Public Health Camp 2024: A video tour

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“What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“What are your plans after high school?”

“How will you use your degree after college?”

Beyond hoping to be an astronaut (fingers still crossed), I couldn’t give a straight answer to any of these questions when I was younger. It can be hard to get a good sense for what a career might look like on the inside, while you’re still in school and outside of the workforce. And that makes it hard to decide on which steps to take toward a job you feel passionate about.

Last year, Shayla Holcomb and Greg Wilson at Public Health – Seattle & King County had an idea. Open a door for young people into the field of public health, and invite them to learn directly from staff across the department while building relationships with professionals and other students.

Welcome to Public Health Camp.

Scenes from Public Health Camp 2024

45 young King County residents joined the second annual Public Health Camp from August 5-9, 2024 at our offices in downtown Seattle. Each day had a different theme, with presenters and experiential activities from across public health’s divisions:

  • Monday: Equity, Racial & Social Justice
  • Tuesday: Health Sciences
  • Wednesday: Environmental Health and Climate Change
  • Thursday: Caring for Communities: Jail health services; community health services; Harborview Medical Center; Medical Examiner’s Office; sexual health clinic & teen clinic; infectious disease & immunizations
  • Friday: Connection and the power of YOU: Emergency preparedness and response; networking with 43 community partners, health department leaders, and university staff

Camp highlights

A unifying theme for the camp was about making connections. Connecting with each other, with health department staff, with interns who attended the camp last year, and with community partners and employers during a networking session on the last day. And we witnessed and heard about the joy that comes from getting to know someone new who has the same passions and interests as you.

A camp participant reflects on what made them interested in the camp, new connections and perspectives they gained, and what they learned about careers in public health after five days spent meeting with staff and practitioners.

Students shared some of their favorite experiences with us from the week:

  • Affinity group/string activity: They appreciated the space to share personal experiences and be vulnerable with one another. They loved learning about other’s backgrounds and perspectives.
  • Overdose prevention: It was powerful to learn that they (and naloxone spray) could be the difference between life or death for a stranger, friend, or family member.
  • Plumbing and the trades: “Uncle Rick” who spoke about plumbing and septic systems was funny and engaging, but also eye-opening because they hadn’t thought of plumbing as part of public health.
  • Jail Health Services: Participants gained unique insights from the jail health services panel, and appreciated the empathy-centered approach the speakers take to their work with incarcerated people.
  • Climate change videos and posters: Having a chance to be creative and put their new knowledge to the test by producing short videos and designing posters to help educate the public about health and climate change.
“I’m climate change. Of course I…” Written, produced by, and featuring five Public Health Camp participants as part of their climate + health equity session.

How Public Health Camp opens doors

For young participants, the camp gives an opportunity to explore career opportunities, learn about local health services and programs, network with professionals in the field, and build a sense of self-empowerment and belonging.

For our public health department, the camp helps to open a pathway to the public health workforce that is rooted in the communities we serve. We also get to learn more about the needs of younger people and how to better communicate services and opportunities for them and their families.

For the community, the camp helps to build connections to our community for a two-way dialogue of information sharing, including raising awareness of public health resources. The camp also equips participants with knowledge and skills to become community advocates and help each other, with sessions like Narcan training and how to respond to extreme weather events.

Nadine, director of Public Health – Seattle & King County’s Health Sciences division, knows that it’s not always easy to hear where the opportunities are when you’re young.

What is next for Public Health Camp?

After the last day of camp, participants stay engaged as part of the “Ambassador Troupe”, serving as advocates for their communities, the camp, and public health. They stay connected through a LinkedIn Group, youth advisory board, internship opportunities, and invitations to future trainings like a Stop the Bleed training.

Looking ahead to next year’s camp in late summer of 2025, organizer Shayla Holcomb would like to continue to grow the camp and offer the experience to new attendees from across King County, while deepening connections with community partners.

Public Health Camp 2024 organizer Shayla talks about working with community partners to extend the camp in the coming years.

Thank you to the Public Health Infrastructure Grant (PHIG)

Funding from PHIG made it possible to extend the camp from three days in 2023 to five days this year, invite more participants, and provide gift cards as stipends to participants. Because the camp is five full days during the summer, our organizers wanted to make sure that youth didn’t have to choose between the camp and losing income from a summer or part time job.

Thank you to everyone at PHIG for partnering to make this vision a reality.

Posted on August 23, 2024

This work is supported by funds made available from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), National Center for STLT Public Health Infrastructure and Workforce, through OE22-2203: Strengthening U.S. Public Health Infrastructure, Workforce, and Data Systems grant. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.