Post-Graduation Impact of a Program Planning Service-Learning Project

The public health workforce needs an array of knowledge and skills to effectively address current and future public health challenges. While existing competency models establish educational objectives for public health degree programs, there is insufficient guidance on how academic programs should develop these competencies, and workforce assessments continue to identify skills gaps in areas such as critical thinking and problem analysis. In this article, we describe an approach for designing undergraduate public health courses based on the hierarchy of cognitive processes in Bloom’s taxonomy. Course activities are sequenced to provide students with opportunities to attain increasing mastery of course concepts and analytical skills, from remembering new concepts to applying them in case studies and creating original analyses and proposals. This simple approach has been applied to three separate courses taught by multiple instructors over 3 years and has received positive feedback from students. By explicitly communicating the theoretical basis for course activities, this approach also promotes metacognitive knowledge in students that can foster their continued learning success.

While most universities have focused on graduate education to create public health leaders, undergraduate public health education is another way to ensure a prepared workforce at all levels. This article provides examples of three Council on Education for Public Health accredited graduate programs outside schools of public health (University of Southern California, Temple University, and New York University) that also offer undergraduate public health education, one that is in its first year of offering a public health minor, and the other two offering majors and minors. Although these programs come from different philosophies, all have an underlying mission to influence how public health is understood. Considering the current need for public health workers, we anticipate that most higher education institutions will soon offer undergraduate public health courses. These programs must be mindful, however, of newly emerging accreditation requirements, which might have implications for both established and newly developing undergraduate public health programs, as well as articulation issues between undergraduate- and graduate-level master of public health programs. An examination of existing programs, as well as a discussion of accreditation requirements and articulation issues, will help institutions create curricula that meet their students' educational needs as well as the need for a strong public health workforce.

The practice-based teaching (PBT) pedagogical approach is vital to prepare students to learn collaboratively how to solve real-world complex public health problems. Despite evidence of the new PBT approach in graduate public health courses, little is known about the development of PBT in undergraduate public health courses. The purpose of this article is to describe an undergraduate course design using PBT, offer suggestions for using the effective PBT STEPS (Securing Partnerships, Technology and Training, Engagement and Implementation, Presenting Deliverables, Sizing Up Results) framework, and explain lessons learned. The experiences are based on 4 years of successful implementation of the PBT course project, Exercise Is Medicine on Campus (EIM-OC) initiative. The college campus is a promising setting to promote EIM-OC and physical activity awareness. Undergraduate public health students in the Health Administration of Programs course partnered with the campus Wellness, Alcohol and Violence Education Program for the fall initiative. We used the comprehensive PBT STEPS framework in planning the EIM-OC. The evaluation included the number of participants at the Chancellor Walk and activity stations and student reflective writing papers. The findings suggest the effectiveness of PBT pedagogy for faculty to redesign an existing course. Students gain a deeper understanding of campus health and health topics. Faculty can guide students and empower them for working with partners to think, act, and practice like professionals during academic preparation.

Advances in community and public health are needed to address contemporary health needs, particularly poor health outcomes related to the social determinants of health and inequity. Nurses are ideally placed to promote meaningful advances in community and public health, collectively referred to as population health. Nurse educators can promote a deeper understanding of core population health concepts by threading these concepts throughout the academic nursing curricula in addition to standalone population or public health courses. Strategies for incorporating population health concepts in a variety of courses can be conceptualized through the themes emphasizing context, honoring community voices, cultivating community connection, and fostering leadership in social responsibility. Nurse educators with expertise in population health can serve as a resource for faculty as these strategies are implemented. Teaching population health provides exciting opportunities for innovative approaches to facilitate students to link their practice to wider social contexts. Further steps to strengthen the public and community health workforce will still be needed to meet population health needs.

Regional Public Health Training Centers: An Essential Partner in Workforce Development.

Undergraduate courses in Collective Health are still recent in the country and over the years have sought to structure and build its identity. Gender and sexuality are social determinants of health that interfere with health conditions and access to care and that should be included in comprehensive training for health professionals. In light of this, this research sought to analyze the inclusion of gender and sexuality issues in the curriculum of undergraduate courses in public health in Brazil (CGSC). A documentary analysis was carried out of the course sheets that explicitly covered gender and sexuality issues in the courses. Out f the 17 CGSC analyzed, 12 of them have a total of 16 disciplines on such topics. Through content analysis, the Objectives, Program Content, Methodologies, Evaluation and References present in the referred sheets were investigated. In general, the subjects that appear in the sheets are "Gender", "Sexuality", Inequalities and social determinants in health "," Health care "and" Others ". In the Objectives of the sheets, the most frequent subject is Gender; in the Program Content, gender appears related to a variety of subjects; teaching Methodologies privilege the student's participation; Evaluation maily considers students participation in the classroom debates and seminars; in the References section, gender studies stand out, mainly related to women's health. It is concluded that despite the space already conquered by these themes, it is necessary to invest and expand this debate, mainly in relation to sexuality that have remained on the margins of the curriculum. It is necessary the restructuring and updating of the course sheets of public health undergraduate courses in order to provide training that overcomes prejudice.

