Recommendations for Undergraduate Public Health Education

8/10/2019 Recommendations for Undergraduate Public Health Education

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Public Health101

Epidemiology101

Global Health101

Recommendations for UndergraduatePublic Health Education

Richard K. Riegelman and Susan Albertine

October 2008


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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION | i

Contents1 Review and Recommendations 1

2 Undergraduate Public Health Education Core Courses 4

Principles for Design of Core Courses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Enduring Understandings, Curriculum Frameworks, Learning Outcomes . . . . . . 5

3 Public Health 101 6

Public Health 101: Enduring Understandings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Public Health 101: Curriculum Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Public Health 101: Learning Outcomes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

4 Epidemiology 101 9

Epidemiology 101: Enduring Understandings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Epidemiology 101: Curriculum Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10

Epidemiology 101: Learning Outcomes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

5 Global Health 101 12

Global Health 101: Enduring Understandings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Global Health 101: Curriculum Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13

Global Health 101: Learning Outcomes. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

6 Minors and other Coherent Curricula 16

7 Undergraduate Public Health Resources 20


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ii | Association for Prevention Teaching and Research | Association of American Colleges and Universities

These recommendaons were developed as part of the Faculty Development Program of the

Associaon for Prevenon Teaching and Research (APTR) and the Associaon of American

Colleges and Universies (AAC&U), funded through the APTR-CDC Cooperave Agreement. The

recommendaons are not ocial recommendaons of APTR or AAC&U.

The recommendaons draw heavily on The Educated Cizen and Public Health: A Consensus Report onPublic Health and Undergraduate Educaon published by the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences

through the APTR-CDC Cooperave Agreement (www.ccas.net). Feedback on dra recommendaons

was sought as part of version 1, 2, and 3 of the Curriculum Guide for Undergraduate Public Health

Educaon. A PDF version of the full Curriculum Guide is available at www.teachpublichealth.org and

www.aacu.org.

This document is in the public domain and available for copying and distribuon electronically.

Address comments to Richard K. Riegelman ([email protected] ) and Susan Alberne (alberne@

aacu.org).


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RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION | 1

1

Review andRecommendations

In 2003, the Instute of Medicine (IOM) of the Naonal Academies concluded that keeping the public healthy

required not only a well-educated public health workforce but also an educated cizenry. It therefore

recommended that all undergraduates should have access to educaon in public health.1

In November 2006 a Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Educaon developed a

set of implementaon recommendaons. The Consensus Conference was convened by the Associaon

for Prevenon Teaching and Research (APTR) Healthy People Curriculum Task Force, which includes

representaves of seven health-professions educaonal associaons. The conference was co-spnsored by

Council of Colleges or Arts and Sciences (CCAS) and the Associaon of Schools of Public Health (ASPH). Thefull report of the Consensus Conference is available at www.ccas.net under publicaons. Parcipants in the

Consensus Conference, which included the Associaon of Schools of Public Health and the Council of Colleges

of Arts and Sciences, agreed on the following basic principles:

The aim and raonale for an integrave undergraduate public health program within general

and liberal educaon is to develop an educated cizenry.

Introductory public health courses should be designed to fulll the essenal learning

outcomes of Liberal Educaon and Americas Promise (LEAP), the signature campaign of

AAC&U.

Introductory public health courses should be designed to fulll general educaon

requirements. Minors in public health or global health should build intenonally on

introductory/core curricula.

Both arts and sciences and public health should share in fostering and developing an educated cizenry. Such

cizens should be able to recognize the spectrum of global health challenges and exercise intellectual and

praccal skills in response. As LEAP recommends, well-educated cizens ought to be prepared to accept

personal and social responsibility and demonstrate capacity to synthesize, integrate, and apply their learning.

The elds of public health oer intrinsically interesng subjects of study while enabling students to address

vital social issues and to do so with an awareness of world context. An integrave, intenonally designed study

of public health should thus promote engagement with democracy.

The LEAP essenal learning outcomes follow in box 1. Achievement of these learning outcomes can be iniated

through the recommended core curriculum outlined in this guide. Experienal learning acvies, such as

service-learning, are readily integrated into and, ideally, scaolded through the curriculum in public health.

Public health may be integrated into general and liberal educaon in a number of ways. These include

development of integrave courses focused on a parcular issue, such as HIV-AIDS or tobacco control, that

draw on mulple disciplines. An integrave muldisciplinary curriculum incorporang elements of the

1 Gebbie K, Rosenstock L, Hernandez LM. Who will keep the public healthy? Educang public health professionals for the 21st

century. Washington DC: Naonal Academy Press, 2003: 144.


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2 | Association for Prevention Teaching and Research | Association of American Colleges and Universities

sciences, social sciences, and humanies may also be eecve.

The approach outlined in these recommendaons focuses on the development of three core courses, each of

which is designed to fulll general educaon requirements. All three of the following courses could be taken as

part of general educaon and could form the core curriculum for a minor in public health.

