Oral

During the past decade there has been an increased emphasis on including public health courses in the undergraduate curriculum for all students. Recommendations supporting the inclusion of these courses have been presented by the Institutes of Medicine (2003), and in a joint report from the Association of American Colleges and Universities and the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (2006). In the past several years, the Council on Education for Public Health began accrediting undergraduate public health degree programs as part of graduate accreditation; and more recently began exploring the potential for undergraduate public health in all types of higher education institutions. Questions have been raised how this movement in undergraduate public health majors might impact administrative support for the future of community health education majors. The purpose of this panel session is to present the rationale for offering public health courses to undergraduate students as part of the LEAP initiative; explore the new undergraduate learning outcomes developed by the Association of Schools of Public Health; the benefits of these efforts for both students and university health education departments/programs; and the perspective of the Council for Education in Public Health related to these efforts.

CE Credits: Medical (CME), Health Education (CHES), Nursing (CNE), Public Health (CPH) , Masters Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES)