Undergraduate Public Health Research Articles

Postgraduate Employment Outcomes of Undergraduate and Graduate Public Health Students : A Scoping Review.

A key goal of schools and programs of public health is to prepare graduates for careers in the public health workforce after graduation, but are they achieving this goal? We assessed how the employment outcomes of students earning public health degrees are collected and described in the literature. Using the Kirkpatrick model of training evaluation as a framework, we conducted a 6-step scoping review: (1) formulating the research question, (2) identifying relevant studies, (3) selecting studies, (4) charting the data, (5) collating and summarizing the results, and (6) consulting stakeholders. We included articles published from January 1, 1993, through July 4, 2020, that provided data on employment status, employment sector/industry, job function, or salary of public health graduates. We excluded articles that were not written in English and were about dual-degree (ie, doctor of medicine-master of public health) students. We found and reviewed 630 articles. We found 33 relevant articles. Most articles focused on a single school and combined multiple graduating classes, focused on subspecializations of public health, or focused on graduates' satisfaction with their curriculum but not employment outcomes. Data were inconsistently categorized, and studies were difficult to compare. Research on public health graduates' employment outcomes is scarce and does not follow consistent protocols. New standards should be adopted to systematize the collection of data on employment outcomes of public health graduates.

Exploring Undergraduate Public Health Students’ Experiences of Internship Courses: A Qualitative Study

Introduction: Currently, education means providing facilities that enable learners to acquire theoretical information and knowledge and help them put this knowledge into practice. Periodic reviews also serve as a first step required to gain a deeper understanding of problems and access to information and newer solutions. Therefore, to identify the challenges of clinical education, the present study focused on exploring undergraduate public health students’ experiences of internship courses. Methods: This study used the conventional content analysis method. The participants were 11 undergraduate public health students of Qom University of Medical Sciences selected via purposive sampling in 2017. The data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews as well as focus group and the data collection process continued until the data were saturated. The content analysis was performed following Graneheim and Lundman’s model. Results: The analysis of the data revealed five main themes. The main themes identified in this study were weak curriculum planning, poor communication between the faculty and health centers, the students’ unpreparedness to start the internship course, the staff’s lack of cooperation, and students’ expectations. Conclusion: The present study indicated that most students faced many problems during their field internships and they demanded the improvement of the teaching processes of theoretical courses and practical skills. Therefore, officials of the educational system are required to plan more coherent programs, offer both theoretical and practical courses more effectively, and prepare students to start internship courses and establish effective communication.

Attracting New Talent to the Governmental Public Health Workforce: Strategies for Improved Recruitment of Public Health Graduates.

Governmental public health (GPH) agencies need a diverse, skilled, and motivated workforce to advance health and well-being, but they face a number of recruitment challenges. While there has been massive growth in public health degree programs and graduates, those with a degree in public health are underrepresented in the GPH workforce. This study evaluates potential reasons undergraduate and graduate public health degree holders are underrepresented in the GPH workforce, assesses student awareness of and interest in GPH jobs, and identifies strategies for improved recruitment. We conducted pilot focus groups to explore public health students' interest in working for GPH agencies, obstacles to employment, and how this career path could be better promoted. Eight focus groups were conducted with a total of 33 participants at 3 universities and at the Annual Meeting of the American Public Health Association. Participants were enrolled full-time in or graduated within the last year from a public health bachelor's degree program or a public health master's degree program. Undergraduates had declared a public health major and were in their senior year; graduate students were in their second year and actively job seeking; or participants graduated within the past 12 months. The focus groups sought to capture students' perspectives of GPH agencies and how they believe recruitment can be improved. Participants described attractive job attributes including fulfilling, meaningful work; a position at a mission-driven organization; and the opportunity to make an impact on their community. Governmental public health agencies were viewed as bureaucratic, lacking innovation, and underresourced. Participants reported difficulties accessing and finding relevant job postings. Key to effectively recruiting and retaining new graduates is understanding their perceptions about/experiences with GPH agencies. While GPH jobs have desired attributes, participants reported that health departments are not effectively recruiting them.

Theory-Informed Course Design: Applications of Bloom’s Taxonomy in Undergraduate Public Health Courses

The public health workforce needs an array of knowledge and skills to effectively address current and future public health challenges. While existing competency models establish educational objectives for public health degree programs, there is insufficient guidance on how academic programs should develop these competencies, and workforce assessments continue to identify skills gaps in areas such as critical thinking and problem analysis. In this article, we describe an approach for designing undergraduate public health courses based on the hierarchy of cognitive processes in Bloom’s taxonomy. Course activities are sequenced to provide students with opportunities to attain increasing mastery of course concepts and analytical skills, from remembering new concepts to applying them in case studies and creating original analyses and proposals. This simple approach has been applied to three separate courses taught by multiple instructors over 3 years and has received positive feedback from students. By explicitly communicating the theoretical basis for course activities, this approach also promotes metacognitive knowledge in students that can foster their continued learning success.

