Planning professional education at schools of public health.

Abstract

OBJECTIVES. Professional education in public health should equip graduates with adequate knowledge and skills to manage diverse and complex problems. How best to address this challenge is widely debated. We describe the Harvard School of Public Health's self-evaluation and development of a practice-oriented program. METHODS. As part of Harvard's schoolwide review of the master of public health (MPH), self-administered questionnaires were distributed to all MPH students, 1987 to 1989, and international and US alumni, 1979 to 1986. Extensive discussions were conducted with relevant student and faculty groups. RESULTS. Survey results provided a basis for educational policy and curricular changes that culminated in a revised MPH that targets key areas of public health practice. Examples from the Harvard experience are provided. CONCLUSIONS. Information derived from student and alumni surveys can be highly effective in the process of guiding curricular change at schools of public health. This should be coupled with a strategic approach to gain faculty support for proposed innovations. Ongoing monitoring and modification of the new curriculum is essential.

Assessment of graduate public health education in Nepal and perceived needs of faculty and students

“…Although student and alumni evaluations of academic programs are commonly used in western countries, and have provided valuable input to improve the curriculum and faculty performance [23-25], the absence of official student evaluations of faculty performance for these programs shows an indifference towards the quality of teaching and a disregard for student views in the academic culture of Nepal. An additional cause of student dissatisfaction with teaching was that, financially lucrative opportunities, when available, often took priority over teaching for some instructors.…”

“…A lack of training in leadership and independent thinking skills, and the suboptimal quality of programs have been reported as challenges for public health education by others in South Asia [22,30]. In the past, public health education in the US and UK also faced similar issues: low prestige, faculty shortages, inadequate resources, deficiencies in computing resources, poor teaching, concerns about the lack of specialized and doctoral level training, and inadequate integration of theory and practice [23,31,32]. The Lancet Commission Report on Education of Health Professionals for the 21st Century states that professional education has not kept pace with the challenges in public health globally ‘because of fragmented, out-dated, and static curricula’ and recommends transformative competency-based curricula that subsume focus on analytical abilities, leadership and management capabilities, communication skills, and a culture of critical inquiry [33].…”

Preparing the Public Health Workforce

“…(2013a) The five core areas of public health knowledge for which both an SPH and PHP must provide instruction include biostatistics, epidemiology, environmental health, social and behavioral sciences, and health services administration (CEPH 2011). The distinction between the two is further highlighted, I think, in the 1913 mission of the Harvard School of Public Health which is: "…to train, first, public health practitioners and, second, academics, educators, and researchers" (Kahn andTollman 1992, p. 1653 …the schools of public health should undertake an expanded program of short courses to help upgrade the competence of these personnel. In addition, short course offerings should provide opportunities for previously trained public health professionals…to keep up with advances in knowledge and practice….…”

Promoting Public Health Workforce Training for Developing and Transitional Countries: Fifty-Year Experience of the Braun School of Public Health and Community Medicine, Jerusalem, Israel

“…As Kahn and Tollman suggested, 5 "An education curriculum is a delicate plant; it will thrive only with constant attention, proper nourishment and periodic trimming and shaping", and so, although the broad educational and professional similarities have been retained over the past four decades, we regularly review the details of our curriculum and the specific courses to ensure its relevancy and timeliness (e.g., health system reforms, community mental health, HIV/AIDS). The IMPH curriculum (Table 1) comprehensively addresses the public health core competencies currently specified by ASPHER 6 and by the American Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) 7,8 to equip public health graduates for the tasks necessary to meet the Millennium Development Goals.…”