Skip to main content

Advertisement

Public Health Education in Europe: Old and New Challenges

Public Health Reviews volume 33, pages66–86(2011)Cite this article

Article metrics

  • 588 Accesses

  • 5 Citations

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to discuss some of the current challenges faced by European schools of public health. Perhaps most remarkable on the continent is the diversity, the magnitude, and the rapidity of the developments in public health education since the Second World War. This article discusses its evolution, its main characteristics and the underlying rationale with several examples. Further, it addresses specific aspects of the future development, namely the collaboration of academic schools with practice-oriented institutions, as well as the interactions between the constituent disciplines of public health. The Bologna process on post-graduate education in Europe has had an important impact on the overall design of most schools. There is a willingness to develop public health in each country of the European region and there is a need to develop common strategies to reach high standards in teaching, training and researching in all disciplines related to public health.

References

  1. 1.

    Frenk J, Chen L, Bhutta ZA, Cohen J, Crisp N, Evans T, et al. Health professionals for a new century: transforming education to strengthen health systems in an interdependent world. Lancet. 2010;376:1923–1958.

  2. 2.

    Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER). Available from URL: http://www.aspher.org/ (Accessed 23 August, 2011).

  3. 3.

    Winslow CE. The Untilled Fields of Public Health. Science. 1920;51:23–33.

  4. 4.

    Beaglehole R, Dal Poz MR. Public health workforce: challenges and policy issues. Hum Resour Health. 2003;1:4.

  5. 5.

    Merrill R, Stern B. Demonstrating excellence in academic public health. Washington: The Association of Schools of Public Health, Council of public Health Practice Coordinators, 1999.

  6. 6.

    Meeting report: Defining core competencies for epidemiologists working in communicable disease surveillance and response in the public health administrations of the European Union. Eurosurveillance weekly release. 2007; 12(8).

  7. 7.

    Green LW. Public health asks of systems science: to advance our evidence-based practice, can you help us get more practice-based evidence? Am J Public Health. 2006;96:406–409.

  8. 8.

    Solomon SG, Murard L. Zylberman P. Shifting Boundaries of Public Health: Europe in the Twentieth Century. Rochester: University of Rochester Press, 2008.

  9. 9.

    Starr P. Professionalization and public health: historical legacies, continuing dilemmas. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2009;15:S26–S30.

  10. 10.

    Curtin PD. Death by migration: Europe’s Encounter with the Tropical World in the Nineteenth Century. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

  11. 11.

    de Leeuw E. European schools of public health in state of flux. Lancet. 1995;345:1158–1160.

  12. 12.

    Tulchinsky TH, Bickford MJ. Are schools of public health needed to address public health workforce development in Canada for the 21st century? Can J Public Health. 2006;97:248–250.

  13. 13.

    Brandt AM, Gardner M. Antagonism and accommodation: interpreting the relationship between public health and medicine in the United States during the 20th century. Am J Public Health. 2000;90:707–715.

  14. 14.

    Fee E.; Acheson RM, editors. A History of Education in Public Health: Health that Mocks the Doctors’ Rules. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1991.

  15. 15.

    Gray M, Ricciardi W. From public health to population medicine: the contribution of public health to health care services. Eur J Public Health. 2010;20:366–367.

  16. 16.

    Burazeri G, Laaser U, Bjegovic V, Georgieva L. on behalf of the Consortium for Public Health Collaboration in South Eastern Europe. Regional collaboration in public health training and research among countries of South Eastern Europe. Eur J Public Health. 2005;15:97–99.

  17. 17.

    Ackermann-Liebrich UA, Nocera S, Merten S. Creating competent health-care specialists: the Swiss School of Public Health. World Hosp Health Serv. 2007;43:29–31.

  18. 18.

    Ackermann-Liebrich UA, Nocera S, Merten S. A solution for creating competent health-care specialists: the Swiss School of Public Health+. Bull World Health Organ. 2007;85:974–976.

  19. 19.

    Moloughney BW, Skinner HA. Rethinking schools of public health: a strategic alliance model. Can J Public Health. 2006;97:251–254.

  20. 20.

    Cavallo F, Rimpela A, Normand C, Bury J. Public health training in Europe. Development of European masters degrees in public health. Eur J Public Health. 2001;11:171–173.

