The COVID-19 pandemic has tested the public health and medical workforces like never before. And yet people in those fields say they see emerging signs that the crisis will inspire the next generation of doctors, nurses, and public health professionals to join the ranks. Public health schools, for example, saw a 23 percent jump in applicants for master’s and doctoral programs from fall 2019 to fall 2020, and are reporting an even bigger increase so far in this application cycle, according to the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health.