Pedagogical Practices Shaping Professional Identity in Public Health Programs

University academic preparation plays a critical role in guiding undergraduate public health students shape their professional identity (PI) and demonstrate professionalism in their transition to work environments. PI is an understanding of profession-related connections, characteristics, roles, values, standards, and culture continuing over time. Despite evidence supporting PI learning across medicine, nursing, or pharmacy, little is known about public health pedagogic and curricular approaches as important concepts to support PI learning. There is a need for an innovative curriculum redesign to include planning PI experiences, teaching professionalism across courses, and supporting students as they become early career professionals. By acquiring new knowledge and applying those skills during the undergraduate public health courses, students develop a commitment to and pride in their chosen profession. This article gives an overview of PI, provides a PI conceptual framework, and offers 10 suggestions on how to advance PI effectively in the redesigned public health curriculum.

Naming racism in the public health classroom.

ObjectiveThe discussion of racism within undergraduate public health classrooms can be highly influenced by local and national conversations about race. We explored the impact of local and national events on students’ ability to name racism on a public health exam highlighting the impact of racism on maternal and infant health disparities for Black mothers.MethodsWe undertook this research within the context of an undergraduate introductory public health course at a primarily white institution in the Northeastern part of the United States. A qualitative content analysis of undergraduate student responses to a final exam question soliciting the importance of racism to health outcomes among Black mothers in the United States was undertaken. ANOVA tests were run to assess differences on naming racism, using semantic alternatives, and providing alternative explanations during three main time periods: prior to the election of the 45th president of the United States (pre-Trump), after the election (post-Trump), and after a nationally recognized racist campus incident.ResultsBetween the pre- and post-Trump periods we see no differences in naming racism or providing alternative explanations. We do see a reduction in the proportion of students providing semantic alternatives for racism in the post-Trump period (32.2 vs. 25.2%, p = 0.034). After the racist campus incident, we see increases in the proportion of students naming race (53.6 vs. 73.8%, p = 0.021) and decreases in the proportion providing an alternative explanation (43.1 vs. 12.9%, p = 0.004), but no differences in the proportion of students who used semantic alternatives.DiscussionThis work lends itself to our understanding of how local climate affects public health teaching and may also influence students’ learning about important social and structural determinants of health. National and local climate should frame and guide public health teaching.

Redesigning an Undergraduate Global Health Course to Increase Student Engagement and Incorporate High-Impact Educational Practices

In many undergraduate public health programs, global health is an introductory course encountered early in the curriculum. At the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa, the undergraduate global health course reinforces introductory content within a global health framework while building skills in preparation for upper-division work. The global health course was completely redesigned in January 2018 to increase student engagement and incorporate high-impact educational practices, including experiential learning opportunities, diversity/global learning, and collaborative assignments. New activities incorporated include a water carrying exercise to simulate efforts required for the billions of people worldwide who manually transport water for daily use and a model United Nations scenario-based activity based on a writing assignment proposing an international policy from the position of a selected country. Incorporation of relatively brief written assignments early in the undergraduate public health curriculum additionally serves to support student development of written communication skills throughout the program and helps in early identification of students who may need additional support in writing skills. Assessment of the new course was conducted through student feedback, student performance on assignments, and student growth/development throughout the course. Through successful course redesign students emerge excited about international opportunities for public health practice and with a greater empathy for global citizens living abroad.

Implementation and evaluation of a pandemic simulation exercise among undergraduate public health and nursing students: A mixed-methods study

BackgroundIn addition to overwhelming the healthcare system, pandemics have enormous societal and economic costs. To better train future healthcare professionals and develop collaborations across healthcare disciplines, pandemic simulations have been incorporated into undergraduate healthcare professional curricula. ObjectivesThe purpose of this study was to assess the usefulness of a pandemic simulation in preparing the future healthcare professionals during large-scale pandemic disasters. DesignThis was a mixed-methods, cross-sectional study. SettingThe study was conducted at a 4-year public university in rural Texas. MethodsThe students (n = 89) participated in a simulation exercise that mirrored a real influenza pandemic that facilitated interactions among various first responders. Participants completed pre- and post-tests of knowledge survey questions pertaining to areas of situational awareness, communication effectiveness and public health knowledge, and the 27-item Nursing Anxiety and Self-Confidence with Clinical Decision-Making Scale. ResultsThe majority (76%) of the participants were between the ages of 18 to 24, Caucasians (74.2%) and female (87.6%). The results of the paired t-test showed increased situational awareness [t = 7.17(76), p < 0.001], effective communication [t = 7.130(75), p < 0.001], and public health knowledge [t = 8.77 (74), p < 0.001] following the pandemic simulation. ConclusionSignificant improvement in situational awareness, effective communication, and public health knowledge was demonstrated by the undergraduate public health and nursing students in handling disasters through the simulation exercise. The study results demonstrated value in incorporating simulation as an effective teaching strategy in preparing future healthcare professionals.

