Public Health Course Research Articles

Pharmacy students' attitudes toward a required public health course and developing a public health program.

To determine pharmacy students' attitudes towards a required public health course and developing a public health program. Two hundred ten first-year pharmacy students enrolled in a public health course at a large private pharmacy school were surveyed. A 24-item adjective rating scale and a 10-item scale were used to measure students' attitudes towards the course and developing a public health program. Of 198 respondents, two-thirds found the course to be extremely or very appealing, of practical value, and only slightly demanding and difficult. The majority of the students indicated that establishing a public health program would be an opportunity to help the community and make a difference. Few students indicated that it would be a poor use of time or an example of busy work. Pharmacy students had positive attitudes towards a required public health course and developing a public health program. Strategies to mold positive attitudes into actual behaviors of engaging in public health activities are needed.

Canadian Medical Students’ Perceptions of Public Health Education in the Undergraduate Medical Curriculum

To understand the perceptions and attitudes of Canadian medical students toward their undergraduate medical public health curriculum and to identify student suggestions and priorities for curriculum change. Five focus groups of 11 or 12 medical students from all years of medical school were recruited at McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences, Université de Sherbrooke Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Toronto Faculty of Medicine, University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine, and University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine between February and April 2006. A professional facilitator was hired to conduct the focus groups using a unique, computer-based facilitation system. Questions in both the focus group and an accompanying survey sought to determine medical students' understanding and exposure to public health and how this impacted their attitudes and choices toward careers in the public health medical specialty of community medicine. The transcripts were independently reviewed and analyzed by each of the authors to identify themes. Four major themes related to students' desired curriculum change were identified: (1) poor educational experiences in public health courses, (2) lack of positive role models, especially exposure to community medicine specialists, (3) emphasis on statistics and epidemiology, and (4) negative attitudes toward public health topics. Students are disillusioned, disengaged, and disappointed with the public health curriculum currently being provided at the Canadian medical schools studied. Many medical students would prefer a public health curriculum that is more challenging and has more applied field experience and exposure to public health physician role models.

Preparedness and Disaster Response Training for Veterinary Students: Literature Review and Description of the North Carolina State University Credentialed Veterinary Responder Program

The nation's veterinary colleges lack the curricula necessary to meet veterinary demands for animal/public health and emergency preparedness. To this end, the authors report a literature review summarizing training programs within human/veterinary medicine. In addition, the authors describe new competency-based Veterinary Credential Responder training at North Carolina State University College of Veterinary Medicine (NCSU CVM). From an evaluation of 257 PubMed-derived articles relating to veterinary/medical disaster training, 14 fulfilled all inclusion requirements (nine were veterinary oriented; five came from human medical programs). Few offered ideas on the core competencies required to produce disaster-planning and response professionals. The lack of published literature in this area points to a need for more formal discussion and research on core competencies. Non-veterinary articles emphasized learning objectives, commonly listing an incident command system, the National Incident Management System, teamwork, communications, and critical event management/problem solving. These learning objectives were accomplished either through short-course formats or via their integration into a larger curriculum. Formal disaster training in veterinary medicine mostly occurs within existing public health courses. Much of the literature focuses on changing academia to meet current and future needs in public/animal health disaster-preparedness and careers. The NCSU CVM program, in collaboration with North Carolina Department of Agriculture and Consumer Service, Emergency Programs and University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Public Health, operates as a stand-alone third-year two-week core-curriculum training program that combines lecture, online, experiential, and group exercises to meet entry-level federal credentialing requirements. The authors report here its content, outcomes, and future development plans.

“Edutainment” in South Africa: a force for change in health

South Africa’s Soul City Institute has become a force for social change with diverse interventions reaching more than 80% of South Africa’s population of some 45 million people. Now the institute is partnering with the University of the Witwatersrand’s School of Public Health, to set up the country’s first division offering courses in public health, social and behaviour change communication.

A maggoty scalp

[Extract] To the Editor: A 4-year-old girl presented with a flyblown scalp to a district aid post outside Madang, Papua New Guinea (PNG). Coincidentally, we were present at the aid post in our capacity as students and lecturers in the tropical paediatrics module of the James Cook University Masters in Public Health and Tropical Medicine course. The child was otherwise healthy, and her scalp had been normal until about 2 days previously, when her mother noticed two developing sores. These had deteriorated into circular, foul-smelling ulcers about 1.5 cm in diameter and 2 cm apart on the crown of her head (Box, A), in which live maggots could be seen squirming.

