Making the Case for a Standardized Health Education Curriculum in Accredited Public Health Institutions

California Code stipulates that “A health educator hold a master's degree with specialization in public or community health education.” Master's degrees with a health education focus are not always referred to as such, complicating determining a candidate's eligibility to apply for Los Angeles County health education positions. In response, Health Education Administration (HEA), Los Angeles County's central health education unit, assessed the status of health education within California's eleven Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accredited schools/programs. An instrument was developed to conduct a standardized review of each institution's health education track website. This review revealed: (1) All but one of the eleven institutions has a health education track; (2) The track titles are not consistently “public or community health education” and; (3) The core curricula for the health education tracks vary. The variation in track titles complicates ascertaining whether candidates' specialization complies with California Code. Furthermore, a track name does not guarantee candidates possess a basic health education skill set since a standardized health education curriculum is lacking. A quality assurance mechanism, such as a standard health education track curriculum based on The National Commission on Health Education Credentialing's “7 Areas of Responsibility,” would assure health educators enter the workforce with comparable skill sets while clarifying ambiguities within California Code. Implementing this recommendation would require identifying both a standardized curriculum and a process to assure its consistent use across all CEPH accredited schools.