Ensuring the competency of future public health professionals: Understanding the balance between the human factor with the practical application of skills using Photovoice

Humans learn by associating new stimulus with their conscious and subconscious record of experiences. Students in public health are introduced to a number of skills which they must reconcile with their previous knowledge and practice. This is especially important for students who will work in cross cultural, global settings. As part of a curriculum integrating knowledge and tools with classroom and real-world application activities, global health students exercised use of common public health tools such as focus groups, key-informant interviews, skin-fold tests, 24-hour recall surveys, food frequency questionnaires, and many others. In addition to reflecting on how assessment may feel to those who are being assessed, students were asked to assess the perception of health as it related to the mission of the school, which is “to make man whole”. Photovoice was used to record their experience with each tool as well as observations and emotions encountered while practicing its use. By reflecting on the validity and practicality of each tool, students were then able to associate the realities of human interaction and emotion with each tool's use. A central theme identified involved the progressive nature of health and its influence on how we as public health professionals approach research and the community. Through the use of Photovoice, students were able to establish the connection between logical thought processes involved with application of a tool, the human reaction to applying and participating in the exercise, and explore a balanced outcome between acquiring useful data and building relationships based on trust.