Core competencies for doctoral education in public health.

The Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) released the Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) Core Competency Model in 2009. Between 2007 and 2009, a national expert panel with members of the academic and practice communities guided by the ASPH Education Committee developed its 7 performance domains, including 54 competencies. We provide an overview and analysis of the challenges and issues associated with the variability in DrPH degree offerings, reflect on the model development process and related outcomes, and discuss the significance of the model, future applications, and challenges for integration across educational settings. With the model, ASPH aims to stimulate national discussion on the competencies needed by DrPH graduates with the new challenges of 21st-century public health practice and to better define the DrPH degree.

Competencies for global heath graduate education.

Competency specification and competency-based education (CBE) are increasingly being viewed as essential for optimizing educational outcomes for the next generation of global health workers. An overview is provided of this movement in graduate health professions education in the United States, the Association of Schools of Public Health (ASPH) contributions to advancing and researching related CBE processes and best practices, and the evolving ASPH competency model for graduate global health education.

Tobacco-free community coalitions: opportunities for enhancing oral cancer prevention programs.

BACKGROUND: This study identified oral cancer (OC) education and tobacco reduction collaboration within tobacco-free community coalitions (TFCC). METHODS: Data from 4 TFCC were collected via educational intervention surveys and structured focused group Interviews. RESULTS: Of the 52 participants, 96% were aware that tobacco products are risk factors for OC, yet 33% were unaware of the high OC impact locally. About 90% agreed that primary care providers and dentists should provide OC screenings and tobacco cessation. CONCLUSION: There is a need for provider endorsement and public demand for OC screenings. Opportunity exists for partnering and collaborative OC prevention with TFCC.

Development of an interprofessional competency model for healthcare leadership.

During the past decade, there has been a growing interest in competency-based performance systems for enhancing both individual and organizational performance in health professions education and the varied healthcare industry sectors. In 2003, the Institute of Medicine's report Health Professions Education: A Bridge to Quality called for a core set of competencies across the professions to ultimately improve the quality of healthcare in the United States. This article reviews the processes and outcomes associated with the development of the Health Leadership Competency Model (HLCM), an evidence-based and behaviorally focused approach for evaluating leadership skills across the professions, including health management, medicine, and nursing, and across career stages. The HLCM was developed from extensive academic research and widespread application outside healthcare. Early development included behavioral event interviewing, psychometric analysis, and cross-industry sector benchmarking. Application to healthcare was supported by additional literature review, practice analysis, expert panel inputs, and pilot-testing surveys. The model addresses three overarching domains subsuming 26 behavioral and technical competencies. Each competency is composed of prescriptive behavioral indicators, or levels, for development and assessment as individuals progress through their careers from entry-level to mid-level and advanced stages of lifelong development. The model supports identification of opportunities for leadership improvement in both academic and practice settings.

Development of a core competency model for the master of public health degree.

Core competencies have been used to redefine curricula across the major health professions in recent decades. In 2006, the Association of Schools of Public Health identified core competencies for the master of public health degree in graduate schools and programs of public health. We provide an overview of the model development process and a listing of 12 core domains and 119 competencies that can serve as a resource for faculty and students for enhancing the quality and accountability of graduate public health education and training. The primary vision for the initiative is the graduation of professionals who are more fully prepared for the many challenges and opportunities in public health in the forthcoming decade.

Why competencies in graduate health management and policy education?

During the past decade there has been a growing interest in learning and competency-based systems in various areas of education, training, and professional development. As a result, a number of competency initiatives have been undertaken across the health professions, including medicine, nursing, and pharmacy. Concurrent with these activities have been the resounding calls for: 1) both curricular content and process review in health administration and related training programs, 2) rethinking and reform of current educational practices, and 3) evidence-based, outcomes-focused education in health management and policy education. In spite of governmental mandates and accrediting body specification for educational improvement, the debate about the use of competency models, competencies themselves, and competency-based education (CBE) still continues in a number of post-secondary educational settings-both within and outside of the professions. Specifically, faculties in health management and policy educational programs, including undergraduate and graduate education across the US, have questioned the need for the evolving competencies, competency models, and outcomes-based educational processes and assessment methods currently being developed and or adopted within the profession. Outlined in this paper are four of the current inflection points related to the competency/outcomes-based movement in the professions during the past decade: 1) The Changing Workforce and Workplace, 2) Reform in the Educational Continuum, 3) Evolving Accreditation Requirements, and 4) Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in Health Management and Policy Education.

Current marketing practices in the nursing home sector.

Marketing is widely recognized as an essential business function across all industries, including healthcare. While many long-term care facilities adopted basic healthcare marketing practices and hired marketing staff by the early 1990s, a paucity of research on nursing home marketing exists in the literature. This study examines the extent to which nursing homes have developed more formulated marketing and related communication and promotional strategies as market competition has increased in this sector during the past two decades. In addition, we explored managers' perceptions of their control over marketing decision making, the impact of competition on the use of marketing practices, and areas for enhanced competitive positioning. Administrators from 230 nursing homes in 18 Southeastern Michigan counties were surveyed regarding (1) the adoption level of approximately 40 literature-based, best-practice marketing strategies; (2) the types of staff involved with the marketing function; and (3) their perception of their level of control over marketing functions and of local competition. Results from 101 (44 percent) survey participants revealed that although respondents viewed their markets as highly competitive, their marketing practices remained focused on traditional and relatively constrained practices. In relation to the importance of customer relationship management, the majority of the administrators reported intensive efforts being focused on residents and their families, referrers, and staff, with minimal efforts being extended to insurers and other types of payers. A significant positive relation was found between the intensity of marketing initiatives and the size of the facility (number of beds), whereas significant negative correlations were revealed in relation to occupancy and the perceived level of control over the function.

