Public Health Training Centers

A program funded by
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Health Resources and Services Administration
2006

r. 5/06
 HRSA: The Access Agency

 Mission: To improve and expand access to quality

health care for all.
 Vision: To improve and expand the availability of
quality health care to low income, uninsured, isolated,
vulnerable and special needs populations and to meet
their unique health care needs.
 Strategies: Move toward eliminating barriers to care
and health disparities:
 Improve quality of care
 Improve public health
 Improve health care systems
Bureau of Health Professions: Assuring an
Adequate Health Care Workforce

Workforce Planning and Analyses The Right People

High Quality Education The Right Skills

Equitable Distribution The Right Places

Performance/Outcome Measures The Right Outcomes

 PHTC Authorizing Legislation

 105th Congress
 Health Professions Education Partnerships
Act of 1998,
 Public Law 105-392; Section 105,
 Public Health Workforce Development
(Section 766 (42 US Code 295a)): Public
Health Training Centers
PHTC Purpose

Improve the Nation’s public health

system by strengthening the
technical, scientific, managerial and
leadership competence of the
current and future public health
workforce
PHTC Purpose

Provide foundational competency-based

training opportunities that prepare public
health workers to pursue specialized
Training in areas such as leadership
development and emergency
preparedness
PHTC Purpose

Develop the existing public health

workforce as a foundation for improving
the infrastructure of the public health
system and helping achieve the
objectives of Healthy People 2010
Healthy People 2010
Section 23: Public Health Infrastructure
 Competencies for public health workers (23-8)
 Training in essential public health services (23-9)
 Continuing education and training by public health
agencies (23-10)
 Performance standards for essential public health services
(23-11)
 Health improvement plans (23-12)
 Model statutes related to essential public health services
(23-15)
 PHTC Offer Trainings Based on Public
Health Core Competencies

Emergency Leadership
Preparedness Competencies

Public Health
Core Competencies

Nursing Environmental
Competencies Health Skills
States Served by a PHTC
Award Recipient States Covered #
Boston University MA, CT, ME, RI, VT, NH 6
U. Pittsburgh OH, PA 2
UNC Chapel Hill NC, SC, VA, KY, WV, TN 6
U. Michigan MI 1
Tulane University LA, AL, MS, AR 4
U. Texas Houston HSC TX 1
U. Washington WA, ID, OR, AK, MT, WY 6
UCLA CA, HI, NV, UT 4
Columbia University NY, NJ 2
U. Illinois-Chicago IL, IN 2
U. Minnesota MN, WI, ND 3
U. Iowa IA, NE, SD 3
St. Louis University MO, KS 2
Johns Hopkins University MD, DE, DC 2

Total All PHTCs 44

 PHTC Partnership Structure

 Supported by an accredited school(s) of public

health
 Collaboration with 118 academic and 342 practice
partners
 In 2005, over 75 percent of PHTC trainings were
co-sponsored with other organizations
 Health Resources and Services
Services Administration
Administration

Public Health Training Centers

PHTC Practice Partners
 342 practice partners including:
 Local, state, and federal health agencies
 Local, state, and federal health organizations
 National Association of County and City
Health Officials (NACCHO)
 Association of State and Territorial Health

Officials (ASTHO)
 State primary care associations

 National and state public health

associations and foundations

 Boards of health
PHTC Academic Partners
 118 academic partners
 Schools of Public Health
 Universities and community
colleges
 Area Health Education Centers
 CDC Centers for Public Health
Preparedness
PHTC Budget

 FY 2000: $2.5 Million

 FY 2001: $4.6 Million
 FY 2002: $5.5 Million
 FY 2003: $5.5 Million
 FY 2004: $4.9 Million
 FY 2005: $4.8 Million
 FY 2006: $4.4 Million
PHTC Budget

FY 2000-2006 (in millions)

6
5
4
3
2
1
0
FY FY FY FY FY FY FY
2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006
 Public Health IOM Reports

The Future of Public Health, 1988

The Future of the Public’s Health in the 21st

Century, 2002

Who Will Keep the Public Healthy?, 2003

 PHTC Mission IOM Recommendations

Forge academic and practice partnerships to Address public health workforce agency needs (p.20-22)
address the learning needs of the current and
Encourage continuing education and degree program learning
future public health workforce (p.22)

