We can't do it alone: The process of creating Continuing Education opportunities through collaboration of university and government agencies of the public health workforce

The Public Health arena is continuously attempting to address the multifaceted health issues facing our communities. The requirements of our workforce are constantly changing and expanding, necessitating the skills and abilities to respond to these complex problems and continuously changing technologies. While increasing external constraints and limitations are placed upon our public health workforce, the need to expand upon the skills and competencies possessed by these personnel are mandated by national accrediting agencies. Accredited MPH Programs situated outside Schools of Public Health are required to provide continuing education to the public health community; however, they are confronted by the constraints of resources, university constraints upon continuing education procedures, geography, and time. Local health departments provide a significant amount of direct staff training, but also have limited financial and staff resources for providing continuing education. Additionally, they typically do not address the skill-building needs of public health workers outside of their departments. To meet these challenges, two universities teamed with local health agencies on a collaborative pilot project to increase educational opportunities for public health workers throughout California. We will describe a university/community collaborative model for delivering continuing education programs to facilitate workforce training. This pilot project is using an innovative distance education technology that overcomes limited institutional resources at both the university and local health agency. This presentation will discuss the process, benefits and challenges of collaboration between the university and government health agencies.