Validation of learning style measures: implications for medical education practice.

BACKGROUND: It is unclear which learners would most benefit from the more individualised, student-structured, interactive approaches characteristic of problem-based and computer-assisted learning. The validity of learning style measures is uncertain, and there is no unifying learning style construct identified to predict such learners. OBJECTIVE: This study was conducted to validate learning style constructs and to identify the learners most likely to benefit from problem-based and computer-assisted curricula. METHODS: Using a cross-sectional design, 3 established learning style inventories were administered to 97 post-Year 2 medical students. Cognitive personality was measured by the Group Embedded Figures Test, information processing by the Learning Styles Inventory, and instructional preference by the Learning Preference Inventory. The 11 subscales from the 3 inventories were factor-analysed to identify common learning constructs and to verify construct validity. Concurrent validity was determined by intercorrelations of the 11 subscales. RESULTS: A total of 94 pre-clinical medical students completed all 3 inventories. Five meaningful learning style constructs were derived from the 11 subscales: student- versus teacher-structured learning; concrete versus abstract learning; passive versus active learning; individual versus group learning, and field-dependence versus field-independence. The concurrent validity of 10 of 11 subscales was supported by correlation analysis. Medical students most likely to thrive in a problem-based or computer-assisted learning environment would be expected to score highly on abstract, active and individual learning constructs and would be more field-independent. CONCLUSIONS: Learning style measures were validated in a medical student population and learning constructs were established for identifying learners who would most likely benefit from a problem-based or computer-assisted curriculum.

Competency mapping and analysis for public health preparedness training initiatives.

Competency-based education and assessment initiatives have been completed in a number of health care and health management professions during the past decade. In addition, several competency specification endeavors have been similarly undertaken in relation to the field of public health, including the development of the Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice competency model and the initial competency modeling Delphi survey completed by the Association of Schools of Public Health. All of these organizations have subsequently had to address the many challenges and barriers to the dissemination and integration of their models into specific educational and professional development practices. As previously addressed by many researchers in the field of competency modeling and deployment, understanding and acceptance of competency-based systems are formidable goals, often rife with controversy. This article describes the processes undertaken by The University of Michigan Center for Public Health Preparedness to integrate competency-based learning and assessment in educational and training initiatives with its many community partners.

Competency identification and modeling in healthcare leadership.

In line with the current interest in leadership development across many industries today, a number of competency-based educational programming initiatives have been launched in professional education. As well, the National Summit on the Future of Education and Practice in Health Management and Policy in 2001 called for the documentation of learning outcomes for continual educational improvement in health management and policy. The National Center for Healthcare Leadership (NCHL) subsequently launched a comprehensive, multi-stage process for identifying the competencies salient to distinguishing outstanding leadership performance in health management. This article describes the plan and the processes associated with NCHL's specification of a preliminary model of core competencies for leadership in health management, as well as the continued methods for refinement and validation of the model with both educators and practitioners in the field. The initial version of the NCHL Competency Model has facilitated field-wide dialogue regarding outcomes-based learning and assessment for both educational and professional development program planning. Subsequent development of the model will continue to stimulate open exchanges regarding pedagogical practice, as well as facilitate the design of leadership assessments for individuals, programs, organizations, and the field at large.

A framework for evaluating and continuously improving the NCHL transformational leadership initiative. National Center for Healthcare Leadership.

The National Center for Healthcare Leadership transformational leadership project is a broad and ambitious initiative that seeks to bring to the table top leaders from industry and academe. Their charge is to accomplish nothing short of resetting the course for health management education and practice in the coming decades. Four councils were recruited to launch the four major interventions: (1) recruitment and diversity, (2) core competencies, (3) the advanced learning institute, and (4) accreditation and certification. After describing intervention goals, we provide examples of baseline measures for tracking educational and performance outcomes longitudinally. We believe this transformation is only beginning, and it will take many years or decades. The transformation will be most successful if it is guided by data and systematic evaluation.

Toward an understanding of competency identification and assessment in health care management.

Given the revolutionary changes occurring in the health care industry, there is increasing agreement that academicians and practitioners must collaborate to identify and prioritize major educational outcomes for health care management. Several competency initiatives have been undertaken or completed in health care and health care management in the last 5 to 7 years. Health care leaders who have undertaken such endeavors reveal that the task is most formidable. This article provides: (1) a summary of progress in competency identification for health management, (2) an historical overview on competency-based education and assessment, (3) a glossary of terms used in discussions on competency-based education and training, and (4) an outline of the challenges and benefits associated with competency modeling.