Assess the learning needs of the public health Competency development (p.7)
Life-long learning (p.14)
workforce in the geographic area served by the
center Assess public health workforce development needs (p.22)

Develop/deliver learning programs to address Develop plans to assure that public health training needs are
addressed (p.22)
those needs

Address issues of demographics,disparities, diversity (p.4)

Community-based research, learning and service (p. 14-15)

Foster ties between academic faculty, graduate
public health students and leaders in the Practice oriented faculty (p.15)
practice community via collaborative projects in
underserved areas or with underserved Develop staff and faculty exchanges (p.22)
populations
Practitioner involvement in training public health students (p.23)

Foster ties between academic faculty, graduate Improve practice experience for public health students (p.23)
public health students and leaders in the
practice community via improved or expanded
field training opportunities in underserved areas Practical training in public health activities (p.14-15)
or with underserved populations
Fund degree oriented public health fellowship programs (p.23)
 Needs Assessment Efforts
 PHTC Needs Assessments are ongoing and
include:
 Education and training needs of the public
health workforce
 Educational assets and resources in service
area
 Assessment results inform the development of
training initiatives
PHTC Trainings
 Target audience- all public health workers,
including those working in:
 Health Departments
 Community Based Organizations
 Hospitals/Health Care Organizations
 Training based on:
 10 Essential Public Health Services
 Council on Linkages (COL) Core

Competencies
 Number of Public Health Workers
Trained
Over 280,000 public health workers have been trained by PHTCs

100,000 93,278
84,000
Number Trained

80,000
60,000 55,428
40,000 37,889
20,000
13,048
0

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

N u m b e r o f P u b lic H e a lt h Wo rk e rs
T ra in e d b y P H T C : 2 0 0 1- 2 0 0 5
 Number of PHTC Distance Learning
Participants
154,000 workers trained at a distance

80,000
64,927
Number Trained

60,000
49,432
40,000

20,000 20,278
6,296 13,685
0

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Number of PHTC Distanc e Learning

Partic ipants: 2001-2005
Number of PHTC Trainings

 Over 6,800 trainings delivered to date

 Over 3,400 distance learning trainings
3,000
2,705
Number of Trainings

2,500
2,000
1,500 1,396 1,332
1,000 1,012
500 405
0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Number of PHTC Trainings

Offered: 2001-2004
 Percentage of Face-to-Face and
Distance Learning Trainings
100

80 66 71
63
Percent of Trainings

60 52
48 54
37 46
34
40 29

20

0
2001 2002 2003 2004 2005

Face-to-Face Trainings DL Trainings

PHTC Accomplishments
 Over 1,900 different
trainings/courses have
been developed or are in
development
 Over 75% of trainings co-
sponsored with other
organizations in 2005-
2006
 67% of trainings are
based on one or more of
the Council on Linkages
(COL) competencies
 Workforce Served

Percentage of Trainees by Occupation/Professional

Discipline
25
Nurses
Health Administrators
Health Educators
Environmental Health
Emergency/BT Preparedness
53 6 Nutrition
6 Epidemiology
3 Other Public Health Workers
2 2 3
Workplace Served

Percentage of Trainees by Workplace

Health Departments
43
Public Health Community
Based Organizations
54 Other

3
Examples of Training Topics
 Public Health Practice
 PH Nursing
 Grant writing
 Maternal and Child health
 Environmental Health
 Public Health 101
 Nutrition
 Leadership
 Ethics
 Management
 Finance
 Computer skills
 PH Law
 Advocacy/Policy
 Examples of Training Topics
 Cultural Competency
 Community-focused
 Public Health Sciences
 Epidemiology (including Avian Flu)
 Communication
 Risk Communication
 Language courses
 Data Use and Analysis
 Biostatistics

 Foundational skills for Emergency Preparedness

 Other
 Genomics
 Drug abuse prevention
 PH career recruitment
 # of Trainings

0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
Emer Prep

PH Practice

Management

PH Sciences

Other

Communication

Envr Health

Leadership

Cultural Comp
(3/05 – 3/06)

Advocacy/Policy

Nutrition

Data Analysis

PH 101
PHTC 2005 Training Topics

Community
PHTC 2005 Training Delivery
Modes (3/05 – 3/06)
 Face-to-Face
6%
 Satellite Broadcast 8%
Face-to-Face
 Video
46% Satellite
21%
Broadcast
 Web-based Video