Prepare, plan, practice

Prepare, plan, practice

The Dental Pipeline Program's Impact on Access Disparities and Student Diversity

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, N.J., the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, Battle Creek, Mich., and The California Endowment, Los Angeles, collaborated in funding a five-year (2002-2007) national demonstration program (Pipeline, Profession & Practice: Community-Based Dental Education [Dental Pipeline]) to reduce dental care access disparities. Fifteen dental schools were selected to participate in the Dental Pipeline program. The goals were to have senior students spend more time in community sites providing care to underserved patients; to prepare students to treat diverse, low-income patients; and to increase enrollment of underrepresented minority (URM) students. A national program office at Columbia University in New York City administered the Dental Pipeline program. The participating dental schools developed networks of community clinics and practices for student rotations, established courses in cultural competency and public health and implemented new programs to recruit URM students. The average time senior students spent in community clinics and practices increased from 10 to 50 days; all schools developed courses in cultural competency and public health; and enrollment of UMR students increased 54.4 percent (excluding two of the schools) versus 16 percent in non-Dental Pipeline schools. On average, the participating dental schools were successful in meeting program goals.

Utilizing Public Health Clinics for Service‐Learning Rotations in Dental Hygiene: A Four‐Year Retrospective Study

National reports outlining disparities in oral health care in the United States have focused attention on ways to encourage health care providers to become more involved in the public health arena. Utilization of service-learning in professional health education programs is one method being explored. The purpose of this study was to conduct a retrospective review of a service-learning rotation within a dental hygiene public health course. The study utilized data sources generated by students as part of a course evaluation. These sources included student journals (qualitative/quantitative) and Likert-scaled (quantitative) and open-ended (qualitative) student satisfaction survey items. Mixed methodology data analysis techniques were used to analyze and triangulate data in order to form conclusions related to the effectiveness of service-learning as a teaching strategy in dental hygiene. This investigation suggests that service-learning is an effective learning strategy for increasing student awareness of underserved populations, cultural diversity, and ethical patient care. The study also suggests that service-learning helped students to determine their level of interest in public health as a career choice by giving them a real-world experience in public health patient care.

Graduação em Saúde Coletiva: subsídios para um debate necessário

Undergraduate education and degrees in Public Health have been debated for more than 15 years in Brazil. Such proposals have already been implemented in various parts of Europe and North America, but there is still no close correlation among the projects currently operating in the Brazilian context. In Brazil, this initiative was initially associated with the accumulated institutional experience of teaching Public Health as a subject in different undergraduate health courses, enriched by the tradition in graduate studies (both stricto sensu, or Master’s and PhD courses, and lato sensu, such as Executive Master’s courses). International experiences with similar courses, recommendations from the document on Essential Public Health Functions published by the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO), and curricular guidelines for undergraduate courses also provide important substance for developing these proposals. In addition, it is important to recall the emergence of the debate on the expansion of the supply of higher education in Brazil, and as a development, the country’s efforts at social inclusion, phenomena that have given undeniable impetus to the movement to expand enrolment and create new undergraduate courses. The Unified National Health System (SUS) also places demands on Public Health as a field. The National Health System needs graduates in Public Health with a professional profile qualifying them as strategic actors and with a specific identity not guaranteed by other available undergraduate courses. Thus, far from displacing other members of the health team, this new actor becomes an organic member of the Public Health professional field. Despite this proposal’s institutionalization within the supply of undergraduate courses in numerous universities, it still raises controversies and challenges. The discussions waged in the development of this undergraduate education include a whole range of issues that remain unresolved, including the training model, the degrees or titles granted to graduates, and the work market. However, regardless of adherence to the proposal for an undergraduate course in Public Health, there appears to be consensus that it is indispensable to train professionals using an interdisciplinary approach, without neglecting elements from the biomedical model, linking to knowledge from the human and social sciences, thus shifting from an eminently individual focus to the collective domain. We know how difficult it is to work with an absolutely unprecedented proposal, as in this case, given Brazil’s pioneering position in the implementation of such education in the so-called Third World, especially if one considers the need to guarantee the basic material and subjective conditions, ranging from securing resources from the state to the need for minimum consensuses for a national project – a democratic construction that is now challenging Public Health, as occurred at many other moments in the field’s history. When various institutions find themselves at the stage of defining profiles and organizing curricula, receiving the first students, it is necessary to promote the debate and gather contributions at the epistemological, social/health, and ethical/political levels. Such elements should result in a process of permanent reflection, contributing to the dialogue between different sectors involved in the project, so as to achieve a national proposal that combines the expansion of higher education with commitments by the Brazilian health movement. We firmly believe that the public policy results will confirm the proposal’s relevance and aims.

Using Blogs and Wikis in a Graduate Public Health Course

Blogs and wikis are examples of Web 2.0 technology that facilitate collaboration in the online world. In the health sciences, the emergence of these social tools potentially increases the risk of generating harmful or biased information. Therefore, it is the health professional's responsibility to have the skills to critically appraise Web content that has not undergone traditional peer review. This was the focus in a three-credit graduate Urban Public Health course taught by a librarian and was addressed with assignments using blog and wiki technology within the course management tool Blackboard. The assignments fostered comprehension of the issues surrounding blogs and wikis as they relate to public health.

