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Schools and programs of public health are expanding online course offerings, particularly in response to the transition to remote learning due to COVID-19. While previous research in the health professions suggests that online and in-person modalities are equally effective in supporting student learning, there is minimal evidence of this in public health education. This evaluation examines the effectiveness of newly developed online or hybrid course sections offered to Master of Public Health (MPH) and Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) students enrolled in on-campus programs. We compared the effectiveness of these new offerings with that of the on-campus in-person courses and hybrid courses in the Executive MPH program. The purposes of this mixed-methods evaluation were to (1) assess student learning across the three course modalities and (2) examine student, instructor, and staff experiences with the modalities. The data included pre- and postcourse student surveys on 17 sections of five courses (precourse response rate: 51% to 98%; postcourse response rate: 12% to 57%), the participating students’ grades, five student focus groups, one focus group with academic advisors, and 11 instructor interviews. The findings indicate that the new online modality was equivalent to the in-person sections for student learning, satisfaction, and engagement. Mean student ratings of confidence in meeting the course learning objectives increased from the beginning to the end of the semester in all sections for all courses. Regardless of the modality, the students reported that the course improved their understanding of key concepts and that they were satisfied with their course. We discuss the lessons learned and recommendations for ensuring high-quality online learning experiences.

in Atlanta, GA, is to develop and implement programming to train and educate public health professionals in U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Region IV. To identify public health workforce development needs, the R-IV PHTC created a systematic process that included the implementation of a variety of strategies, to gain insights from each state within the diverse region. Conducting regular needs assessments is an integral step to ensure trainings are relevant and meet the needs of public health professionals. To this end, the PHTC employed a mixed methods approach to gather information on both competency-based and non-competency-based training needs, as well as training needs within R-IV's content focus area of infectious disease. In R-IV there is great variability between the structures of the state and local health departments (e.g., some centralized, some decentralized), each of which faces different funding challenges and works with different service delivery models and regulatory authorities. Moreover, states have diverse populations (e.g., races, urban/rural, migrant/refugees, tribal, Appalachian) and face a wide range of public health priority concerns. Health departments were found to be at different stages of readiness to undertake a training needs assessment due to a number of issues, including their stage of pursuing Public Health Accreditation Board accreditation and recent participation in other needs assessment efforts. The R-IV PHTC approach to assessing training needs within this challenging environment is described.

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically highlighted critical needs for a well-trained and robust public health workforce. Prior to the pandemic, the public health workforce was already challenged by a lack of formal public health training, employee turnover, funding inadequacies, and increasingly complex issues affecting public health practice and requiring multisector approaches. [1][2][3][4][5][6] These trends, especially those regarding the workforce, were magnified by the pandemic. An October 2021 New York Times report described more than 500 top public health officials having left their jobs in the previous 19 months 7 and more than half of public health workers surveyed in a 2021 study described stress-related symptoms of adverse mental health conditions. 8 Because of the pandemic, states have seen an influx of funding for hiring staff and temporary workers to assist with specific tasks such as contact tracing 9 ; yet, it is estimated that state and local health departments need to hire an additional 80 000 full-time equivalent positions to provide ongoing, foundational public health services. 10 As such,