An Undergraduate Curriculum in Public Health Benchmarked to the Needs of the Workforce

Stoots, James Michael; Wykoff, Randy; Khoury, Amal; Pack, Robert P.

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2015.00012

Cited by 6 publications

(6 citation statements)

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“…Existing literature describes demand for undergraduate bachelor degrees in public health, although there remains uncertainty in what students can do with this degree ( 1 ). There is also uncertainty in what role an entry level public health professional can serve in the public health workforce ( 2 , 3 ). As such, it was imperative the capstone experience at UA prioritize developing analytical thinking and evidence-based writing skills.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate Public Health Capstone Course: Teaching Evidence-Based Public Health

Fitzpatrick

Mayer

Sherman

2016

Front. Public Health

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The University at Albany School of Public Health has offered a Bachelor of Science in Public Health (BSPH) degree for the past 7 years. The final requirement of the BSPH degree is a capstone evidence-based public health class designed to culminate the degree program. This capstone course is framed by identifying a public health problem and creating a literature review based on this problem. The issues are selected through collaboration between the students and instructors. Developmental and analytical tools necessary to complete the literature review are provided throughout the semester. By the end of the course, students achieve the necessary competencies and skills to identify a public health problem, analyze information from peer-reviewed literature, and synthesize the relationship between a health issue and its correlated outcome. Successes were measured through achievement of core BSPH competencies, quality of final paper and presentation, and qualitative data gleaned from end of semester self-reported student surveys.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Undergraduate Public Health Capstone Course: Teaching Evidence-Based Public Health

Fitzpatrick

Mayer

Sherman

2016

Front. Public Health

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“…Some supporters "strongly believe that the undergraduate degree in public health should be seen primarily as a professional degree that is designed to prepare students to enter a well-defined and vital career track." 9 This statement captures the dilemma facing small liberal arts colleges, which have traditionally resisted the professionalization and neoliberal "economization" of education and remain committed to the values of "social responsibility, critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and knowledge of the wider world." 10 It could be argued that all educational institutions value critical thinking, just as all students need to be prepared for careers, regardless of what institution they attend or what major they pursue.…”

Section: A Brief Historymentioning

confidence: 99%

Culture, Health, and Science

Morgan

Knight

Gubrium

2016

Int Q Community Health Educ

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Since the 2003 call by the Institute of Medicine to educate undergraduates in public health, various models have emerged for incorporating public health into the liberal arts and sciences. One model is a professionalized public health major that uses core public health competencies to prepare a workforce of health professionals. A second model offers a broad-based public health major rooted in liberal arts principles, resisting the utilitarian trend toward human capital formation. A third model resists even the label of "public health," preferring instead to introduce undergraduates to many ways of analyzing human health and healing. The multidisciplinary Culture, Health, and Science Program, based on six key commitments for preparing liberal arts students to analyze health and respond to global health challenges, is offered as an alternative to the public health major.

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“…Stoots and colleagues describe the undergraduate curriculum in public health that the University of East Tennessee has developed. As one of the oldest undergraduate public health programs in the US, it places particular emphasis on aligning the curriculum with the needs of the local workforce ( 6 ). White describes the undergraduate program developed at Tulane University, receiving a major push from another external force – Hurricane Katrina and its impact on the university and its students ( 7 ).…”

Section: Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%