The three courses that are outlined in detail in these recommendaons are:

Public Health 101

An introductory overview course designed to fulll a social science requirement, perhaps integrated into the

humanies, advancing both intellectual and praccal skills and embracing civic learning and applicaon.

Epidemiology 101

An introductory course illustrang the scienc method and designed to fulll a science requirement, including

the opon for an epidemiology laboratory, integrang such skills as quantave thinking, inquiry and

analysis, and teamwork.

Global Health 101

An introductory course focused on applying public health principles in developing as well as developedcountries, designed to fulll a global studies integrave requirement, perhaps incorporang service and

research.

Public health praconers as well as faculty from clinical disciplines that apply public health principles, such as

nursing, may be eager to collaborate in order to expose students to the world of public health pracce.

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2

Undergraduate Public HealthEducation Core Courses

Principles for Design of Core Courses

Three core public health courses are recommended for all colleges and universies. These courses should be

designed in an intenonal and integrave way to sasfy each instuons general educaon program and thus

contribute to the overall liberal educaon experience. The core courses are:

Public Health 101

Epidemiology 101

Global Health 101

These three courses are intended to be organized so that a student can take all three. Each may be designed

to be taken without prerequisites. The design assumes a modest degree of overlap, which will require careful

coordinaon. For instance basic principles of epidemiology are included in Public Health 101 and repeated in

Epidemiology 101 as well as Global Health 101. This plan is consistent with a need to understand these concepts as

central to an evidence-based public health or populaon health approach, which should underlie all three courses.

This evidence-based approach to public health has four components:

Problemidenfy the problem

Causeidenfy risk factors or if possible, contributory causes

Recommendaonsconsider evidence-based recommendaons for potenal intervenons tocontrol or eliminate the problem

Implementaondevelop a strategy for pung one or more intervenons into pracce and

evaluang the outcomes

All three core courses are designed to prepare students for the LEAP outcome of life-long learning. As such the

courses should teach students how to frame quesons, analyze underlying causes, brainstorm soluons, and

crically analyze the methods for implementaon. An evidence-based public health or populaon health approach

can help students to achieve all of these objecves. An extended example of the populaon health approach, with

links to an array of Internet resources, is available at www.teachpublichealth.org under resources.

These three courses should be designed to fulll general educaon requirements. For instance, if a college or

university requires a social science, science, and/or global course credit or equivalent experience within generaleducaon, either the set of courses or individual courses may be applicable.

For instuons with integrave general educaon programs, these courses may be designed to oer excellent

cross-cung public health examples. For instance HIV-AIDS might be a topic for a cross-cung, inter- or mul-

disciplinary course involving biology, psychology, anthropology, polical science, sociology, etc. Tobacco control

might engage history, humanies, stascs, and visual arts as well as many of the above disciplines. There are

many more examples from Avian u, to tradional healing, to the impacts of modern technology.

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These courses are intended for undergraduates and not as substutes for graduate courses, although they may

enable students to enter more rigorous graduate-level courses. They are designed to be part of general educaon

and to fulll LEAP learning outcomes.

The Consensus Conference outlined a series of specic recommendaons for Epidemiology 101 that highlight the

uniquely undergraduate focus that is intended. Epidemiology 101 should be designed to encourage students to see

epidemiology as a way of thinking and a way of learning generalizable principles of the scienc method.

To achieve these aims the Consensus Conference recommended the following:

Epidemiology 101 should be conceptual rather than technical so that the underlying methods are

apparent to a broad range of students. For example, the course might employ stracaon rather

than regression methods to illustrate adjustment for confounding, because the emphasis is on

acve engagement and ensuring an intuive and clear understanding of key principles.

Epidemiology 101 should stress learning outcomes that are part of the broader LEAP aims of

general and liberal educaon, including ethical reasoningsuch as the ethical expectaons

of randomized clinical trials, teamwork for problem solving, integraon of learning, and skills

for lifelong learning. These goals are compable with and may be integrated with the LEAP

outcomes of understanding scienc methods, crical thinking, and quantave and informaon

literacy.

Epidemiology 101 should use examples not limited to tradional health and medicine, again as

recommended by LEAP learning outcomes and principles of excellence. Cause and eect might

be illustrated by examples from biology or economics. Quantave decision-making may use

examples ranging from forensics to environmental monitoring. The specic examples are less

important than the emphasis on illustraons reinforcing the broad applicability of epidemiology

from basic science to public policy.

Enduring Understandings, Curriculum Frameworks, Learning Outcomes

The following materials serve as the basis for the Undergraduate Public Health Faculty Development Programsponsored by APTR and AAC&U. The materials on Public Health 101 and Epidemiology 101 presented here

originated largely from the Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Educaon. The Epidemiology

101 materials draw heavily on the work of the Robert Wood Johnson Young Epidemiology Scholars (YES) program.

Global Health 101 has been added, based on the clear interest of colleges and universies that have parcipated

in the faculty development program. Addional modicaons are expected based on the connuing feedback

received on versions of the curriculum guide.

