The Educated Citizen and Public Health

OVERVIEW

An understanding of public health issues is a critical component of good citizenship and a prerequisite for taking responsibility for building healthy societies.  At its best, the study of public health combines the social sciences, sciences, mathematics, humanities, and the arts.  At the same time, it serves as a vehicle for the development of written and oral communication skills, critical and creative thinking, quantitative and information literacy, and teamwork and problem solving.  It incorporates civic knowledge and engagement—both local and global, intercultural competence, and ethical reasoning and action, while forming the foundation for lifelong learning.  The study of public health, in other words, is a model for the implementation of a capacious vision of liberal education.

The Educated Citizen and Public Health Initiative serves the broader higher education community, setting the stage for integration of public health perspectives within a comprehensive liberal education framework. The Initiative simultaneously aims to fulfill the Institute of Medicine’s recommendation that “…all undergraduates should have access to education in public health.” Developed in part by the Association for Prevention Teaching and Research (APTR), the Council of Colleges of Arts and Sciences (CCAS) and AAC&U, the project creates and organizes publications, presentations, and resources to assist faculty to develop public health curricula in all our nation’s colleges and universities.

The initiative aims to connect and inform, to bring undergraduate study of integrative public health to all baccalaureate institutions, to foster interdisciplinary and inter-professional collaboration, and to link to other initiatives that address human health and environmental sustainability.

NEWS

ONGOING NEEDS ASSESSMENT RESEARCH BY AAC&U AND ASPH
AAC&U has partnered with the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) to continue research on the current state of undergraduate public health education. This multi-stage research includes targeted focus group convenings and a survey of AAC&U members. The findings will help shape the future strategies of the two associations in developing quality undergraduate public health opportunities. Results will become public in spring, 2009. December 18, 2008.

NEW CURRICULUM RECOMMENDATIONS FOR UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC HEALTH EDUCATION
APTR and AAC&U have published a summary of recommendations (PDF) for core courses in undergraduate public health. Adapted from the Curriculum Guide, this document provides principles of design and curricular frameworks for developing undergraduate courses that incorporate the learning outcomes essential to a liberal education. To request printed copies of this publication, contact Caleb Ward. September 29, 2008

NEW DATA PUBLISHED ON UNDERGRADUATE PUBLIC HEALTH PROGRAMS
In August, 2008, AAC&U completed a Catalog Scan of major, minor and concentration offerings in undergraduate Public Health. The Scan was funded by the Josiah Macy, Jr. Foundation and the Association of Schools of Public Health, and its findings are now available. This research has been cited in the Washington Post. September 19, 2008

MORE RESOURCES NOW AVAILABLE
Curriculum Guide for Undergraduate Public Health Education version 3.0
This Curriculum Guide is being developed to help faculty members create and teach undergraduate courses that engage students with the world’s major questions through the lens of public health.

See the public health article in the Fall 2007 issue of Liberal Education: Back to the Pump Handle: Public Health and the Future of Undergraduate Education
By Susan Albertine, Nancy Alfred Persily, and Richard Riegelman
Integrative public health programs in the liberal arts and within a liberal education can produce the informed citizenry we need for the twenty-first century.

The full report of the Undergraduate Public Health Education Consensus Conference is also available. CDC published the essential findings of the Consensus Conference in a recent issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly.