrats on making it to the next phase.
 
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squirelle said:
Hi everyone!

I just got the email about going on to the second phase so I'm really excited right now (also excited to find this forum...I didn't know it existed)! I never really expected to hear back so also kind of shocked; I was wondering if I could just get a feel of who else is applying? Like different degrees or experiences? Just want to get a feel of who else is applying because I feel like I'm coming from a non-traditional path.

For reference, I'm an undergraduate senior graduating in May with degrees in Microbiology and Genomics and Molecular Genetics and I've interned at my state health department and have been working at an epidemiology research lab on campus.

:)
Click to expand...

I was shocked that I got through! I majored in history and multifaith leadership and am currently working as a research analyst at a health care company.
 
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Does anyone know if we'll be notified if we do not make it past the first round?
 
Or if there will be another round of emails for moving on to the 2nd phase?
 
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For those of you who are still waiting like me, keep your fingers crossed! I'm not sure if anything has changed from last year but on last year's thread, people were receiving emails about moving on the next phase over the first few days of March. It looks like they send the emails out in waves. Hope this helps! :)
 
JDGBruin1317 said:
For those of you who are still waiting like me, keep your fingers crossed! I'm not sure if anything has changed from last year but on last year's thread, people were receiving emails about moving on the next phase over the first few days of March. It looks like they send the emails out in waves. Hope this helps! :)
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Thanks, I hope that is the case! Best of luck to you, and congrats to those that are already onto the 2nd phase!
 
I was very surprised to receive an email today about moving onto the next phase in PHAP. To be honest, I applied on a whim, unsure of what the program even entails, and after not hearing back, I just assumed I wasn't qualified. After graduating with a BA in psychology, I've had next to no idea what to do with my life and just spent several months applying to anything and everything. Don't get me wrong! I'm really pleased to have a chance to move on, and while I don't have much (or rather, any) background in public health, as long as I'm helping people, I'm happy doing many different things. All that being said, after doing some research and reading through the 2016 PHAP thread, I still have no idea what the life and work of someone in PHAP involves.

Can anyone point me towards resources that'll tell me more about the specifics? Some questions that came to mind: what is the balance between training and work like? What sort of role will I play? What tasks can I expect to do? What would the day-to-day schedule roughly look like?
 
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Congrats to all! I've made it to the next round as well! I'm nervous about the personal statement :/
 
Does anyone know what the personal statement will entail? Also, congratulations to everyone who made it to the second round!
 
The thing that scares me the most is having to put in all of this work only to be told that positions for PHAP won't be available because of the Trump administration's federal hiring freeze. It really sucks how someone that I didn't vote for or support is playing games with my future for no legit reason. :(
 
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