‘I’m Very Excited About the Future’.

Academic public health has been growing substantially over the past two decades. As of 2017, there were 64 accredited schools and 115 accredited programs of public health, with more seeking accreditation every year. In response to this growth, established schools and programs of public health have begun rethinking their curricula to meet the changing needs of incoming students, and to ensure that graduates have the knowledge, skills, and attributes to meet the needs of a changing workforce.

Ahead of the Dean’s Symposium “Teaching Public Health” on March 28, Dean Sandro Galea sat down with Laura Magaña Valladares, president and CEO of the Association of Schools & Programs of Public Health (ASPPH), to discuss the current challenges and opportunities facing public health educators, the need to teach students stronger communication skills, and what the MPH will look like in the year 2030.

What do you see as one of the greatest public health education successes of the last five years? 

Visibility, awareness, and activism on public health issues. Because our schools and programs are raising their voices in their communities, in local and federal spheres, social media, and outside the health professions, we are seeing a growing interest and concern for population health. Although it may be far from what we need, we are obligated to continue and also find innovative ways to influence decision-makers.

Name one lingering fallacy around public health education or an MPH degree.

That students choose public health when they don’t get into medical or nursing school. That is a big fallacy! Students are eager to enter public health because they realize the significant impact they can make in our world today. Even in undergraduate education, one of the fastest growing programs is public health and global health.

ASPPH released its “Framing the Future” report three years ago. Of all its recommendations, which ones would you say we’re seeing the most progress on?

I would say Population Health across All Professions has led to a greater focus on interprofessional and multidisciplinary education and collaboration among the health professions. Also, Undergraduate Education has led to the development of stronger programs, and the recommendations for the MPH strongly influenced the revised CEPH criteria.

What are the biggest public health student needs we are not meeting in 2018? What should we be doing differently?

More than ever, our students need to develop essential skills, such as advocacy, writing powerful messages, debriefing politicians, interprofessional work, analysis of big data, and leadership. Some of our schools and programs have been successful in integrating these skills into their curricula, but there is much more we need to do to improve our teaching strategies and meet these needs.

Who do you believe are some of the unsung contributors to the success of a public health school or program?

Internally, the dedicated teachers, tutors, and staff that sometimes don’t get recognition are the key players for student success. We need to publicly recognize the work of these people, as well as make sure their compensation and rewards are in line with the great value they provide.

Externally, our community partners are essential to the success of our missions and in providing our students with invaluable experiences we need to continue to strengthen our collaborations with traditional and non-traditional partners such as housing/architecture (built environment) and others.

It often seems that journalists, even health journalists, have a slippery grasp on the field of public health and what it actually entails. How can we teach public health students to better interact with the media so as to increase lay understandings of our field?

It is an issue with policymakers as well. In the current session of Congress, more than 760 bills have been introduced with the term “public health” in the title or bill summary. Many have little to do with “public health” as we use the term.  I am not sure that everyone needs a shared definition of public health. Rather, we should focus on the shared outcomes we seek.

For our students, we should integrate curriculum to develop exceptional oral and written communication as well as listening skills, which is invaluable to an individual’s success in any field, but especially in public health. Finding ways to communicate evidence effectively is a key competency that we must embrace. Find collaborative projects for students in journalism programs could be another approach.

Lifelong learning is always a goal more easily stated than achieved. What are some of the barriers to entry to continued learning among public health professionals? Besides online learning, what are some ways that schools of public health can engage their alumni and community members to continue their own educations?

Unless we redesign our entire educational system to make it a lifelong learning system where people can reenter every time they require a new competency, with diverse formats and learning experiences, we will become obsolete. In the future, 50 percent of the jobs we know will disappear and will be replaced with new ones with a very different set of competencies. Right now, misconception (higher education is a one-time life event); money (expensive courses); time (jobs that don’t allow for professional development); and formats (only face-to-face or online) are among the main barriers that prevent professionals from a lifelong learning commitment.

In a culture that increasingly doubts scientific evidence, how can schools of public health further train students to communicate findings to the public and to policymakers in a way that advances our field’s credibility?

In this environment, fidelity to evidence is critical. Evidence can no longer solely reside in scholarly journals. We must effectively communicate evidence to policymakers and the public in ways that best meet their needs. Our students should be trained not just in writing papers for publications, but in policy briefs and messages to communities. Newsletters, letters to the editors, newspaper op-eds, website content, and social media should all be considered.

Flash forward to 2030: What do you think an MPH degree will look like? Should look like?

I’m very excited about the future! We must innovate the way we do things. I envision a very flexible, personalized curriculum. Where students construct their own paths depending on the individual competencies that each one needs. Choosing from diverse learning scenarios, which include, on-campus, on-the-job, online, interdisciplinary ventures, in the community. Less heavy in “knowledge” and more emphasis in skills – the human “soft” competencies – such as communication, team building, entrepreneurship, advocacy, innovation, and critical thinking. Evaluation will be when the students master the competencies, so it will not be bound by time, and education can occur during an entire professional carrier, and ideally the education and labor systems will allow for reentry as needed.

“Teaching Public Health” takes place on March 28 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. in Hiebert Lounge. Livestreaming is available.