Demonstrating Mastery of Competencies through Practical Application in Introductory Master of Public Health Courses: A Case Study

Schools of Public Health (SPH) are guided by competency-based education (CBE), where competencies are dictated by the needs of employers and the profession to ensure that students are prepared for careers in public health.  To effectively engage in CBE, curricula should not only provide knowledge but also opportunities for practical application. Incorporating opportunities for practical application is a challenge in first-semester introductory classes where students represent a range of knowledge and experiences and faculty are faced with increasing class size.  An introductory course at Boston University SPH (BUSPH) was redesigned to maximize practical application, replacing the final exam with a group-based, semester-long culminating case study.  This required course teaches MPH students how to apply basic principles, theories, research findings, and methods of the social and behavioral sciences to inform program planning and evaluation.  Students, working in multi-disciplinary groups, were presented problem statements from agencies in Boston, and synthesized the concepts learned throughout the semester into a comprehensive final presentation.  Students presented their innovative, theory- and evidence-based proposal for future funding to a representative from one of the agencies (the “Commissioner”) as well as a faculty member familiar with the competencies of the course.  Students received a grade from the Commissioner, faculty, and Teaching Assistant on the presentation, and feedback from their peers on measures of collaboration and group work.  Feedback on the process and outcomes of the culminating case study from the student, faculty, and Commissioner perspectives offer lessons learned for large introductory MPH courses wanting to implement practice-based assessments.