Sam Mendez, PhD

The PHCC is a learning and information hub for professionals who communicate about public health. Learn more about PHCC: publichealthcollaborative.org

I'm a Public Health Communications Collaborative Ambassador. Follow along as I share new, timely resources for #PublicHealth professionals

Line-drawing self-portrait: person with long dark hair and glasses, with colorful layered clothes. Public Heath Communications Collaborative graphic, with #PHCCAmbassador as the heading

👋 I am excited to announce that I am part of a new cohort of Public Health Communications Collaborative Ambassadors this fall. Follow along as I share new, timely resources for #PublicHealth professionals as a #PHCCAmbassador

#medsky #episky #scicomm

New addition to my thread of public health job sources.

#medsky #publichealth

2025 PH Postings

Another spreadsheet of US public health jobs, updated in the past few days: docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

#publichealth #phdsky #episky

A great colleague of mine is running a health literacy course this fall, where students evaluate real-world comms materials. If your org wants to support public health training and get a free comms eval, reach out to me and I can give you more details.

#medsky #publichealth #nonprofit #episky

Remember: our goal isn't to use specific technology well. It's responsible communication that serves health equity.

Try one tool this week. Compare it to your current workflow. Measure real outcomes.

What privacy-focused tools are you curious about?

Tool #3: SHeLL Editor
Skip AI generation entirely. This tool uses statistical analysis to improve your existing health materials based on decades of research. It flags complex words and suggests evidence-based improvements. Maintain control and transparency while leveraging computational tools.

Tool #2: DuckDuckGo AI Chat
Get anonymous access to ChatGPT, Claude, and other popular models. No data storage. No training on your conversations. No account required. Perfect for: Quick experiments without privacy concerns.

duck.ai

GPT4All – The Leading Private AI Chatbot for Local Language Models Experience true data privacy with GPT4All, a private AI chatbot that runs local language models on your device. No cloud needed—run secure, on-device LLMs for unlimited offline AI interactions.

Tool #1: GPT4All
Run AI models directly on your computer. Download once, use offline forever. Your data never leaves your device. You aren't tied to massive always-on data centers or server farms.

www.nomic.ai/gpt4all

3 Private AI Tools for Health Professionals Run AI locally with GPT4All, chat privately with DuckDuckGo, or analyze content with SHeLL Editor. Three tools for health professionals.

In my latest newsletter, I break down 3 practical options for public health professionals who want to experiment with generative AI but have privacy and environmental concerns.

Good news: you have options. Thread below. Read more here:
www.linkedin.com/pulse/privat...

🛟 #phdsky #commsky #scicomm

A lot of state/county/city jobs, as well as some foundations/nonprofit work

Job Opportunities: 6.12.25 Back and better than ever with 43 opportunities!

Public Health Hiring Help posted a new list of jobs yesterday. Worth a look for folks in the US

🛟 #phdsky

Thanks for the read!

Problem #3: Simple tools can beat complex AI.
A basic keyword search for command verbs like "wear" or "wash" can identify calls to action. It won't capture every possible call to action, but it can capture those you want to promote. This is what clever cost savings can look like.

Problem #2: Even experts can disagree on "clear" standards Our trained raters struggled with consistency on certain questions for a national audience. If humans can't agree on active voice in tweets, how can AI? Deeper community engagement is key to answer questions AI can't.

Problem #1: Data redundancy killed 1/3 of our training set.
Duplicate content shrunk our dataset from 48K to 32K samples. Public health's repetitive messaging helps humans remember—but hurts AI training. Keep this in mind when you hear promises that more data will improve existing models.

3 Data Quality Problems That Deflate AI Hype in Health Communication Real research reveals why AI isn't always the answer for health communication. Learn how data redundancy, unclear standards, and simple tools challenge AI hype

Is AI Overhyped in Health Communication?

My latest newsletter issue highlights how data quality puts practical limits on the promises of AI.

Evidence, not industry hype, should drive our tech choices. Sometimes that means AI. Sometimes it means a simple keyword list.

🛟 #phdsky #commsky #scicomm

I made the feed above, also made this Starter Pack for folks in public health to peruse: go.bsky.app/EgMQxe9

The Green Jobs Board – Find Your Climate Space!

A more tangential find, the Green Jobs Board: www.greenjobsboard.us

Thread of job listings and groups around public health and related fields. Would love to know if there's anything else out there other folks would recommend

#publichealth #phdsky #academicsky #medsky #commsky

Similarly, if you're already on LinkedIn, Public Health in Tech regularly shares job posts: www.linkedin.com/company/publ...

If you're active on LinkedIn the Public Health Connections Lounge group has a crowdsourced effort each week: www.linkedin.com/groups/14095...

You might also be able to just search #workitwednesday on LinkedIn if you don't want to join the group

Public Health Remote & Hybrid Jobs | by Chelsea Douglas

Eighth: a spreadsheet of Public Health Remote & Hybrid Jobs by Chelsea Douglas.

docs.google.com/spreadsheets...

Seventh: Public Health Jobs Massachusetts is a pretty active LinkedIn group for anybody in the Baked Bean state

www.linkedin.com/groups/13030...

Sixth: The American Public Health Association job board is free to use. No membership required

careers.apha.org/jobseekers/

Mission Critical by Noorain Khan 5.8.2025 Are you dreaming of a more purposeful work life? You’re in the right place!

Fifth: Mission Critical posts each month, with jobs at nopnprofits and foundations, mostly director-level roles but with some variety.

noorainkhan.substack.com/p/mission-cr...

Public Health Jobs in America, Canada and International | PH SPOT Public health job opportunities across USA, CANADA and International that are hand picked by editors on a weekly basis by PH SPOT team.

Fourth: Public Health Spot. A very curated list of public health jobs in US, Canada, and other regions.

phspot.org/publichealth...

Public Solutions Jobs This website is a curated list of research, civic tech, data analytics, and policy positions at universities, nonprofits, and state and local governments.

Third: Public Solutions Jobs. A targeted list focused on university positions and larger nonprofits. Mostly research, manager, and director roles. Seems to be updated every week www.publicsolutionsjobs.org

Job Opportunities: 5.17.25 Feel the love from one of these 72 jobs!

Second: Public Health Hiring Help. A substack that includes posts every few days with job lists. Here's the most recent at time of writing: publichealthhiringhelp.substack.com/p/job-opport...

Wide mix of levels and roles, including coordinators, analysts, content creators, local public health

Refreshing my thread with active public health job boards and curated lists.

First up: Arts in Health blog. At the beginning of each month, Alyson Maier posts a job lsit, recently a mix of artist, clinician, and director roles: www.alysonmaier.com/blog

#publichealth #phdsky