The following materials are provided to assist faculty in developing each of the core courses.

Enduring Understandings: These are key principles that should become a part of the long- term

understanding of all those who complete the course. Each secon contains 10 key principles

intended to remain part of the thinking of graduates many years aer graduaon. Enduring

understandings should be the starng point for backwards design of curriculum.Curriculum Framework with Commentary: Outlines with explanaons providing structures for

core courses. These may serve as the basis for development of syllabi.

Learning Outcomes: Outcomes of courses that can serve as the basis for student assessment,

coordinaon of curriculum, and evaluaon of courses. Learning outcomes were designed using

Blooms Taxonomy. Basic and advanced learning outcomes are provided for Public Health 101,

Epidemiology 101, and Global Health 101.


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3Public Health 101

Public Health 101: Enduring Understandings

The history, philosophy, and literature of public health reect broader social inuences and movements that

inuence our view of health.

Public health represents a populaon perspecve on health as well as evidence-based methods used by health

professionals and instuons to dene and address our mutual concerns as a society as well as the needs of

vulnerable groups within our society.

The public health approach includes eorts to dene the problem, establish the cause, develop evidence-based recommendaons for intervenons, and implement and evaluate the impact of strategies for addressing

the problem. Epidemiology serves as the basic science of public health by providing evidence for dening the

public health problem, assessing causaon, and evaluang eecveness of potenal intervenons.

Opons for intervenon can be analyzed using a framework including when (primary, secondary, and terary),

who (individual, at-risk group, general populaon), and how (educaon, movaon, obligaon, invenon) to

intervene.

Laws and regulaons are widely used tools for implemenng health policies; they require careful analysis and

development to achieve their intended purpose(s).

Public health communicaons and informacs can be eecve tools for inuencing health behavior,communicang informaon on risk, and communicang evidence-based public health recommendaons.

Methods for changing health behavior require the complementary approaches of public health, clinical care,

and social intervenons including use of health communicaons methods.

Understanding health care and public health systems domescally and globally requires appreciaon of the

roles of health professionals; the roles and regulaon of service delivery instuons; nancing mechanisms and

incenve systems for the funding of services; and the quality, access to, and costs of health services.

Increasingly the predominant impact on mortality and morbidity is from chronic mental and physical condions

reecng the epidemiological and demographic transions occurring as countries experience social and

economic change. Screening for early detecon of disease and social as well as medical management of chronicdiseases is needed to respond to changing paerns of morbidity and mortality.

Control of communicable diseases, environmental health, and prevenon and management of disasters are

central to the health of populaons; public health methods are key to prevenon and control.

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Public Health 101: Curriculum Framework

Overview and Basic Principles

Context and scope of public health, including history, philosophy, literature, essenal services, ethics, and

applicaons to current eventsPublic health placed in historical and modern perspecve.

Public health as cross-cung and systemacInterdisciplinary concepts introduced early and integrated

throughout the course (e.g., examining the opons for intervenons to address public health concerns).

Epidemiologic principles and populaon perspecveRates, risk factors, and health status indicators of

morbidity and mortality; disease determinants, causaon, and types of epidemiologic research; plus public

health surveillance and vital stascs.

Populaon Health Tools

Health communicaon and informacsAccessing and evaluang the quality of health informaon and

data in the mass media, including the Internet.

Health and social and behavioral sciencesImpact on health and methods for altering behaviors at the

individual and populaon levels.

Health policy, law, and ethicsTools for implemenng health decisions including potenal tensions

between individual rights and social responsibilies.

Morbidity and Mortality: Determinants, Burdens, and Intervenons

Non-communicable diseasesEects on longevity and quality of life plus methods to prevent, detect,

cure, and minimize impact. Concepts of societys epidemiological and demographic transions.

Communicable diseasesPrevenon, detecon, and control from a populaon perspecve.

Environmental health and injuryCurrent and potenal impacts on of health status and strategies for

control.

Health-Care and Public Health Systems

Health workforceProfessional roles and career opons within the health care and public health

workforce.

Organizaon of health care and public health systemsInstuons and structures of health care

and public health systems, both naonal and internaonal; the disnct roles and complementaryresponsibilies of health care and public health systems.

Costs, quality, and access to health-care and public health servicesFinancing of health care and public

health services and eorts to control costs; meanings and measurement of quality, and impacts of

inadequate access.

Special Public Health Educaon Focus Areas

Health disparies and vulnerable populaonsOverview of public healths commitment to vulnerable

populaons, including maternal and child care, aging, persons with disabilies, and socioeconomically

disadvantaged populaons.

Public health preparedness and disaster managementEssenal roles of public health in preparedness for

and response to disasters and to polical and civil upheaval.

Public Health 101: Learning Outcomes

Basic Learning Outcomes

Idenfy eras in the historical development of public health and ways that public health emerges in literature

and the arts, current events, and everyones daily life.

