Mapping student response team activities to public health competencies: are we adequately preparing the next generation of public health practitioners?
This article compares activities of the University of Michigan School of Public Health Public Health Action Support Team (PHAST) to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists Applied Epidemiology Competencies (AECs) to determine the utility of using the competencies to assess extracurricular student training. We mapped the activities from eight PHAST trips occurring from 2006 to 2009 to the 34 AECs for Tier 1 epidemiologists by examining project activities to determine how closely they aligned with the AECs. PHAST trips provided students with opportunities to address 65% of the AECs; 29% of the AECs were addressed by all eight trips. The domains of AECs most often addressed by PHAST trips were leadership and systems thinking, cultural competency, and community dimensions of practice. Mapping PHAST trips to the AECs was useful for all public health students, not just epidemiologists in training.
Department of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI 48109, USA. jpmont@umich.edu
JoLynn P
JP
Montgomery
Heidi
H
Durbeck
Dana
D
Thomas
Angela J
AJ
Beck
Amy N
AN
Sarigiannis
Matthew L
ML
Boulton
D002487:Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S.; D057189:Checklist; D016021:Epidemiologic Studies; D004813:Epidemiology / Q000193:education; D006801:Humans; D008824:Michigan; D011361:Professional Competence / Q000592:standards*; D015980:Public Health Practice; D013334:Students; D014481:United States; D014495:Universities