Public Health Emergency Response Leadership Training: A Qualitative Assessment of Existing Educational Opportunities and Perceived Facilitators, Barriers, and Priorities in Professional Development.

OBJECTIVE: We aimed to understand the current training environment for developing public health emergency response leaders and highlight facilitators and barriers in accessing targeted training. DESIGN: We designed 4 focus groups to gather organizational perspectives on public health emergency response leadership development. Discussions were recorded, transcribed, coded, and analyzed to synthesize key themes. SETTING: Focus groups were convened at the 2019 Preparedness Summit (March 27-28) in St Louis, Missouri. PARTICIPANTS: Twenty-three public health professionals from 9 Public Health Emergency Preparedness (PHEP) Cooperative Agreement award recipient jurisdictions and 12 local health departments participated. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: We examined the current availability, relevance, specificity, and utility of educational content and delivery modalities. Facilitators and barriers were identified as opportunities to improve training access. RESULTS: Generic emergency management training is considered important and widely available but with limited application in public health practice. Existing leadership training opportunities in public health emergency response are limited and not widely known. While organizational support and accessible training facilitate participation, resource constraints (ie, funding, time, and staff) exist as key barriers. In addition, frequent staff turnover and attrition that result in loss of institutional knowledge likely hinder effective public health emergency responses. CONCLUSION: Effective public health emergency response depends on capable leaders not only well versed in specialized technical disciplines and practices but also familiar with-or preferably fluent in-emergency management principles and functions. This study demonstrated that well-aimed training strategies and organizational planning are essential in developing public health emergency response leaders. Specifically, leadership development may accrue considerable benefit from a standardized training curriculum. In addition, scalable training programs developed through public, private, and academic partnerships may lessen resource demands on individual organizations to facilitate training access. Finally, training practicums (eg, mentoring, shadowing) may provide opportunities to facilitate active learning and preserve institutional knowledge through leadership transitions.

Veterinary public health capacity in the United States: opportunities for improvement.

OBJECTIVES: In 2006, the Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges reported that the shortage (≥ 1,500) of public health veterinarians is expected to increase tenfold by 2020. In 2008, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Preventive Medicine Fellows conducted a pilot project among CDC veterinarians to identify national veterinary public health workforce concerns and potential policy strategies. METHODS: Fellows surveyed a convenience sample (19/91) of public health veterinarians at CDC to identify veterinary workforce recruitment and retention problems faced by federal agencies; responses were categorized into themes. A focus group (20/91) of staff veterinarians subsequently prioritized the categorized themes from least to most important. Participants identified activities to address the three recruitment concerns with the highest combined weight. RESULTS: Participants identified the following three highest prioritized problems faced by federal agencies when recruiting veterinarians to public health: (1) lack of awareness of veterinarians' contributions to public health practice, (2) competitive salaries, and (3) employment and training opportunities. Similarly, key concerns identified regarding retention of public health practice veterinarians included: (1) lack of recognition of veterinary qualifications, (2) competitive salaries, and (3) seamless integration of veterinary and human public health. CONCLUSIONS: Findings identified multiple barriers that can affect recruitment and retention of veterinarians engaged in public health practice. Next steps should include replicating project efforts among a national sample of public health veterinarians. A committed and determined long-term effort might be required to sustain initiatives and policy proposals to increase U.S. veterinary public health capacity.