Abstract
RIEGELMAN AND PERSILY propose revising the core curriculum in schools of public health to include applied research and technology.1 The skills they stress are core competencies that are increasingly required of public health practitioners as well as researchers. The concepts Riegelman and Persily present have more than 30 years' historical support.1–3 Their position is further strengthened by the technologic revolution of the past decade. At present, relatively low-cost and powerful personal computers (PCs) and PC-based statistical research packages may be used to access databases from private, state, and federal agencies.4–6 These databases include health care encounters at the patient level and individual responses to national surveys of, for example, nutrition and health. Census data are readily available on the Internet, albeit in formats that require training to use and interpret meaningfully.
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