Transnational educational partnerships: achieving public health impact through cross-cultural pedagogical approaches in Haiti

ABSTRACT As part of the growing movement of transnational educational partnerships, Washington University in St. Louis (WUSTL) partnered with the Université Publique du Nord au Cap-Haitïen (UPNCH) in January 2017 to launch the first undergraduate public health degree program in Haiti with the goal of increasing public health educational capacity in the country. In January 2018, WUSTL and UPNCH introduced the course Introduction to Public Health for the first cohort of public health students, offering the opportunity to practice and assess cross-cultural pedagogy as well as the engagement of students in relevant public health issues impacting Haiti. The goal of the partnership between WUSTL and UPNCH is to further public health education in Haiti, and to help create future public health leaders for the country. Through an assessment of the introductory course, the authors sought to gauge the impact of cross-cultural pedagogy and cooperative learning strategies in Haiti. In addition to describing the history and context of the partnership, this study used qualitative methods to assess student responses to the course through both observational data as well as student course evaluations. Thirty-two students completed course evaluations, providing insight into cross-cultural approaches as well as the effectiveness of collaborative pedagogy in Haiti. Despite challenges related to logistics and resources, students’ responses were overwhelmingly supportive of the course’s novel approach as well as the transnational partnership between WUSTL and UPNCH. Findings from this case example support existing research which claims successful approaches ensure cross-cultural pedagogy and bi-directional benefits via continual engagement between partners.

Development of Conceptual Animation Video Library to Explain Health Behavior Theory Applications from the Peer-reviewed Public Health Literature

ABSTRACT Background While most undergraduate students in public health are aware of health behavior theories and models, they lack sufficient knowledge about how to apply and test them in Health Education/promotion research. Purpose: Evaluate eight new conceptual animation (CA) videos that explained theory and model testing in eight research articles from the public health literature. Methods: A convenience sample of public health faculty and undergraduate students pretested the CA video series during Summer 2019. Following pretesting, a convenience sample of 24 undergraduate public health majors completed an online evaluation survey about the CA video series to assess learning outcomes, quality, and student engagement. Results: Every CA video in the series received usability scores (>80.3) consistent with an “A” usability grade. Academic year and student usability ratings were significantly associated with perceived quality of the learning experience, R2 =.18, R2 adj =.14, F 9,229 = 5.28, P <.001. Discussion: The new CA video series improved the quality of students’ learning experience about select public health theories and models, especially among underclassmen. Translation to Health Education Practice: These promising findings warrant further investigation into how conceptual animation can be used as a pedagogical tool to improve student understanding of complex public health concepts.

Engaging Undergraduate Public Health Students Through a Textbook Creation Project

This study examines students’ perceptions of an open pedagogy experiment in which they created their own textbook for an undergraduate public health course. The lead author’s primary motivation for developing this assignment was the high cost associated with the traditional textbooks that were otherwise needed to cover the breadth of subject matter in the course. The resulting open textbook included 19 chapters, covering all the required components of the course, and the final version was published in a statewide open educational resource repository. Students provided feedback about this undertaking by way of an end-of-term survey. The results showed high percentages of students who associated the textbook creation project with greater engagement and satisfaction than the passive use of traditional textbooks. Students also reported their perception of a learning benefit related to the creation of course content. Pedagogical implications of this study are discussed, and future research questions are proposed.

Undergraduate health professions students’ perceptions of athletic training students before and after an interprofessional case study program

ABSTRACT Students pursuing careers in health professions may initially approach their training with preconceived ideas and perceptions of those who practice different health-related careers. Little research has been conducted on athletic training students and professional stereotypes or athletic training students and interprofessional education in general. Because interprofessional education may provide some positive effects on stereotypes, the goal of this study was to measure undergraduate health professions student stereotypes of athletic training students before and after an interprofessional case study program. Undergraduate nursing and public health interprofessional case study program participants assessed various relational and intrapersonal capabilities for their own professions and the athletic training profession, pre-post-program. For nursing student participants with athletic training students on their team, perceptions of their own profession and the athletic training profession significantly (p <.05) increased as compared to those with no athletic training student on their team. For public health student participants, although scores increased, no significant differences were found. Interprofessional collaborative experiences may decrease negative stereotypes of other professions, including athletic training.