Academic community medicine in 21 st century: Challenges and opportunities

Academic community medicine in 21^st century: Challenges and opportunities

The Schism Between Medical and Public Health Education: A Historical Perspective

The separation of "medicine" and "public health" in academic institutions limits the potential synergies that an integrated educational model could offer. The roots of this separation are deeply imbedded in history. During the past two centuries, there have been repeated efforts to integrate public health education into the core training of physicians, usually in response to a perceived short-term crisis, and without widespread, lasting success. The cost of additional public health instruction and the "overcrowding" of the medical curriculum have been cited as obstacles for creating an integrated medical/public health curriculum for more than a century. Several thoughtful and prescient proposals for integration were developed at a conference convened by the Rockefeller Foundation in the early 20th century, but not all were implemented. Today, there is growing recognition of the considerable value afforded by the integration of medicine and public health education. Many schools have responded to a national call for a renewed relationship between medicine and public health by increasing the availability of MD/MPH programs and/or by incorporating one or more public health courses into the basic medical curriculum. A few schools have created more substantial and innovative changes. Review and consideration of the history and politics of past efforts may serve as a guide for the development of successful new approaches to creating a clinical workforce that incorporates the principles of both clinical medicine and public health.

Utilisation et qualité des sites présentant l'offre de formations en santé publique

The objective of this work was to study the use of the Internet and the quality of the websites for postgraduate public health courses in France, and to compare them with equivalent courses in the United States of America. Between June 2004 and January 2005, the authorized public health diplomas proposed in France and in the United States were inventoried and listed, and then all websites of these public health diplomas were systematically visited and reviewed using a standardized questionnaire. In France, 36 public health courses (7 post graduate diplomas [DEA], 13 Masters degrees [DESS] and 16 masters of public health [MPH]) were identified and selected from 53 websites. Information on student profiles, prerequisite skills, the courses' curricula and program descriptions and the potential career opportunities were more frequently available for the MPH compared to the DEA and DESS. In United States, 66 MPH and 127 Master of Science in Public Health (MSPH) programs were accredited. The target public and validation methods were more often indicated on the American sites, while the prerequisite skills were more frequently found on the French sites. The recent implementation of the LMD (Bachelor's-Masters-Doctoral degrees) education system in France has encouraged the utilisation of Internet as an information and communications tool for the presentation and marketing of these new diplomas.

A Global Oral Health Course: Isn't It Time?

This article examines current global oral health initiatives to underserved dental populations and assesses the level of familiarity with these initiatives among dental students. The World Health Organization (WHO)'s basic package of oral care (BPOC) is described, as well as successes and difficulties in global oral health initiatives. A survey was conducted of third-year dental students at a North American dental school to determine their familiarity with global oral health initiatives set out by the WHO and the World Dental Federation (FDI). The majority of the surveyed students (87 percent) expressed interest in volunteering their professional services in international settings. However, none of the surveyed students knew about the BPOC or the FDI's role in global oral health. The findings indicate that predoctoral dental public health courses in dental schools ought to include a course on global oral health to expose students to global oral health issues and equip them with interventions like the BPOC so they can provide better care to globally underserved dental populations.

Essential Public Health: Theory and Practice

Essential Public Health is ideally placed be added booklists of undergraduate and introductory postgraduate public health courses. It has a table of Contents, List of contributors, a Foreword by Professor JohnDaneshfromtheUniversityofCambridge,� a� second Foreword by Tony Jewell - Wales' Chief Health Officer, Acknowledgements, an Introduction, two main Parts, 17 Chapters, an epilogue, a Glossary and a comprehensive Index. Essential Public Health is presented as an 18.5 x 24.5 x 1.5 cm paperback publication, which could easily fit in the briefcase or student's backpack. The textbook has a simple but attractive coloured cover. The back cover gives brief details of the book and of the editors. The stated primary aim of the textbook is to capture both the art and science in the field. The stated target audience is those training in health care, social care and related disciplines such as environmental health. However, the book will appeal all academic

Milton I. Roemer Advocate of Social Medicine, International Health, and National Health Insurance

Milton I. Roemer Advocate of Social Medicine, International Health, and National Health Insurance

