The Kenneth J. "KJ" Green Health Professions Scholarship recognizes a graduating senior from a public high school in Greene County, Indiana (i.e., Bloomfield, Eastern, Linton-Stockton, Shakamak, White River Valley), who is interested in pursuing an education and career in a health profession. This scholarship is awarded annually in the amount of $1,000.00 as a nonrenewable, one-time gift.

Criteria

To be considered, an applicant must meet the following criteria:

1. Be a graduating senior from a public high school in Greene County, Indiana
2. Have an interest in pursuing an education and career in a health profession
3. Submit a completed Application Form, which includes 3 character references
4. Submit a written essay
5. Earn admission to a university and/or program*

*Applicants who have not yet been admitted to a university and/or program are still encouraged to apply for the scholarship. If the applicant is awarded the scholarship, it will be on a provisional basis until the applicant is admitted to a university and/or program. If the applicant ultimately fails to gain admittance to a university and/or program, the scholarship award will be rescinded and awarded to another applicant who meets all required criteria.

Application Instructions

Download, complete, and save the Application Form. Attach the completed Application Form and written essay to a single email and send to KJ@KJGreen.com with “APPLICATION: Health Professions Scholarship” in the subject line. Applications are accepted after 12:01am ET on SEP 01 and until 11:59pm ET on MAR 15 of the academic year the applicant is eligible (i.e., during the applicant's senior year of high school).

The recipient of the scholarship will be notified either via email or at an organized awards ceremony. The recipient will receive a scholarship certificate delivered via postal mail or in person at the time of notification. Once the recipient provides verification that he/she has been admitted to a university and/or program—and is billed by said institution for related coursework/training—the recipient will receive the scholarship award via postal mail in the form of a check.

Essay

The essay should be typed using 12-point Times New Roman or Arial font, 1.5 line spacing, flush left or justified alignment, and 1-inch margins. There is no word count or page limit; the applicant is encouraged to focus on content rather than length. Sources for any ideas not attributable to the applicant should be cited/referenced; plagiarism is grounds for disqualification. The essay should be saved in either Microsoft “.doc” or ".docx", or Adobe “.pdf” format, and should answer the following two questions:

Question 1 - Education & Profession
What school/university/program do you plan to attend, what major/subject do you plan to study, and what health profession are you interested in pursuing? Why?

Question 2 - Public Health
In your role as a health professional, how would you protect, promote, and/or advance the public's health? What about this work interests you and why?

Question 1 - Education & Profession
What school/university/program do you plan to attend, what major/subject do you plan to study, and what health profession are you interested in pursuing? Why?

Health professions are vast and varied. Any profession that endeavors to directly or indirectly prevent, diagnose, or treat injuries or illnesses; and/or improve health or protect safety qualifies for consideration for this scholarship. This covers a broad range of professions.

The following lists professions that are sometimes more commonly thought of when considering health professions. (This list is not exhaustive.)

The following lists professions that are sometimes less commonly thought of when considering health professions. (This list is not exhaustive.)

Students who are interested in any profession that has a direct or indirect effect on the prevention, diagnosis, or treatment of injuries or illnesses; and/or improvement of health or protection of safety are encouraged to apply for this scholarship.

If the applicant's chosen profession is not directly related to healthcare, the applicant may wish to explain in his/her essay how the chosen profession qualifies as a health profession.

Question 2 - Public Health
In your role as a health professional, how would you protect, promote, and/or advance the public's health? What about this work interests you and why?

"Public health" has many different definitions, but nearly all of them overlap on the following proposition: improving health, proctecting safety, and/or preventing diseases and injuries for communities or populations of people.

Public health work is broadly divided into two categories: research and practice. There are basically two activities that make up public health research:

1. Observing things that are associated with a community's or population's health outcomes. (Things that are associated with positive health outcomes are called protective factors. Things that are associated with negative health outcomes are called risk factors.) And studying the relationship between these protective/risk factors and their associated health outcomes.
2. Observing interventions meant to address these protective/risk factors in a community/ population. And studying the relationship between the interventions, the protective/risk factors they are meant to address, and their associated health outcomes.

Public health research is used to influence public health practice. There are basically two activities that make up public health practice:

1. Creating and implementing evidence-based interventions that decrease exposure to risk factors, or increase exposure to protective factors.
2. Creating and implementing evidence-based interventions that promote behavior maintenance/change (i.e., engaging in and continuing healthy behaviors, and avoiding or discontinuing unhealthy behaviors).

Please consider the following two videos produced by the American Public Health Association.

While the above graphic lists 10 Great U.S. Public Health Achievements of the 20th Century, it is noteworthy to mention that there is room for continued progress in these areas and that there are many more public health initiatives that could also benefit from continued progress, such as: reducing violence, controlling obesity, eliminating health disparities, decreasing substance abuse and addiction, creating a health IT infrastructure, minimizing the occurrence of adverse health effects caused by medical treatment, improving emergency preparedness and response, or addressing the following 3 unhealthy behaviors, which contribute to the 4 chronic diseases that when combined account for over 50% of all deaths worldwide.

The applicant's chosen health profession does not need to focus on public health; however, the applicant should express an interest in directing at least some of his/her professional knowledge, skills, and abilities toward the public's health.

Disclaimer and Consent

I, KJ Green, will personally read and review all applications and essays, and maintain the right to consult with the applicants' references, fellow Public Health Service officers, other health professionals, and/or any other individuals regarding any or all submitted applications, essays, and/or accompanying materials. Applying to The Kenneth J. “KJ” Green Health Professions Scholarship is acknowledging understanding of the aforementioned conditions and stipulations, and granting consent thereto.

Questions/Comments/Feedback

If you have questions or feedback, please feel welcome to send me an email at the below address and I will be happy to respond.