Improving Undergraduate Epidemiology Education: An Example Using Instructional Teams.

Epidemiology is a core component of the undergraduate public health curriculum and a critical component of a healthy community and a comprehensive education. Evidence-based, collaborative instructional practices improve student success, reach diverse student populations, and improve learning outcomes. Here we describe the pedagogical approach of an instructional team with which we observed an 18% greater learning gain (95% confidence interval: 6.5, 29.5; t=-3.08; P=0.002), based on pre-/posttesting in a large (approximately 120 students) undergraduate course, than with the prior course offering. There were no differences in DEW rates (defined as receiving a grade of D(scoring 60%-69%) or E(scoring <60%) orwithdrawing (W)) between the 2 offerings, but the ratio of "A" to "B" grades was higher (by approximately 10%) after deployment of the instructional team (Pearson's χ2 (1 degree of freedom)=4.17, P=0.041). In addition, students reported greater satisfaction with the course deploying an instructional team (80.4% positive sentiment in course evaluation comments compared with 76.1% in the prior offering). As students and faculty become more familiar with effective evidence-based instructional practices, improvements in student learning can be achieved and the goal of creating an educated citizenry ready to build a healthy society will be more attainable.

An Integrative Approach to Needs Assessment and Curriculum Development of the First Public Health Major in Singapore.

Although public health undergraduate education is increasingly popular in the West, studies describing the needs assessment and curriculum development of public health undergraduate education programs are lacking in the Asia Pacific. The objective of this study was to describe the needs assessment and curriculum development of a second major in public health for undergraduates in the National University of Singapore, the first in Singapore. We used the integrated framework for curriculum development in higher education, which consisted of five stages. In Stage 1, the environment was assessed on the need for a new curriculum. Externally, there was a demand for public health workforce in Singapore based on a review of reports from the Ministry of Health and the job portals. Internally, there was a demand from existing students of the university, along with support from the faculty to offer a new curriculum. There was no university in Singapore offering an undergraduate major program in public health. In Stage 2, competencies to be developed were identified from public health job descriptions using job portals, the needs of public health stakeholders, and competencies listed in the public health curriculum accreditation frameworks such as the Council on Education for Public Health. In Stage 3, based on data triangulation, the curriculum was designed as a second major that is offered to all students of the university from year 2 onward. Students have to complete a total of 12 modules, of which 6 are core and 6 are elective. The capstone module is a 320-h internship module where students will be attached to public health–related agencies, organizations, or non-governmental organizations. Our curriculum is generally aligned with undergraduate public health programs in other established universities in the United States of America, United Kingdom, Australia, and Hong Kong. In Stage 4, various pedagogical strategies were identified for the core modules. We are currently at Stage 5 where implementation, monitoring, and evaluation are still being carried out. We hope that the lessons learnt will serve to inform other universities in the Asia Pacific that are considering implementing such programs and broadening their offerings in public health education.

Global Health and Public Health Majors and Minors at 411 Universities, 2019-2020.

Background:There has been rapid growth in the popularity of undergraduate degrees in global and public health, but that growth has not been evenly distributed across different types of institutions of higher education.Objective:To examine the prevalence of undergraduate global and public health majors and minors and related degrees at a diversity of higher education institutions in the United States during the 2019–20 academic year.Methods:We examined curricular offerings at the top 100 national universities, national liberal arts colleges, regional universities, and regional colleges included in the 2020 U.S. News and World Report rankings. With ties, the dataset included 411 of the 1600 ranked U.S. colleges and universities.Findings:In total, 101 (25%) of the 411 schools offer a general public health, community health, or global health major, 105 (26%) a minor, and 144 (35%) a major and/or minor. When subdisciplines and other population health related programs are included, 160 (39%) offer a major, 183 (45%) a minor, and 227 (55%) a major and/or minor, including 83% of national universities, 57% of regional universities, 45% of national liberal arts colleges, and 35% of regional colleges. Global health programs, usually minors, are offered by 32% of national universities and 8% of national liberal arts colleges.Conclusions:Global and public health have become common areas of primary and secondary study at the bachelor’s level at diverse schools in the United States. Although these degree pathways are especially prevalent at large urban universities, schools of all sizes, types, and locations have invested in offering educational programs in population health areas.