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Illustrate the interdisciplinary, cross-cung, or ecological character of public health and the contribuons of a range

of disciplines and professions to improving health.

Explain the basic principles of epidemiology, including rates, risk factors, disease determinants, causaon, and

public health surveillance.

Explain how public health assesses the opons for intervenon to improve the health of a populaon.

Explain how public health can ulize health informaon and health communicaons to improve the health of

populaons.

Explain how public health can ulize social and behavioral intervenons to improve the health of populaons.

Explain how public health can ulize health policy and law to improve the health of populaons.

Explain the impact of the environment and communicable diseases on the health of populaons.

Explain the burden of chronic diseases on morbidity and mortality and approaches to prevenon, early detecon,

and disease management.

Describe the basic organizaon of health care and public health systems and the contribuons of health

professionals.

Idenfy the basic payment mechanisms for providing health services and the basic insurance mechanisms for

paying for health services.

Idenfy criteria for evaluang health systems including issues of access, quality, and cost.

Idenfy the roles of public health in addressing the needs of vulnerable populaons and health disparies.

Idenfy the roles of public health in disaster prevenon and management.

Advanced Learning Outcomes

Apply the public health approachproblem, cause, intervenon and implementaonto a new public health

problem.

Apply principles of health communicaons and informacs to evaluate the quality of health informaon on the

Internet and in the mass media.

Analyze the advantages and disadvantages of potenal intervenons.

Apply principles for evaluang the quality of an exisng health delivery system to that of a dierent health delivery

system.

Analyze the determinants of morbidity and mortality in a new situaon.

Analyze the degree of success in implemenng essenal public health services in a new situaon.

Synthesize the principles and tools of public health as applied to a new public health problem.

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4Epidemiology 101

Epidemiology 101: Enduring Understandings

The causes of disease are discoverable by systemacally idenfying their paerns in populaons, formulang

hypotheses, and tesng those hypotheses using group and individual comparisons. These methods lie at the

core of the science of epidemiology, the basic science of public health.

Health and disease are not distributed randomly. There are paerns to their occurrence. These paerns can

be idened through public health surveillance, looking for paerns based on person, place, and me. Analysis

of these paerns can help formulate hypotheses about the possible causes of health and disease.

Hypotheses can be tested by comparing the frequency of disease in selected groups of people with and

without an exposure to determine if the exposure and the disease are associated.

One possible explanaon for nding an associaon is that the exposure causes the outcome. Because studies

are complicated by factors not controlled by the observer, other explanaons also must be considered,

including chance and bias.

When an exposure is hypothesized to have a benecial eect, studies known as randomized clinical trials may

at mes be designed in which parcipants are randomly assigned to study and control groups. Those in the

study group are then exposed to the hypothesized cause and their outcomes are compared to those in the

control group.

When an exposure is hypothesized to have a detrimental eect, it is not ethical to intenonally expose a group

of people. Randomized clinical trials and community trials may be used to provide evidence for ecacy of

potenal intervenons to reduce the risk.

Judgments about whether an exposure causes a disease are developed by examining a body of epidemiologic

evidence as well as evidence from other scienc disciplines. While a given exposure may be necessary to

cause an outcome, the presence of a single factor is seldom sucient. Most outcomes are caused by mulple

factors including genec make-up, behaviors, social, economic, and cultural factors, availability of healthcare

and the physical environment.

Individual and societal health-related decisions about intervenons to improve health and prevent disease

are based on more than scienc evidence. Social, economic, ethical, environmental, cultural, and polical

factors may also be considered in implementaon decisions. The eecveness of a health-related strategy can

be evaluated by comparing the frequency of the outcome in carefully selected groups of people who were and

were not exposed to the strategy. Costs, trade-os of harms and benets, and alternave soluons must also

be considered in evaluang the strategy.

Principles of tesng and screening based on Bayes theorem lie at the core of disease diagnosis and screening

for disease and have applicaons to a range of social decision-making in security, forensics, quality control

eorts, etc.

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An understanding of non-health related phenomena can be also be developed through epidemiologic thinking,

by idenfying their paerns in populaons, formulang causal hypotheses, and tesng those hypotheses by

making group and individual comparisons.

Epidemiology 101: Curriculum Framework

History, Philosophy, and Uses of Epidemiology

Historical contribuons and modern uses of epidemiologyDevelopment of epidemiologic thinking and

placement of epidemiology in historical and modern perspecve.

Ethics and philosophy of epidemiologyAppreciaon of the links between epidemiology and broader

ethical and philosophic tradions and concerns.

Descripve Epidemiology

Condion, frequency, and severityThe basic tools of epidemiologic analysis, including case denions

and populaons, incidence, prevalence, and case-fatality rates.

Using data to describe disease and injuriesVital stascs, public health surveillance, and measures of

health status, including methods for describing quantavely the natural/clinical history, frequency, andchanges in communicable diseases, non-communicable disease, and injuries.