  21. 21.

    Tulchinsky TH, Varavikova EA. Addressing the epidemiologic transition in the former Soviet Union: strategies for health system and public health reform in Russia. Am J Public Health. 1996;86:313–320.

  22. 22.

    Goodman J, Overall J, Tulchinsky T. Public health workforce capacity building. Lessons learned from ‘Quality development of public health teaching programmes in central and eastern Europe.’ Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region and Open Society Institute (Public Health Programme), 2008.

  23. 23.

    The future of public health in Switzerland: Setting the agenda for a Swiss school. A position paper from the SSPH+ governing bodies. Zurich: Swiss School of Public Health, 2010.

  24. 24.

    White KL. Healing the schism: Epidemiology, medicine, and the public’s health. New York: Springer-Verlag, 2009.

  25. 25.

    Medical professionalism in the new millenium: a physician charter. Ann Intern Med. 2002;136:243–6.

  26. 26.

    Fee E. Designing schools of public health for the United States. In: Fee EA, R.M., editor. History of the education in public health. New York: Oxford University Press, 1991.

  27. 27.

    The Future of the Public’s Health in the 21st Century: Institute of Medicine, 2002.

  28. 28.

    Lee P, Paxman D. Reinventing public health. Annu Rev Public Health. 1997;18:1–35.

  29. 29.

    Evans D, Dowling S. Developing a multi-disciplinary public health specialist workforce: training implications of current UK policy. J Epidemiol Community Health. 2002;56:744–747.

  30. 30.

    Chapman J, Abbott S, Carter YH. Developing a speciality: regearing the specialist public health workforce. Public Health. 2005;119:167–173.

  31. 31.

    Shepard WP. The professionalization of public health. Am J Public Health Nations Health. 1948;38:145–153.

  32. 32.

    ASPHER Working Group on Public Health Core Competencies.

  33. 33.

    Potter MA, Eggleston MM. Supporting academic public health practice: a survey of organizational structures in public health schools. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2003;9:165–170.

  34. 34.

    Institute of M. The Future of Public Health. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1988.

  35. 35.

    Bialek R. A decade of progress in academic/practice linkages. J Public Health Manag Pract. 2000;6:25–31.

  36. 36.

    Stevens RH. Public health practice in schools of public health: is there a fit? J Public Health Manag Pract. 2000;6:32–37.

  37. 37.

    Butler J, Quill B, Potter MA. On academics: perspectives on the future of academic public health practice. Public Health Rep. 2008;123:102–105.

  38. 38.

    Potter MA, Burdine J, Goldman L, Olson D, Silver GB, Smith LU, et al. Demonstrating excellence in the scholarship of practice-based service for public health. Public Health Rep. 2009;124:1–15.

  39. 39.

    The Joint Task Group on Public Health Human R. Building the Public Health Workforce for the 21 Century: A Pan-Canadian Framework for Public Health Human Resources Planning. Ottawa: Public Health Agency of Canada, 2005.

  40. 40.

    Boelen C, Woollard B. Social accountability and accreditation: a new frontier for educational institutions. Med Educ. 2009;43:887–894

Download references

Author information

Affiliations

  1. Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), Zürich, Switzerland

    • Fred Paccaud MD, MSc
    • , Alison Weihofen MPH
    •  & Sandra Nocera Dr. oec.

  2. Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (IUMSP), Lausanne, Switzerland

    • Fred Paccaud MD, MSc

Authors

  1. Search for Fred Paccaud MD, MSc in:

  2. Search for Alison Weihofen MPH in:

  3. Search for Sandra Nocera Dr. oec. in:

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Alison Weihofen MPH.

Additional information

Recommended Citation: Paccaud F, Weihofen A, Nocera S. Public Health Education in Europe: Old and New Challenges. Public Health Reviews. 2011;33:66–86.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and Permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Paccaud, F., Weihofen, A. & Nocera, S. Public Health Education in Europe: Old and New Challenges. Public Health Rev 33, 66–86 (2011) doi:10.1007/BF03391621

Download citation

Key Words

  • Public health
  • education
  • training
  • research
  • practice
  • health policy

Public Health Reviews

ISSN: 2107-6952

Contact us