Dramatic public health advances in the 20th century have improved quality of life-an increase in life expectancy, worldwide reduction in infant and child mortality, and the elimination or reduction of numerous life-threatening communicable diseases. These achievements could not have occurred without the research, practice, and service of professionals who comprise the public health workforce. This multidisciplinary workforce includes public health clinicians, occupational and environmental health specialists, epidemiologists, biostatisticians, health program administrators and educators, health economists, planners, and policy analysts. Employed by governmental public health agencies, community-based service organizations, academic and research institutions, private organizations, hospitals, health plans, and medical groups, these professionals function broadly, with activities including health surveillance, protection, promotion, planning, regulation, and health services organization, delivery, and evaluation. 1 The world increasingly relies upon the public health workforce to confront emerging communicable diseases (e.g., Ebola and avian influenza), prevent environmental hazards (e.g., protect food security and combat climate change) and chronic disease (e.g., obesity and

It was against a background of no formal career path for public health officers that, in 1915, the seminal Welch-Rose Report 1 outlined a system of public health education for the United States. The first schools of public health soon followed, but growth was slow, with only 12 schools by 1960. With organization and growing numbers, accreditation became an expectation. As the mission of public health has grown and achieved new urgency, schools have grown in number, depth and breadth. By mid-2011, there were 46 accredited schools of public health, with more in the pipeline. While each has a unique character, they also must possess certain core characteristics to be accredited. Over time, as schools developed, and concepts of public health expanded, so too did curricula and missions as well as types of people who were trained. In this review, we provide a brief summary of US public health education, with primary emphasis on professional public health schools. We also examine public health workforce needs and evaluate how education is evolving in the context of a growing maturity of the public health profession. We have not focused on programs (not schools) that offer public health degrees or on preventive medicine programs in schools of medicine, since schools of public health confer the majority of master's and doctoral degrees. In the future, there likely will be even more inter-professional education, new disciplinary perspectives and changes in teaching and learning to meet the needs of millennial students.

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