Paerns of disease and injuriesApplicaon of the basic tools of epidemiology to generate hypotheses

based upon person, place, and me; changes and dierences in rates; exposures; incubaon periods; and

disease spread.

Associaon and Causaon

EsmaonMeasures of the strength of associaon, graphical display of data, and measures of risk,

relave risk, aributable risk, and populaon impact.

InferenceConcepts of stascal signicance and condence intervals.

Bias, confounding, and adjustmentIdencaon of bias, confounding, and eect modicaon/

interacon and methods to prevent and take into account their impact.

CausaonPrinciples of contributory cause based upon evidence of associaon, the cause precedes theeect and altering the cause alters the eect.

Analyc Epidemiology

Basic epidemiologic study designs and their applicaons to populaon health including: ecologic or

populaon comparison, cross-seconal, case-control, and retrospecve and prospecve cohort.

Experimental studiesRandomized clinical trials and community trials and their applicaons to

understanding disease or injury eology and the benets and harms of intervenon.

Evidence-Based Public Health

Harm, benet, and cost analysesEvidence-based recommendaons regarding benets, harms, and cost-

eecveness of intervenons.Intervenon eecvenessEvidence-based evaluaon of degree of success of intervenons.

Applicaons to Policy and Basic and Clinical Sciences

Outbreak invesgaon, tesng, and screeningApplicaon of epidemiologic methods to basic and clinical

sciences.

Public health policyApplicaon of results from invesgaons and analyses to policymaking.

Special epidemiologic applicaonsMolecular and genec epidemiology, environmental health and

safety, unintenonal injury and violence prevenon, and behavioral sciences.

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Epidemiology 101: Learning Outcomes


Describe the historical roots of epidemiologic thinking and their contribuon to the evoluon of the scienc

method.

Explain how ethical principles aect epidemiologic research.

Use rates and proporons to express numerically the amount and distribuon of health- and non health-

related outcomes.

Use the distribuon of a health-related outcome in groups to generate hypotheses that might provide a causal

explanaon.

Explain basic stascal and epidemiologic concepts of esmaon, inference, and adjustment to establish

associaon.

Explain how to use evidence of an associaon to make a judgment about whether an associaon is causal using

the principles of contributory cause.

Describe the basic epidemiologic study designs that are used to test hypotheses, idenfy associaons, and

establish causaon.

Describe the concepts of measurement of test performance and be able to apply the concepts of tesng and

screening in dierent sengs.

Apply the concepts of benets, harms, and cost to a public health decision.

Describe the broad applicability of epidemiologic methods to clinical and basic science as well as public policy.


Analyze the evidence for and against a recommendaon for intervenon.

Analyze a public health problem (e.g., invesgaon of a disease outbreak).

Synthesize epidemiological methods to assess the strengths and weaknesses of asserons in the scienc

literature and popular press.

Evaluate the design of an epidemiologic invesgaon, demonstrang the ability to reconcile scienc validity

and ethical sensivity.

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5Global Health 101

Global Health 101: Enduring Understandings

There are strong links between health and economic and social development. This health and development link

is especially important in economically developing sociees but also applies to developed countries.

Health status is determined by factors including socioeconomic status; pracce of healthy behaviors; biology

including gender, the physical environment; and access to quality health services. When measuring and

comparing health status it is important that morbidity be considered along with mortality.

There has been enormous progress in improving health status over the last 50 years in many countries.

Progress is reected in the substanal increases in life-expectancy. Some of this progress has come about

as a result of overall economic development and improvements in income. However, much of it is due to

improvements in water supply/ sanitaon and beer educaon. Increased nutrional status has also had a

large impact on improvements in health status. Technical progress such as the development of vaccines against

childhood diseases and the development of anbiocs has also improved human health.

The progress in health status, however, has been very uneven. Hundreds of millions of people, especially

poorer people in low- and middle-income countries, connue to get sick, be disabled by, or die from

preventable causes of disease. In many countries, nutrional status and health status of lower-income people

have improved only slowly and may decline as illustrated by the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Enormous disparies in health status and access to health services exist both within and across countries.

Wealthier people oen have beer health status and beer access to health services than poorer people. In

general, urban dwellers and ethnic majories enjoy beer health status than rural people and disadvantaged

ethnic minories. Women face a number of unique challenges to their health.

As countries develop economically they go through two important transions. The rst is the demographic

transion, a shi from high ferlity and high mortality to low ferlity and low mortality. The second is a

shi from a paern of disease that is predominantly characterized by communicable diseases to one that is

characterized predominantly by non-communicable diseases. It increasingly appears that countries also go

through a nutrion transion, from unprocessed and locally prepared foods, relavely low in sugar, salt, and

fats to manufactured and processed foods, relavely high in sugar, salt, and fats.

Countries do not need to be high-income to enjoy good health status. There are a number of examples

that make clear that low-income countries or low-income areas within countries can help their people to

achieve good health, even in the absence of extensive nancial resources to invest in health. However, this

achievement requires strong polical will and a focus on sanitaon, educaon, and low-cost but high yielding

investments in nutrion and health.

