Recommendations for undergraduate public health education

Undergraduate public health competencies or leaning outcome for core curriculum such as “Public Health 101”, “Epidemiology 101” and “Global Health 101” have been developed as part of the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR)- Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) Faculty Development Program supported through the CDC-APTR Cooperative Agreement. Recommendations for undergraduate public health education are being disseminated to colleges and universities as part of the Educated Citizen and Public Health Initiative. Enduring Understandings, representing concepts that students should carry away and incorporate into future learning, have also been developed for each of these curricula as well as curricular frameworks that may serve as the basis for structuring courses. Recommendations for core courses and minors in public health encourage integrative learning building upon public health's inherently interdisciplinary approaches. The recommendations also encourage experiential community-based learning such as service learning as an essential part of undergraduate public health education. Undergraduate public health learning objectives are not designed to substitute for graduate competencies but rather to introduce all students to public health as part of being an educated citizen who understands and supports public health interventions. Public health practitioners are encouraged to participate in undergraduate public health education both in the classroom and in the community. The APHA Affiliates have begun to pilot “Connecting with the Colleges” programs to connect public health practitioners with community colleges and four-year institutions. The recommendations for undergraduate public health education will be presented and examples of methods for implementation will be discussed.