Dr. Wykoff and Dr. Pack Author Book Chapter on Public Health Education

Randy Wykoff and Rob Pack, Dean and Associate Dean of the East Tennessee State University College of Public Health, respectively, have authored a chapter in Teaching Public Health.  The chapter, “A Conceptual Orientation to Public Health Teaching,” addresses the fundamental differences in public health pedagogy that necessitate alternative approaches to educating public health practitioners. 

“Effective public health education needs to be different than either a liberal arts or a clinical sciences education,” state the authors.  “The greatest difference from the liberal arts is that public health education must explicitly provide an educational experience that prepares its graduates with a defined set of practical skills necessary for success in a specific job market.”

The authors elaborate that public health education is challenging because of the wide range of professional settings that are open to its graduates, and because of the widely diverse skills needed in each of these settings.  Public health training programs must assess the needs of their unique regional employers to assure their program provides skills that employers deem most important as well as ensuring the supply of graduates matches workforce demands.  With these factors in mind, the program must cultivate a dedication to continuous quality improvement.    

The authors conclude, “Public health training programs should provide both foundational knowledge and a practical set of skills that are designed, and regularly modified, to prepare graduates for success in the workforce.”

Bringing together leaders in the public health field with expertise across the educational continuum, Teaching Public Health seeks to offer a concrete plan to ensure that both individual courses and overall curricula are responsive to the needs of a rapidly changing student body and the world beyond the school.