Development of a competency-based applied public health informatics curriculum for working professionals

In 2009, faculty at the Rollins School of Public Health (RSPH) – with funding from the Public Health Informatics Institute, invited 24 informaticians to participate in a working group to develop a competency-based public health informatics (PHI) curriculum for use by MPH programs and schools. Comprised of representatives from: academia; local, state and federal public health; and other organizations with an interest in PHI, the group developed a 10-course curriculum designed for working professionals who have a background in either a.) public health or b.) computer or information science and/or technology. The curriculum was designed to focus on the applied nature of PHI – both skills that were currently needed and those that would be needed in the future. Underlying principles guiding the development of the curriculum included Adult Learning Theory and long standing methods of competency-based curriculum design and development within professional education. The Career MPH program, the online MPH at RSPH, implemented the curriculum and admitted the first cohort of 15 students in the fall of 2011. This cohort is scheduled to graduate in December 2013. When implementing the curriculum, the Career MPH program sought faculty who are actively engaged in PHI. This presentation will discuss the process of developing a competency-based curriculum for an emerging field like PHI – including accomplishments, challenges, and lessons learned. In addition, the presentation will describe how the curriculum meets the needs of non-traditional students and will provide lessons learned for future curriculum development and implementation.