Preparing for the next health crisis; New York State and Cornell University have partnered to create the Citizen Public Health Training.

The New York Citizen Public Health Training is designed to prevent, detect and respond to the next pandemic, and you don't have to have a medical background to take part.

What You Need To Know

  • The New York Citizen public health training is designed to prevent, detect, and respond to the next pandemic

  • New sessions of the course begin every week, and there are enough spots for 100,000 New Yorkers to enroll

  • The free online course is open to all New Yorkers

“Become citizen public health leaders. Meaning, individuals living in their communities who have the ability to support and respond if future public health emergencies should happen," said Gen Meredith, associate director of Cornell’s master of public health program.

The program launched in March and is taught in four parts: preventing and addressing COVID-19, healthy communities, community resilience and preparedness.

“What learners will experience is a combination of very short videos, sort of three to five minutes in length, and pages that have short bits of text and bullets, and images to help reinforce learning," said Meredith.

Live and recorded videos feature Cornell experts. The goal is having at least one trained leader in each New York neighborhood.

“We’re really excited to see how individuals who complete the course are able to apply this in their own lives to advance their own health and the health of their communities," said Meredith.

The free online course is open to all New Yorkers. New sessions of the course begin every week, and there are enough spots for 100,000 New Yorkers to enroll.