Development and use of the biostatistics MPH competencies

The MPH Core Competency Project was initiated in 2004, directed by staff and consultants of the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH). The purpose of the project was to identify a set of competencies that every MPH graduate should possess in the five core disciplines, plus public health biology, and a set of interdisciplinary cross-cutting areas. One of the core areas was biostatistics. The author of this paper chaired the Biostatistics Competency Workgroup, made up of academicians and practitioners, and many members of the APHA Statistics Section served on one of the workgroups in the three-round Delphi process used to focus the competencies. The process used for the biostatistics competencies involved the collection of candidate competencies from workgroup members. The chair and one of the workgroup members organized the set of candidate competencies into a set of 30 competencies. These were submitted for the first round of the Delphi where workgroup members were asked to rate each competency as accept, accept with changes, reject, or consider an alternative. Fourteen competencies remained after the first round and these were winnowed down to nine after the third round. After review by a second workgroup, one additional one was added resulting in the final group of ten competencies. This paper reports on the process used, workgroup membership, the final set of ten biostatistics competencies, and the likely use of these competencies in curriculum development, CEPH accreditation, and inclusion in the certification test being developed by the National Board of Public Health Examiners.