New Issue of the American Journal of Public Health Addresses Advances in Public Health Education

A new issue of the 'American Journal of Public Health' explores improvements and innovations that could lead to advances in the field of public health education. It compiles recommendations and commentary on public health practice, school curriculum, professional development and the role of faculty and public health careers in the advancement of public health education. There are topics including global health, public health competencies and innovations in the field and address all levels of public health education, including master level programs, doctoral programs and joint discipline programs. Expert commentary, analysis and research comprise the journal supplement developed to engage in conversation about the need for reformation in public health education.

Linda Fried, MD, MPH, of Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, and George Thibault, MD, of the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation in the issue's editor's choice paper, wrote, "Schools throughout the world have taken up this challenge. And as the collection of articles in this supplement demonstrates, there is no one-size-fits-all panacea. Innovation, as it should, has taken many forms in response to the needs of individual schools and their constituencies. Reinventing public health education for the 21st century."

Howard Koh, former Assistant Secretary for Health at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, wrote, "Public health requires a deep and authentic commitment to team-based approaches. Our field requires a profound understanding that we are all interdependent and interconnected and we all have promises to keep. The future of public health education: Preparing leaders."

Papers in the issue also address methods to develop collaboration and synergy between other fields of study, approaches and disciplines, such as 'Bridging graduate education in public health and the liberal arts' and 'Public health education for the 21st century at the University of Florida- Synergism between organizational capability and educational innovation'.

Authors wrote, "Gone are the days, if they ever really existed, where public health professionals could work in the siloes of their various disciplines. In collaboration with our colleagues from other health disciplines, we must lead health systems to focus on prevention and health across the life course and actively participate in redesigning those systems to promote prevention and evaluate impact."

Source: Medindia