Valuing teaching in academic public health—time for a culture shift

Lisa M Sullivan,Sandro Galea

doi:10.1016/s2468-2667(21)00113-4

Abstract

There is a near universality to the mission of all leading schools and programmes of public health, to improve health for all through high-quality education, research, and public health practice. For most leading academic public health schools and programmes, research and teaching share space as the predominant drivers of the financial wellbeing of institutions. And yet, despite the prominence of teaching in the day-to-day realities of many academic institutions, we have paid much less attention to the role of teaching in our academic ecosystem compared with the attention we pay to research.

Highlights

There is a near universality to the mission of all leading schools and programmes of public health, to improve health for all through high-quality education, research, and public health practice
The full range of institutional function was affected by the pandemic, in many ways research operations were affected far less than educational programming
Faculty and staff engaged in population health science were, generally, able to adapt to different work environments, continue research collaborations virtually, and continue to produce scholarship, much of it contributing to our understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic

Summary

Introduction

There is a near universality to the mission of all leading schools and programmes of public health, to improve health for all through high-quality education, research, and public health practice. The COVID-19 pandemic perhaps showed us the importance of teaching for academic public health institutions as never before. Colleges and universities around the world spent the better part of the past year determining how to continue their operations.

Results

Conclusion