Many important contributors to the burden of disease can be addressed through intervenons that are

cost-eecve. Many of these are low cost as well, such as control of TB or prevenon, early diagnosis and

treatment of malaria.

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innovave approaches to health problems and disseminaon of innovaon.

Global Instuons and Global CooperaonCollaboraons for improving health including mul-naonal,

bilateral and non-governmental organizaons (NGOs), foundaons, and public-private partnerships.

Global Health 101: Learning Outcomes


Describe key public health concepts related to global health, including: demographic and epidemiological

transions, measures of health status, and the burden of disease.

Describe how globalizaon has changed the paerns of the spread of disease and the methods needed to

control disease.

Discuss the mul-direconal links between health and social and economic factors.

Discuss how social and cultural factors can aect a societys vulnerability to morbidity and mortality and itsapproaches to prevenon and control.

Idenfy health condions that have a major impact on morbidity and mortality and key biological concepts

needed to understand their public health importance.

Idenfy crical issues in the organizaon and delivery of public health and health care services and methods to

address these issues.

Discuss the determinants of health and risk factors for condions of major importance to global health.

Discuss the burden of disease in various regions of the world and the variaons in incidence and prevalence

both within and across countries.

Discuss the potenal for science and technology to contribute to improvement in health.

Idenfy key organizaons and instuons, their roles in global health, and the manner in which they can

cooperate to address key global health issues.

Apply principles of cost-eecveness, benets and harms, and sustainability of a new intervenon designed to

improve global health.

Apply understandings of the impact of culture on health to address issues of cultural diversity.


Analyze the epidemiological features of a disease that provide opportunies for successful intervenons or

present barriers to success.

Analyze the biological features of a disease that provide opportunies for successful intervenons or present

barriers to success.

c.

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Analyze the socioeconomic features of a disease that provide opportunies for successful intervenons or

present barrier to success.

Synthesize the opons for intervenon for a global health problem and develop a strategy for implementaon.

3.

4.


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6

Minorsand other Coherent Curricula

The Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Educaon agreed to encourage the development

of minors in public health based on the structure outlined in Box 2. This framework aims to build on a coherent

interdisciplinary core and provide choices for students based on the strengths of parcular instuons. Instuons

were encouraged to modify this design to include inter- and muldisciplinary approaches that meet their

instuonal goals.

Parcipants at the consensus conference strongly encouraged colleges and universies to integrate service-learning

and other types of experienal learning throughout the curriculum. Such vercal integraon is a feature of LEAP

designs. Just as LEAP recommends that general educaon be integrated throughout the undergraduate years inan intenonal program, the vercal integraon of a minor program may likewise work toward general educaon

outcomes as it addresses the essenal learning outcomes of a liberal educaon as a whole.

To strengthen the quality and experse of experienal learning in public health elds, conferees agreed that

instuons should engage community-based public health praconers in service-learning as well as other

acvies of undergraduate public health educaon. Colleges of Nursing, many of which are co-located with arts

and sciences instuons, should be sought as partners in developing undergraduate public health educaon.

Collaboraon between undergraduate arts and sciences instuons and instuons that include graduate level

public health as well as other health sciences also held out promise to conferees.

Instuons may choose to develop undergraduate public health educaon beyond general educaon using

a variety of structures. In developing these opons the Associaon of Schools of Public Healths EducaonCommiee has made advisory recommendaons as follows:

The Associaon of Schools of Public Health Educaon Commiee encourages colleges and universies without

an accredited School or Program in Public Health to establish introductory undergraduate public health curricula

based on the following principles:

Develop core courses such as Public Health 101, Epidemiology 101, and Global Health 101 based

on the ASPH Task Force on Undergraduate Public Healths Statement on Recommended Content for an

Introductory Undergraduate Public Health Course and the recommendaons of the Consensus Conference on

Undergraduate Public Health Educaon.

Encourage development of well-designed academic minors that build on core curricula, include elecve publichealth courses that take advantage of instuonal strengths, and provide opons for experienal learning as

recommended by the Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Educaon.

Instuons without accredited Schools or Programs in Public Health should ensure adequate depth and

breadth of faculty and nancial resources and/or work with an accredited School or Program in Public Health

before pursuing an academic major in public health.

