The impact of COVID-19 on health professions student’s perceptions, future education and career aspirations and confidence in public health responses

Figures & data

Table 2. Public health knowledge.

Question: Knowledge of Public Health Has increased during pandemic	N	%	p-value
Institution
SU
Agree	101	78
Disagree	28	28
GCU
Agree	137	58
Disagree	101	42
			0.001
Degree type
Public Health
Agree	78	94
Disagree	5	6
Nonpublic Health
Agree	160	83
Disagree	34	34
			0.012

Table 6. Pandemic response perception and future trust.

Question	Feel the pandemic was handled appropriately at national level	Feel the pandemic was handled appropriately by my state	Trust the U.S. to respond to future pandemics appropriately	Trust local health officials respond to future pandemics appropriately
Institution
SU
Agree	12	46	23	52
Disagree	117	83	106	77
GCU
Agree	24	48	43	67
Disagree	124	100	105	81
p-value	p = .088	p = .572	p = .029	p = .405
Degree type
Public Health
Agree	14	34	31	48
Don’t Know	5	5	27	17
Disagree	64	44	25	18
Nonpublic Health
Agree	22	60	35	71
Don’t Know	22	32	67	72
Disagree	150	102	92	51
p-value	p = .210	p = .106	p = .001	p = .001

Table 3. Interest in learning about public health.

Question	How Interested in Learning about Public Health Prior to the Pandemic N (%)	How Interested in Learning about Public Health During Pandemic N (%)
Institution
SU
Interested	85 (66)	105 (81)
Not interested	44 (34)	24 (19)
GCU
Interested	121(82)	138 (93)
Not interested	27 (18)	10 (7)
p-value	.003	.003
Degree type
Public Health
Interested	78 (94)	81 (98)
Not interested	5 (6)	2 (2)
Nonpublic Health
Interested	128 (66)	162 (84)
Not interested	66 (34)	32 (16)
p-value	<.001	.001

Table 4. Public health job market.

Question	Prior to pandemic how easy was it to get a public health job	During pandemic how easy was it to get a public health job?	How easy do you think it will be 1–2 years from now to get a public health job?
Institution
SU
Easy	31	37	45
Not Easy	97	92	84
GCU
Easy	27	76	82
Not Easy	121	72	62
p-value	p = .224	p < .001	p = .001
Degree type
Public Health Easy	8	43	51
Don’t Know Not Easy	44 31	24 16	24 8
Nonpublic Health
Easy	50	70	76
Don’t Know	105	83	99
Not Easy	38	41	19
p-value	p = .002	p = .015	p = .001

Table 5. Future education and career interests.

Question	Prior to pandemic how likely to continue education in public health?	During pandemic how likely to continue education in public health?	Prior to the pandemic how likely to seek a job in public health post-graduation?	During the pandemic how likely to seek a job in public health post-graduation?
Institution
SU
Likely	60	62	51	58
Unlikely	68	67	77	71
GCU
Likely	104	118	97	111
Unlikely	44	29	51	37
p-value	p < .001	p < .001	p < .001	p < .001
Degree type
Public Health
Likely	68	79	63	79
Unsure	12	3	15	4
Unlikely	2	1	5	0
Nonpublic Health
Likely	96	101	85	90
Unsure	43	47	47	42
Unlikely	56	46	62	62
p-value	p < .001	p < .001	p < .001	p < .001

Table 1. Study demographics.

Demographic categories	Frequency	Percentage
School attending
Shenandoah University	129	47
Grand Canyon University	148	53
Sex
Male	27	10
Female	250	90
Age
18–21	44	16
22–25	92	33
26–30	54	20
31–35	29	11
36–40	23	8
41–45	16	6
46–50	12	4
51–55	3	1
56–60	3	1
61+	1	<1
Race
Asian	12	5
African or African American	31	11
Hispanic or Latinx	34	12
Multi-racial	11	4
Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander	3	1
White	180	65
Other	6	2
Degree program
Public Health	83	30
Nonpublic Health	194	70
Year in program
Year 1	138	50
Year 2	95	34
Year 3	36	13
Year 4	4	2
Greater than 5	3	1
Region reside in
West	116	42
Mid-West	6	<1
East	19	7
South	135	49
Outside US	1	<1