Public Health AmeriCorps
at the APHA Annual Conference and Expo 2023

The Opportunity

Public Health AmeriCorps and the American Public Health Association are helping to grow a new generation of public health leaders. Over the coming year, the two organizations will collaborate on several opportunities for Members including a webinar series and information and resources here on PHERN. Members will ALSO have the chance to attend and present at the APHA Annual Meeting and Expo.

PHA on PHERN

The Public Health and Equity Resource Navigator or PHERN is a free public website that includes 1000+ tools, resources, and stories on important and emerging public health topics curated for the field. New resources of interest to Members will be curated as part of the partnership between APHA and PHA. Over the coming months, we will be adding resources for you to the Portal. Favorite the page and check back here often for updates.

• Go to the portal
• Learn more about PHERN
• Register as a user

Attend the APHA Annual Meeting

APHA is proud to partner with Public Health AmeriCorps at the APHA Annual Meeting and Expo this year. As part of the collaboration, a cohort of Members will be sponsored to attend this year’s event and present posters about relevant projects or programs they were involved with at their host site.

What is the APHA Annual Meeting?

The APHA Annual Meeting and Expo brings together more than 12,000 public health professionals from across the world to engage, collaborate and grow through educational and networking opportunities. This year’s meeting will be held November 12-15, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia. This year’s theme is Overcoming Social and Ethical Challenges.

Why Attend?

Attending a scientific conference is a wonderful opportunity to learn about public health science and connect with a large community of peers. Attending conferences can be especially meaningful for early career professionals as they begin to build their professional networks and learn about opportunities in the field.

Why Present?

Presenting at a scientific conference is an honor. It is an opportunity to share your work in a professional, scientific forum. Presenting at a conference is a professional accolade that looks good on a resume.

Apply for the Scholarship

A cohort of 20-30 Members will be accepted for scholarship to the 2023 APHA Annual Meeting and Expo. To apply, submit an abstract of 250 words or less in length, with a title, action words and learning objectives. Applications must be submitted on or before June 12, 2023.

• Office hours: June 5, 2023 (register)
• Deadline for submission: June 12, 2023 (Apply here)
• Scholarship recipients announced by: July 3-7, 2023

What is an abstract?

Abstracts are written for a variety of purposes (research papers, posters) and applications (conference presentations, academic journals), and thus vary in terms of their content. Generally, abstracts contain background information, pose central questions or a statement of the problem, discuss what you did and why, and summarize results or findings and reflect on their significance.

Abstracts about policy, programs, interventions and other types of research evaluations of the sort you will be writing might include the following elements:

• Issues – Include a short summary of the issues centered or addressed by your project, experience, service or advocacy program
• Description – Describe the project, experience, service or advocacy program
• Lessons learned – Describe the results of the project and any lessons learned
• Recommendations – Name your next steps and recommendations

Get started

Getting started is always the hardest part. Begin by asking yourself the following questions and reflecting on your experience at your host site:

1. Activities – What are you doing?
2. Audience – Who are you doing it for?
3. Impact – Why are you doing it?
4. Lessons Learned – How could this inform other projects?

Given this year’s APHA Annual Meeting theme is Overcoming Social and Ethical Challenges, consider how your work may have addressed social or ethical challenges. 

To help generate ideas, it can be helpful to put pen to paper (literally or digitally). APHA recommends listing out activities at your host site and potential abstract topics and titles. Workshop a few abstract ideas. Maybe try them out on a peer or colleague and ask for feedback. Once you decide on direction, you’re ready to get writing! See the resources below for more information and tips on writing an abstract.

Making the Most of Your Public Health AmeriCorps Experience Webinar Series

This webinar series from Public Health AmeriCorps and the American Public Health Association is open to all Members. It is designed to help Members grow knowledge and skills for a career in public health. Topics to include: writing an abstract, making a poster, networking and more.