The Oldest Old: Missed Public Health Opportunities

The fastest growing segment of our population is the “oldest old,” usually defined as those 85 years and older. In 2005, this group numbered more than 5 million persons, or about 1.7% of the US population, a 40% increase since 1990. Because the oldest old carry a greater burden of disease and disability, they account for a substantial proportion of health care spending, with total annual per capita health care costs of $25691. A higher proportion of health care spending in this population is partially attributable to long-term services—most notably, nursing home care. As our population ages, substantial concerns have been expressed regarding the future ability of the health care system to provide needed care. Much of this analysis, however, has failed to consider the potential impact of public health strategies to promote health and reduce disability among the old and very old in our population. There is promising evidence that rates of disability and functional dependence among older persons have been decreasing over the last 2 decades, and continue to fall. In this issue of the Journal, Murabito et al. provide data from the Framingham study to show a significant decline in disability among community-dwelling elders from the 1970s to the 1990s. Unfortunately, there are important missed public health opportunities to improve the health and function of older populations. Vaccination for influenza is provided to less than 75% of older persons, and even fewer (60%) have ever received a pneumococcal vaccine. Promotion of healthy behaviors is also crucial. The Type II Diabetes Prevention Trial demonstrated that older persons were able to follow diet and exercise regimens, and that these behavior changes resulted in significant success in prevention of type II diabetes. However, despite the fact that physical activity is associated with important health outcomes at all ages, physical activity declines with age. Only 1 in 5 persons aged 45–64 years engages in vigorous physical activity, and this drops to about 1 in 20 for those over the age of 75 years. To achieve the potential of improved health among the oldest old, as a society we would do well to work together to (1) change public perceptions regarding the benefits of promoting health among older persons, (2) encourage elders to engage in healthier behaviors, (3) improve the practices of health providers, (4) stimulate health departments and service agencies to provide health promotion services, and (5) include public health and aging in education of public health professionals. Despite the importance of improving health behaviors across the life span to achieve optimal health and function in old age, a recent survey of schools of public health reported that fewer than 6% of students participated in a public health and aging course. Moreover, the majority of schools lack a comprehensive and integrated curriculum that adequately addresses health issues in the aging. We have the opportunity to do better for our older population and for ourselves as we age. My 93-year-old grandmother illustrated this perfectly. As she showed us around her senior housing, she pointed out the congregate meals site that she visited on Tuesdays and Thursdays. When I asked if she enjoyed the meals, she pulled herself up to her full 4 feet, 10 inches to indignantly declare that she did not go to eat, but to “help serve the old people.”

Undergraduate occupational health nursing education in Turkey: a national survey

Occupational health nursing practice responds to and is influenced by the changing needs of the worker and workplace. Correspondingly, the International Labour Organization's recommendation on occupational health services includes a proposal for specialized training of occupational health nurses (OHNs). It was not known what OH nursing topics were covered and in how many hours at schools offering undergraduate nursing education in Turkey. These data were necessary to prepare the curriculum to train OHNs. A national survey to evaluate undergraduate OH nursing education in nursing schools in Turkey. This descriptive survey included all of the nursing schools (n = 80) providing university level education in Turkey. A questionnaire developed by the researchers as a data-gathering tool was sent to the presidents of 80 nursing schools. The study achieved a response rate of 60 (82.5%). Frequency distribution and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the data. Occupational health nursing topics were covered in public health courses at all schools. The length of time allotted for OH nursing topics was only on average of 3.2 +/- 1.5 h (range: 1-6 h) in each semester. A total of 62 lecturers were responsible for teaching OH nursing. The study results show that there is a need for the development of a standardized education programme in Turkey. It was decided therefore to develop a new curriculum for OH nursing that would address the amount of time spent on this subject and the content.

Exploring the foundations of population health and preventive medicine as essential elements for veterinary education

The evolution of preventive medicine and public health training in professional veterinary medicine curricula is documented. Most veterinary colleges in the US began with a single course in meat hygiene or public health, with a focus on food hygiene issues. These courses laid the foundation for modern veterinary preventive medicine and public health training for veterinary students. Most graduates of veterinary colleges today have extensive training in population health, preventive medicine, and zoonotic diseases.

Improving the Public Health Workforce

An evidence-based public health (EBPH) course was developed in 1997 by the Prevention Research Center at Saint Louis University School of Public Health to train the public health workforce to enhance dissemination of EBPH in their public health practice. An on-line evaluation of the course was conducted among participants who attended the course from 2001 to 2004 to determine the impact the course had on the implementation of EBPH within their Respective public health agencies (n = 107). The majority of these individuals were program directors, managers, or coordinators working in state health departments. Results from the evaluation Revealed that 90 percent of participants indicated that the course helped them make more informed decisions in the workplace. Respondents identified improvement in their ability to communicate with their coworkers and Read Reports. When asked to identify potential barriers, participants specified that time constraints were the biggest impediment to using EBPH skills in the workplace. These data suggest the importance of professional training opportunities in EBPH for public health practitioners. Future endeavors should focus on overcoming the barriers to the dissemination of EBPH.