Expanding the Curriculum in a School of Public Health.

Evan J Jordan,Nir Menachemi,Sarah J Young

doi:10.3389/fpubh.2021.700638

Abstract

Public health education has long been concentrated in a core set of public health disciplines such as epidemiology, biostatistics, and environmental health. Despite leaps forward in our understanding of the myriad influences on public health, little has changed in the organization of our educational systems. One issue brought to the forefront of public consciousness by the COVID-19 pandemic is the importance of leisure experiences, such as nature walks, to mental and physical well-being. In this descriptive best practice article, we discuss our approach to expanding the notion of a school of public health and provide examples of how disciplines and subjects outside of the “norms” of public health education, including leisure studies, can help better prepare students for their future in the field. Leisure studies is just one of many subject areas that can add value to public health pedagogy, and we envision many other subject areas and departments integrating into schools of public health in the future.

Highlights

It is recognized that in order to be maximally effective, public health scientists and practitioners must engage in greater multidisciplinary work with each other and with experts from outside disciplines not traditionally considered as core knowledge areas of public health [1]
An examination of departments contained within US schools of public health suggests that most institutions are organized under department names most closely aligned with the traditional disciplines of epidemiology, health behavior, health administration, environmental health, and biostatistics
Recent data suggests that doctoral students training in these disciplines rarely receive interdisciplinary experiences as part of their research activities; and when they do, it is typically between two public health disciplines rather than between a public health disciplines and a different scientific field [2]

Summary

INTRODUCTION

It is recognized that in order to be maximally effective, public health scientists and practitioners must engage in greater multidisciplinary work with each other and with experts from outside disciplines not traditionally considered as core knowledge areas of public health [1]. All current and future public health challenges (e.g., pandemic response, obesity, infant mortality, disparities, substance use disorders, health effects of climate change) require multidisciplinary partnerships to improve the understanding and ability to intervene successfully in assuring the health of populations In support of this need, almost all federal, quasi-governmental, and private funders of public health work have made explicit calls for more multidisciplinary research and practice. By addressing patients’ unmet information and communication needs, and/or by addressing desires expressed by patients (e.g., to have some control over their physical environment within the hospital) health care systems in Louisiana and California have demonstrated the benefits to many stakeholders that could be accomplished with interdisciplinary work In all of these cases, diverse experts with training in, for lack of a better term, “leisure” disciplines (including parks, recreation, hospitality, tourism, and events) worked closely with public health researchers and practitioners in a way that models the mindset and skillset needed by the future public health workforce.

A ROADMAP FOR INCLUSION

What concepts do we need to focus on for our new department to be successful?

CONCLUSION

DATA AVAILABILITY STATEMENT