The sample learning outcomes/competencies are designed to be achieved as part of a comprehensive

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Box 2: Generic Structure for a Minor in Public Health

Required Interdisciplinary CorePublic Health 101

Epidemiology 101

Global Health 101

Selectives or Electives *Discipline-specic or interdisciplinary courses determined by the instuon and the

student

Departmental or inter-departmental public health related courses based on the

interests and strengths of each instuon

Experiential Learning- Health Related Activities

Service-learning

Capstone or synthesis project

Structured research and/or study abroad

* Examples of selecve courses include: Health Behavior (Psychology); Biostascs (Mathemacs or Stascs); Health

Policy & Law(Polical Science, Sociology); Environmental Health (Environmental Sciences, Biology); Biology for PublicHealth/ Infecous Disease (Biology, Biochemistry, Microbiology, or other biological sciences); Health Economics

(Economics). Examples of interdisciplinary courses: Organizaonal Theory and Public Health Pracce (Sociology,

Psychology, Management); Womens Health (Womens and Gender Studies, Ethnic and Cultural Studies, English,

Sociology); Addicon Studies (Biopsychology, Neuroscience); Environmental Policy and Jusce (Polical Science

and other social sciences); Health Communicaon (Communicaon Studies, Journalism); Health and Development

(Economics, Geography, Anthropology); Health and Internaonal Human Rights (Philosophy, History, Sociology,

Polical Science); Sexuality Studies (Psychology, Anthropology, Womans Studies, the Humanies).


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undergraduate generalist degree program.* Minor or cercate programs may wish to select from these

competencies/learning outcomes based on the curricula included in their minor or cercate program.

Explain the populaon health perspecve and the methods used by public health to dene and address

populaon-wide/social concerns and the needs of vulnerable populaons through the provision of essenal

services.

Apply opons for intervenon frameworks including when (primary, secondary, and terary), who (individual,

at-risk group, general populaon), and how (educaon, movaon, obligaon, invenon) to intervene.

Explain principles of epidemiology necessary to understand health and impairments of health including

the uses of rates, the meaning of causaon, and the evaluaon of the eecveness of intervenons. Apply

principles of epidemiology to assigned reading of research arcles, including case-control, cohort studies, and

randomized clinical trials.

Explain from a global perspecve the burden of disease, social-economic determinants of health, the links

between health and development, and approaches to global cooperaon to monitor, promote, and protect

health.

Describe biological principles needed to understand public health issues across the life span and apply these

principles to public health intervenons to eliminate, prevent, and control disease and to minimize their impact

on health.

Explain the use of clinical intervenons for assessing, protecng, and improving health and prevenng,

detecng, curing, and minimizing the impact of disease.

Explain the way biological, environmental, and social/cultural factors interact in disease producon and

understand how these inuences can impact prevenon strategies. Describe historical examples of the

changing denions of public health in a variety of cultures and mes, including major scienc advancements

and achievements that have had a signicant impact on the advancement of public health. Compare and

contrast response to public health issues in dierent mes and cultures.

Describe the current U.S. public health and health care delivery systems; explain structures for and approaches

to development of health policies; apply knowledge of the U.S. public health and health care delivery systems

to current policy debates; and apply principles for conducng a health policy analysis.

Explain the range of social and behavioral theories applicable to health behavior and apply these theories to

intervenons addressing a variety of health impairing condions, populaons, and intervenon contexts.

Explain the impacts of the physical environment on health and use these explanaons to understand human

acons that alter, detect, and/or minimize these impacts.

Describe and explain the impact of management theory, nance, and economics as applied to managing in thehealth services and public health eld.

Synthesize interdisciplinary approaches to the analysis of the determinants of health and disease as well as

intervenons to eliminate or control diseases and other health impairing condions.

*Adopted from competencies for the Public Health Major at George Washington School of Public Health and Health

Services

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2.

3.

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The recommendaons included here are intended to guide instuons and individual faculty who are designing

and implemenng courses and/or coherent, programmac curricula in undergraduate public health. Modicaons

and addional recommendaons will be needed in the future as undergraduate public health educaon connues

to evolve. Issues that will need to be addressed in the future include:

Arculaon of undergraduate and graduate public health educaon.

The role of undergraduate public health educaon as preparaon for medical and other health

professions educaon.The role of community based service-learning locally and globally in the development of

undergraduate public health educaon.


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7

Undergraduate Public Health

ResourcesConsensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Education ReportThe essenal ndings of the Consensus Conference on Undergraduate Public Health Educaon were published in

the CDCs Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report on October 19, 2007. They are available at www.cdc.gov/mmwr.

The full report of the Consensus Conference is available through the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences at

www.ccas.netunder publicaons.

Association for Prevention Teaching and ResearchThe Associaon for Prevenon Teaching and Research (APTR) has developed the web site www.teachpublichealth.

org as a resource for all those interested in undergraduate public health. The site includes the full curriculum guide,

resource materials, informaon on meengs, and an electronic mailing list.

The Prevenon Educaon Resource Center (PERC) www.teachprevenon.orgis developed by APTR and is a

repository of educaonal materials related to prevenon and populaon health. PERC is a searchable web site that

also posts undergraduate public health educaon materials and links to organizaons supporng integrave study

and pracce, such as Community-Campus Partnerships for Health, hp://depts.washington.edu/ccph . Materials

posted will be quality-reviewed as well as reviewed by users. Educators are encouraged to submit a wide range

of materials including sample syllabi, reading lists, and student assessment materials. All those who teach public

health are encouraged to submit their materials and allow them to be shared by others.

