Untapped Resources: Exploring the Need to Invest in Doctor of Public Health–Degree Training and Leadership Development

Abstract

As stated in the Institute of Medicine report Who Will Keep the Public Healthy? the doctor of public health (DrPH) degree is offered for advanced training in public health leadership.1 The Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) classifies the DrPH as a professional degree, as opposed to the more academic, research-oriented PhD degree.2 As a professional degree, the DrPH is oriented toward practice (i.e., the strategic, interdisciplinary application of knowledge and skills necessary to execute the public health core functions of assessment, policy development, and assurance3) in public health settings, including community, state, federal, and international agencies.2 These descriptions of the DrPH degree are consistent with those presented on the Web sites of the 23 of 38 ASPH-accredited schools of public health that offer the degree.4 Based on these widely endorsed descriptions of the DrPH degree, it is appropriate to recognize it as the highest professional degree in public health. Unfortunately, despite the degree’s significance, there is currently no national competency model for DrPH training. In addition, the fieldwide leadership role of DrPH practitioners is relatively undefined. Incomplete and inefficient treatment, combined with the collapse of public health systems in Abkhazia, have helped create strains of bacilli that are resistant to antituberculosis drugs. Used with permission of Aurora Photos. Copyright by Serge Sibert/Cosmos/Aurora.