Re-Visioning the Nation's Public Health Training System

Our nation relies on an estimated 500,000 tribal, federal, state and local public health practitioners to provide diverse services that prevent and control disease, ensure safe and healthy environments, and promote healthy behaviors. Most of the public health workforce does not have formal public health training, yet they are expected to master new approaches to deliver high quality services and continue to meet community expectations.  

To effectively deliver essential public health functions, new and innovative ways to provide training and education are required. In response to this need, in September 2014, the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), re-designed its Public Health Training Center (PHTC) model to serve a modern public health workforce. Originally established in 1999, the PHTC Program builds the technical, scientific, managerial and leadership competencies and capabilities of the current and future public health workforce. Under the re-designed program, rather than providing multiple separate awards to PHTCs across the country, HRSA laid the groundwork for a nationally-coordinated training model by providing $8,250,000 in grants to support ten regional PHTCs. The PHTCs coordinate with local performance sites within each state in their region to ensure broad coverage across all 50 states, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and six US territories. The full network is supported by a new National Coordinating Center for Public Health Training (NCCPHT), led by the National Network of Public Health Institutes (NNPHI). Authorized under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), PHTCs have a pivotal role in improving the nation’s public health system by offering easily accessible training that will strengthen the current and future public health workforce. Each of the ten training centers has been designated a  core area of focus, which includes topic areas such as public health preparedness, health information technology, infectious diseases, environmental public health, chronic conditions, social determinants of health, and nutrition. In order to reach a national audience, an emphasis is placed on developing distance-based learning opportunities.

Participants in this session will learn about the new public health training delivery model, including what resources and services are available in your area to support training and workforce development. One of the ten training centers will share about their development, services, and lessons learned in building workforce capacity via distance-based learning modalities.