Association of American Colleges and Universities

The Associaon of American Colleges and Universies (AAC&U) web site at www.aacu.orgpresents informaon

on the Educated Cizen and Public Health. The project is linked to AAC&Us Liberal Educaon and Americas

Promise (LEAP) campaign. The AAC&U website provides links to the full curriculum guide as well as relevant AAC&U

publicaons.

Association of Schools of Public HealthThe Associaon of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) has developed the web site: This is Public Health, www.

thisispublichealth.org. This web site includes recommended readings and lms and provides links to addional

informaon.

ASPH has also developed the Pathways to Public Health web site, www.pathwaystopublichealth.org , lisng

curricular descripons of undergraduate programs at instuons with schools of public health and programs in

public health as well as at instuons without graduate public health educaon.

Centers for Disease Control and PreventionThe web site of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevenon (CDC) www.cdc.govpublishes a large number of

materials that are useful in teaching.

Specic educaonal materials include the Excite materials, www.cdc.gov/excite, developed for K-12 but useful as


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an introducon to epidemiology at the undergraduate level.

A CDC-sponsored project on the eradicaon of small pox, hp://gde.emory.edu/smallpox, contains a wide range of

case materials.

The case studies of CDCs Epidemiology Intelligence Service (EIS), www.cdc.gov/eis/casestudies/casestudies.htm ,

have been used by generaons of graduate students and praconers to provide training using realisc examples

of the work of epidemiologists. The case studies connue to be updated and new cases produced. Many of the

cases can be used at the undergraduate level or modied to meet the needs of undergraduates.

American Association of Colleges of NursingColleges of Nursing are located on campuses of over 500 colleges and universies without graduate public health

educaon. Bachelors of Nursing degree programs as well as Masters of Nursing degree programs require a

community health/public health curriculum. Colleges of Nursing oen have experse and community networks in

community health/public health that may contribute to the development of undergraduate public health educaon

At the naonal level the American Associaon of Colleges of Nursing (AACN), www.aacn.nche.edu, has encouraged

undergraduate public health by featuring panel discussions and distribuon of materials updang their members

on naonal eorts in undergraduate public health.

American Public Health AssociationThe American Public Health Associaon (APHA) is a naonal organizaon represenng over 50,000 public health

professionals. In addion to its long standing naonal eorts in public health, APHA has State Aliates who are

acve at the state and local levels. The Commiee of Aliates (CoA) is the APHA component that represents

the State Aliates, visit www.apha.org/membergroups/states/StateRegPHA to link with your local Aliate. The

CoA has encouraged the Aliates and their members to work with local colleges and universies to support

undergraduate public educaon. Visit www.apha.org/membergroups/states to obtain informaon on APHAs

eorts to support their Aliates.


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About the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research

1001 Connecticut Avenue, NWSuite 208Washington, DC 20036202.463.0550

www.aptrweb.org

The Associaon for Prevenon Teaching and Research (APTR) is the professional organizaon for the academic medical

and public health community dedicated to prevenon research and interprofessional educaon. APTR members

include health professionals, faculty and students from academic departments within medical and health professions

schools, public heath graduate programs, health agencies, and schools of public health.

APTR advances populaon-based and public health educaon, research and service by linking and supporng members

from across the academic prevenon community. By advancing interprofessional educaon and prevenon research

we aim to redene how we educate the health professions workforce. APTR develops curriculum, professional

development programs, and tools for its membership of educators, researchers, residents and students.

By connecng public, private and government funding opportunies with the academic prevenon community we bringtogether individuals and instuons devoted to health promoon and disease prevenon educaon and research. We

also represent the accredited and emerging graduate programs across the U.S. that grant public health degrees and

therefore prepare students for professional careers in public health.

About the Association of American Colleges and Universities

1818 R Street, NWWashington, DC 20009202.387.3760www.aacu.org

AAC&U is the leading naonal associaon concerned with the quality, vitality, and public standing of undergraduate

liberal educaon. Its members are commied to extending the advantage of a liberal educaon to all students,

regardless of their academic specializaon or intended career. Founded in 1915 by college presidents, AAC&U now

represents the enre spectrum of American colleges and universieslarge and small, public and private, two-year and

four-year. AAC&U comprises more than 1,150 accredited colleges and universies that collecvely educate more than

ve million students every year. The mission of the Associaon of American Colleges and Universies is to make the

aims of liberal learning a vigorous and constant inuence on instuonal purpose and educaonal pracce in higher

educaon.

Through its publicaons, meengs, public advocacy, and programs, AAC&U provides a powerful voice for liberal

educaon. AAC&U works to reinforce the commitment to liberal educaon at both the naonal and the local level and

to help individual colleges and universies keep the quality of student learning at the core of their work as they evolveto meet new economic and social challenges. With a ninety-year history and naonal stature, AAC&U is an inuenal

catalyst for educaonal improvement and reform.


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