SPECIALTY GRAND CHALLENGE article Front. Public Health, 18 July 2013Sec. Public Health Education and Promotion https://doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2013.00020

Strategies for Enhancing Governmental Public Health Workforce Well-being and Retention.

IntroductionCentral to public health practice is mindfulness and intentionality toward achieving social justice and health equity. However, there is limited literature published on how educators are integrating these concepts into their curricular, pedagogical and instructional efforts. The goal of this study was to leverage the pluralistic views, social identities, and demographics within the classroom to explore the effects of introducing a Global Health Book Club (GHBC) assignment focused on identity of culture, equity, and power. We also sought to explore the use of first-account narratives illustrating the human experience as an instructional strategy to cultivate an empathic understanding of global health threats, while fostering critical consciousness toward one’s positionality within macro-level contexts. Finally, students were encouraged to reflect on their lived cultural experiences and engage in open and authentic dialogue with their peers.MethodsWe implemented a four-week GHBC assignment within an undergraduate global public health course. At the conclusion of the GHBC, students engaged in a reflective Individual Analysis Paper, which captured students’ perspectives on their cultural values and traditions, how these views shaped their understanding of their book, and evaluate whether their global perspective had changed as a result of the assignment. Thirty-one students consented to have their Individual Analysis Paper downloaded and de-identified for analysis. Student responses were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis procedures.ResultsThrough our analysis, six themes, with several coinciding categories, were identified as salient. The themes include Demonstrated Empathy, Personal Reflection and Growth, Personally Inspired, Immersive Learning Experience, Broadened Perspective, and Provoked Emotion.DiscussionOur findings support that a GHBC assignment is a viable and effective mechanism for engaging students in critical reflection, critical motivation and critical action. In cultivating a learning environment that promotes student-centered learning and active participation, students exemplified agency in their own learning. This work can serve as an exemplary model for other public health educators to engage students in reflective-based assignments regarding their positionality and critical consciousness. By utilizing frameworks conceived out of antiracism, diversity, equity, and inclusion, our work presents an innovative activity in engaging students in decolonization efforts within global public health practice.

Diverse communities require chiropractors to be culturally competent to serve diverse populations. The purpose of this analysis is to describe the effect on knowledge and confidence to serve diverse populations following 6 hours of cultural competency training. Using a quasi-experimental one-group design, a paired t-test using a 40-item questionnaire to assess knowledge and a 15-item questionnaire to rate confidence was used for the stated purpose. A total of 45 students completed the 40-item questionnaire and 48 students completed the 15-item questionnaire. Analyses showed significant increases from pre-to post-training (Δ score = 21.34%; p < 0.001) in knowledge to serve diverse populations; but in confidence no significant change was found (Δ score = 0.24; p = 0.26). However, when accounting for sex differences, female students showed a significant increase in confidence with 7 of the 15 items at p < 0.05, while male students did not achieve signifi-cant changes in any of these items. The knowledge of chiropractic students increased significantly following a course in cultural competence. Their confidence to serve diverse populations, however, did not change significantly. Further examination of the data revealed that baseline measures on confidence may be relatively high. Further study is required to determine the covariates of successful training in cultural competency.

Public health courses that provide opportunities for applied learning to develop students’ understanding of health disparities and methods for achieving health equity are of critical importance. Contemplative pedagogy can cultivate among students personal skills such as open awareness, introspection, nonjudgment, and compassion as students engage with communities across class, race, and other lines of difference. This article describes how contemplative practices are introduced and aligned with learning objectives in an undergraduate community-engaged course on health parity at a public liberal arts university in North Carolina, with the intent of contributing to the growing literature on contemplative education and how it may be appropriate in public health education. Contemplative pedagogy in this course offers opportunities for students to learn with their minds, bodies, and hearts. This article presents course context and structure, introducing contemplative practices to students, and two specific examples of contemplative activities that may help students better understand diversity and their role in sustainable health equity. The article concludes with a discussion and resources for instructors interested in contemplative pedagogy. As contemplative pedagogy gains ground in college instruction, it may also provide critical skill-building for students of public health.

Undergraduate programs in public health are becoming increasingly popular in the United States (US). The recent pandemic, growing climate instability, and the aging baby boomers have led to higher demands for skilled public health professionals at various levels of the workforce. This study examines the nature of courses being delivered in undergraduate public health programs across the United States. The goal is to assess domains, themes, competencies, and other specialized skills that are currently covered in these academic programs. A search was conducted in February 2023 using the online CEPH program database to identify undergraduate public health programs in the US. In total, 86 institutions and 90 CEPH-accredited undergraduate public health programs were identified. Lists of public health courses were retrieved from each program, and a total of 2,259 unduplicated courses were extracted and analyzed. A content analysis of the extracted topics was conducted to generate 38 common themes among the courses offered. Coded course themes were mapped to the public health domains and competencies listed by the ASPPH and CEPH to evaluate the distribution of themes across course offerings. Analysis of course themes found that Foundations of Public Health, Epidemiology, Public Health Management, Policy, and Leadership, Climate and Environmental Health, and Global Health Issues were the most prevalent. When course themes were mapped onto the ASPPH and CEPH domains of critical public health learning, "overview of public health" and "determinants of health" were the most populated domains. Programs had different emphases according to their approach, but overall, about two-thirds of course themes were focused on foundational and theoretical concepts of public health, and one-third were directed toward practical applications of public health concepts. As the demand for skilled public health workers continues to rise, programs will need to watch the skills and competencies required in the current working environment, as well as the ASPPH and CEPH criteria, and adjust their approach accordingly. Given the rapid changes in the public health landscape, schools and programs of public health should evaluate their curricula to ensure that they are meeting the needs of the workforce and the world.

