BUSPH Dean’s Symposium Teaching Public Health: Masters of Public Health Education Marie Diener-West, PhD Chair, Master of Public Health Program Abbey-Merrell Professor of Biostatistics Education March 28, 2018

Masters of Public Health Education Growth of the MPH degree Changing role of the MPH degree Educational challenges and strategies for the future

Growth of the MPH Degree 1936 - a public health degree or certificate was offered by only 10 schools. 1960 - 12 accredited schools of public health in the U.S.; 8 added between 1965-1975. 2003 - 32 schools of public health plus an additional 45 accredited programs. 2017- 64 schools and 116 programs, including two schools and four programs outside of the U.S. (Canada, Lebanon, Mexico and the West Indies). 2016 - total of 40,160 MPH applications (not including dual degrees) and 8,211 MPH graduates across schools and programs.

Changing Role of the MPH Degree The IOM “Future of Public Health” report (1988) tasked schools of public health to develop “a greater emphasis on public health practice and to equip them to train personnel with the breadth of knowledge that matches the scope of public health.” Education of health professionals for the 21st Century commission (Lancet 2010) - widening scope of public health MPH interdisciplinary training: MD/MPH, MSN/MPH, DDS/MPH, DVM/MPH, PharmD/MPH, MBA/MPH, MSW/MPH

Educational Challenges Distinction from the BPH and DrPH degrees Provide interdisciplinary training in an increasing number of specialties Provide training in skills and values that have not been historically emphasized Tailored global MPH training

Creative Educational Strategies in the MPH Curriculum Integrated core or multidisciplinary experiences Intensive institutes Online education Open education initiatives

Global MPH Training MPH training for meeting world-wide challenges Online learning, executive and part-time MPH degree programs Cooperative degree programs Supporting development of international MPH degree programs

Opportunities for Enhancing the Impact of the MPH Degree Certified in Public Health exam Graduates Public health professionals Job task force analysis (NBPHE 2014): knowledge and skills that are mapped to success in the workplace.

The MPH of the Future Optimizing the approaches to creatively teach in different ways, with different strategies and modalities, and sharing these approaches Sharing methods for the valid assessment of competencies and measurements of outcomes Improving public health education will translate to better public health for all when meeting the challenges of the 21st century.