Practice-Based Teaching Model for Undergraduate Public Health Students: Partnership for Exercise Is Medicine on Campus Initiative

The practice-based teaching (PBT) pedagogical approach is vital to prepare students to learn collaboratively how to solve real-world complex public health problems. Despite evidence of the new PBT approach in graduate public health courses, little is known about the development of PBT in undergraduate public health courses. The purpose of this article is to describe an undergraduate course design using PBT, offer suggestions for using the effective PBT STEPS (Securing Partnerships, Technology and Training, Engagement and Implementation, Presenting Deliverables, Sizing Up Results) framework, and explain lessons learned. The experiences are based on 4 years of successful implementation of the PBT course project, Exercise Is Medicine on Campus (EIM-OC) initiative. The college campus is a promising setting to promote EIM-OC and physical activity awareness. Undergraduate public health students in the Health Administration of Programs course partnered with the campus Wellness, Alcohol and Violence Education Program for the fall initiative. We used the comprehensive PBT STEPS framework in planning the EIM-OC. The evaluation included the number of participants at the Chancellor Walk and activity stations and student reflective writing papers. The findings suggest the effectiveness of PBT pedagogy for faculty to redesign an existing course. Students gain a deeper understanding of campus health and health topics. Faculty can guide students and empower them for working with partners to think, act, and practice like professionals during academic preparation.

What Elephant? Pedagogical Approaches to Addressing Stigma Toward Mental Disorders in Undergraduate Public Health Education

In the past decade, the number of undergraduate public health programs has increased exponentially. This growth provides a unique opportunity to explore concepts and issues relevant to understanding the determinants of health at a population level using new pedagogical approaches. One of these issues is stigma toward mental disorders. Stigma is a concept that refers to a feature or characteristic that reduces, devalues, and disempowers a person. Given the prevalence of mental and substance use disorders among college students, undergraduate education is an important setting for attempting to address stigmatizing attitudes both for society at large and for faculty, staff, and students, including those experiencing mental health problems. This article describes an effort to develop an undergraduate course in public mental health that explicitly addresses the ways stigma shapes student understanding of this topic and discusses lessons learned from this experience.

Undergraduate and graduate public health programs need changes to teach the public health workforce of the future.

Undergraduate and graduate public health programs need changes to teach the public health workforce of the future.

Post-Graduation Impact of a Program Planning Service-Learning Project

Research has shown that service-learning can increase student-learning outcomes across various disciplines. Service-learning opportunities have been steadily increasing in college settings, especially in health-related fields. This evaluation of an undergraduate public health course at a mid-size, public university in New England sought to understand the impact of service-learning on material retention, internships, and post-graduation public health careers. A 25-item questionnaire was emailed to students who took the course between the Fall 2010 and Spring 2016 semesters with 75 completed (33.3% completion rate). More than half of the respondents noted that their participation in a service-learning project positively affected their internship experience, their first post-graduation job, and their overall career, while also helping them retain the course material after graduation. Open-ended responses provided insight to the qualitative responses. Respondents noted that in addition to having the understanding and ability to put on programs in their community, they also had more confidence in their abilities. The opportunity to practice public speaking skills as well as work collaboratively in group settings, were both noted as essential skills needed to succeed in the public health workforce. It was concluded the project had a positive impact on student’s learning and retention in planning, implementing, and evaluating an actual health promotion program as well as how they were able to use those skills in their careers.

A comparative study of oral health attitude and behavior of dental and public health students in Ardabil, Iran using the Hiroshima University-Dental Behavioral Inventory

Aim: This study aimed to evaluate the self-reported oral health attitude and behavior of undergraduate dental and public health students, in Ardabil city, Iran to analyze the differences based on the field of education, gender, and level of education. Materials and Methods: This descriptive, cross-sectional study was performed on 195 (119 dental and 76 public health) students using Hiroshima University Dental-Behavioral Inventory (HU-DBI). Demographic questions including gender, educational field, and level of education were added to the questionnaire. The frequency of responses to the questions in the questionnaire was separately analyzed, tabulated, and reported. The effect of educational field and gender and level of education of students on their oral health attitude and behavior was analyzed using the chi-square test and Pearson correlation coefficient. The value of P < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: There were some differences in oral health behavior between dental and public health students. Public health students showed more frequent use of hard toothbrush (P = 0.05) and hard strokes (P = 0.02). Overall, there were no statistically significant differences between female and male students (P > 0.05). No change in attitude occurred by an increase in the level of education (P > 0.05). Conclusion: There were some differences in dental health attitude and behavior of dental and public health students.