Every day in communities across the nation, our public health system and public health workforce are striving to help everyone get and stay healthy.Our public health workforce has worked overtime during the COVID-19 pandemic to protect our communities, and while we are grateful for the temporary emergency funding provided by Congress to help state and local health departments, we know that we must ensure our public health system and workforce

The postgraduate medical Schools in Public Health (locally known as School of Hygiene and Preventive Medicine) should ensure adequate scientific and technical knowledge and professional skills in preventive medicine, health promotion and healthcare planning as provided by Ministerial Decree 285/2005. The Italian Committee of Medical Residents in Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Public Health and Preventive Medicine - S.It.I. (Consulta Nazionale dei medici in formazione specialistica S.It.I.) has always been engaged in monitoring activities on public health teaching, guaranteeing the homogeneity of educational proposals among all national Schools in Public Health. The purpose of this study is to provide a 'snapshot' of public health education and training in Italy and to identify the improvement actions needed for implementing an innovative and homogeneous public health training. A cross-sectional study was carried out over a period of three months (March to May 2013). A self-administered questionnaire was e-mailed to local Committee's delegates of all 32 postgraduate medical Schools in Public Health in Italy. The questionnaire was structured in four sections: general information, University education and training, extra-University training, interdisciplinary activities. The majority of local Committee's delegates have agreed to be enrolled in the survey. A total of 28 questionnaires were returned (88% response rate). The number of residents in each Italian School in Public Health ranged from 7 to 31. The distribution of professors in relation to residents is not similar for each University Schools. The ratio professors/residents spanning from 0.2 to 2. About teaching, only 4 University Schools offered all courses requested by Ministerial Decree 285/2005. Most of them offered at least 75% of the requested courses, but there were Schools in which the courses were less than 50%. The vast majority of schools held more than 60% of the qualifying activities considered essential according to the Decree, while 2 Schools were below 50%. All Schools required an internship of 6-12 months in local health authority offices (ASL), mainly concerning the Department of Prevention activities. In all Schools a period of stay in a Hospital Medical Direction was scheduled, while professional activities at Residential care homes were very rarely included in training programmes. Many Schools allowed residents to attend companies with biological hazard or to follow similar activities in dedicated services of ASL. Finally, in the majority of Schools, a training period in various local (Service for Water Control), regional (Departments) or national (Ministry, National Institute of Health) health facilities was contemplated and, in some cases, also in other Universities or Research Institutes. Although the Ministerial Decree indicates the essential milestones of the public health education, flexibility is seen as an important element in order to optimize resources and contextualize the adequate education of residents. In any case, at least regarding public health courses, the majority of University education and extra-University training activities should be carried out by all Schools. In order to obtain shared knowledge and skills, the Ministerial Decree should be revised taking into account flexibility and changing as intrinsic characteristics of public health profession and learners should be involved in the reform to strengthening the role of public health teaching.

Background: To effectively train future leaders, undergraduate public health programs must prepare students to address challenges with cross-cultural competence and a global perspective. Study abroad programming represents a high impact practice that can be applied to any number of areas and topics within the field of public health. Infusing global learning into undergraduate curriculum, increases confidence in serving culturally diverse populations and aligns with multiple public health accreditation standards. Unfortunately, barriers often prevent integration of this high impact practice into program curriculum. This manuscript provides strategies to integrate diverse study abroad programming into public health curriculum and mitigate common barriers for students and faculty.Methods: Faculty from the University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health (COPH) used three strategies to improve access to global learning:Adding public health courses to established study abroad programsUtilizing academic travel companiesLeveraging existing international and university partnerships.Results: A diverse array of public health-focused study abroad programs resulted from these strategies. Starting with just 12 students in the first program, the number of undergraduate participants in short-term, faculty lead courses grew to 164 students over the span of 4 academic years. This represents a 275% increase in undergraduate students participating in public health-focused study abroad courses, and a 160% increase in the percentage of public health majors participating in study abroad coursework. The primary barriers of cost, curriculum, and academic culture were addressed throughout development of each new program.Conclusions: Infusing study abroad programs into the public health curriculum provides students with diverse opportunities to gain the skills they will need as public health practitioners. The design and implementation of the strategies that were used to successfully integrate global learning into one public health program's curriculum can help inform other schools and programs of public health on ways to increase student utilization of this high-impact practice.