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APHA Scientific Session and Event Listing

Recorded presentation

Charles Mahan, MD, University of South Florida, 13201 Bruce B. Downs Blvd., Tampa, FL 33612-3805, (813) 974-8800, cmahan@hsc.usf.edu and Gillian Silver, MPH, Association of Schools of Public Health, 1101 15th Street, NW, Suite 910, washington, DC 20005.

Public health is the only health profession that does not have a national professional credential to ensure competency. ASPH, APHA, ASTHO, NACCHO and ATPM agreed that a voluntary credential for students and graduates of CEPH-accredited schools and programs should be developed, focused on the public health curriculum. A new organizational entity, the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE), was established in September 2005 to develop, prepare, administer and evaluate an examinations for such a credential. This initiative is progressing in parallel with an effort exploring state and local health department accreditation. If standards for public health workers become part of this process, credentialed public health graduates who are employed at such agencies could serve as a source for the development of an indicator of the quality of the workforce–a measure that is becoming increasingly important in federal, state and local governments' efforts to be accountable to the public. The are many benefits to the development of this credential, and these will accrue to public health employers and individual professionals. Employers will be able to hire individuals who can certify that they are competent in the core public health disciplines. Individual credentialed graduates will have greater earning power and job flexibility. Finally, the NBPHE credentialing exam may serve to facilitate the increased integration of public health practice into the academic curriculum, better preparing interested graduates to work in the practice community.

Learning Objectives:

• 1. Describe the purpose of the National Board of Public Health Examiners.
• 2. Understand the difference between credentialing individuals and accreditation of health agencies.
• 3. Articulate and discuss the benefits of such a credential to individual public health graduates, public health employers, and the public health profession overall

Keywords: Certification, Competency

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Any relevant financial relationships? No

Recorded presentation