Richard Riegelman, MD, PhD, Professor of Epidemiology-Biostatistics, Medicine and Health Policy & Founding Dean, School of Public Health and Health Services, The George Washington University
Brenda Kirkwood, MPH, DrPH candidate in Health Behavior, School of Public Health and Health Services, The George Washington University
With an expanding scope and a diminishing supply of well-trained workers, the field of public health continues to look for innovative ways to equip its workforce with the knowledge and skills to protect the population’s health. A resource exhibiting potential to contribute to the training needs of the public health workforce lies within two year, or community, colleges, and is worthy of further exploration.
Nearly 12 million students, of which 36 percent are minorities, are currently enrolled in the approximate 1,200 community colleges across the country. Like public health, their focus is on the community – offering an accessible and affordable education to all who seek it.
In addition to introducing public health concepts to a new, diverse audience wishing to either enter directly into the workforce or to continue on for additional study, community colleges can provide training to those already working in public health. In particular, public health associate degree and certificate programs may assist in developing the skills of public health workers as set forth in the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals, with a particular emphasis on the Tier 1 competencies, preparing entry-level public health professionals to identify, describe and apply the core public health concepts in protecting and promoting the community’s health.
There is growing recognition among public health audiences of the untapped potential within community colleges. A new Healthy People 2020 objective provides leverage to put this interest into action. The objective reads:
Increase the proportion of 2 year colleges that offer public health or related associate degrees and/or certificate programs.
To assist in providing curricular guidance on the content of these programs, prototype degree and certificate programs have been drafted based on identified public health workforce needs, and ability to provide career ladders through articulation with 4-year institutions and, to the extent possible, with graduate education. Four specialist prototype programs are proposed to address specific public health workforce needs in: environmental health, public health preparedness, public health informatics, and pre-health education. Descriptions of these programs were recently included in an
article of the Community College Journal. In addition, a generalist option is also being considered and intended for students interested in transferring to public health and related majors and minors at 4-year institutions.
An article providing additional information on the potential role of community colleges in addressing public health workforce needs appears in the February 2011 theme issue of the American Journal of Preventive Medicine, focused on Healthy People 2020: Education for Health. The article can be accessed
here.
Active involvement of the public health practice community is needed to identify the specific workforce needs in which community colleges can fulfill. So, how can community colleges best serve the public health workforce?
Please share with us your comments and ideas on ways to ensure the prototype public health degree and certificate programs align with the Core Competencies and address workforce needs. Leave a comment below or send an e-mail to Brenda Kirkwood at:
bak@gwmail.gwu.edu.
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