 CD-Rom Other

 Live & Web-based Web-based

(“Hybrid”) Live & Web-

based
10%
 Coursebook/ manual
17%
 Telehealth
Free Web-Based PHTC Courses
South Central Public Health
Training Center – 14 Courses
 Managing Conflict in the
Workplace
 Public Health Financial
Management
 Public Health Law
 Managing and Motivating
Effective Public Health
Performance
 Preparing a Competitive
Grant Application
 Public Health Information
Systems
 Public Health Insurance
 Community Health and
Disease
 Health Economics for Public
Health Professionals
 Health Risk Assessment and
Taking an Exposure History
 Improving Your
Communication Skills
 Introduction to Epidemiology
 Leadership, Strategic
Planning & System
Approaches
 Managerial Communications
New York & New Jersey
Public Health Training Center
http://www.nynj-phtc.org

 Provides learners with a basic understanding of public health's

mission and functions
 Designed to orient newly hired support and technical staff to the
field, the course consists of two parts:
 Mission and six obligations of public health
 Ten essential services
 The course uses the metaphor of a computer-based new worker
orientation to present information
 Students read e-mails, complete assigned tasks, and
participate in simulated desktop conferences
Michigan Public Health
Training Center
https://www.sph.umich.edu/iscr/mphtc/

Six Weeks to Genomic Awareness

 Foundation for understanding genomic advances and identifying the
relevance of genomics to public health via lecture format
 Joint effort between the Michigan Center for Genomics and Public Health
(MCGPH) and the Michigan Public Health Training Center (MPHTC)
 Continuing education credits available
 Six modules:
 Week 1: Introduction to Genomics
 Week 2: Genes in Populations
 Week 3: Genetic Testing
 Week 4: Gene-Environment Interactions
 Week 5: Ethical, Legal and Social Issues
 Week 6: An Overview of State and National Resources
Upper Midwest Public Health
Training Center
http://www.public-health.uiowa.edu/UMPHTC/

 Video series designed to help public health

workers better understand the ten essential
services that form a comprehensive public
health program
 First-person stories from outstanding
regional public health practitioners
 Each one-hour video focuses on one
essential service
 Pacific Public Health Training Center
http://www.pphtc.org

Principles of Public Health

 Offered in English and Spanish
 Provides an overview of the most important issues and topics related
to public health departments and public health practice
 Course modules include:
Definition and history of public health Public health law

Health status and determinants of health Environmental health issues

Health disparities Epidemiology and biostatistics

Culture and health Evaluation

Public health programs and infrastructure Community needs assessment

Core functions and essential services Future challenges in public health

Public Health Training Center Projects
Recruiting Public Health Professionals

 Field Placements
 Public Health Career Recruitment
 Community Health Centers Careers
 Field Placements and Public
Health Career Recruitment
 Mid-Atlantic Public Health Training Center Public
Health Applications for Student Experience (PHASE)
 Collaboration with the Maryland Department of Health and
Mental Hygiene
 Program has offered 30 internships for public health
graduate students since 2002.
 Students gain insight on how a degree in public health can
be applied to a career and “real world” experiences
 New York & New Jersey Public Health Training
Center
 Collaborated with Bergen County Department of Health
Services to open a health department training unit
specifically for graduate public health students
 Internship and funding opportunities for MPH students
continually researched and posted on Center website
Public Health Game targets K-12 Students

Midwest Center for Life-Long-Learning in Public Health

http://www.mclph.umn.edu/watersedge/
 Interactive CD-ROM and internet-accessible game designed to expose
young adults to the public health field
 Introduces:
 Basic science principles
 Challenges the investigational and problem-solving skills of the
player
 Provides information about environmental health issues
 Includes Teacher’s Guide and Mac/PC versions
 Available in English and Spanish
Community Health Centers
Career Path Project CD-ROM
 The Upper Midwest PHTC worked with the
Iowa and Nebraska Primary Care Association
 Ongoing efforts toward recruitment and
retention led to Community Health Centers:
Careers in Providing Care to the Medically
Underserved CD-ROM
 Showcases opportunities and experience for
careers at public health centers
 Cultural Competency/
Health Disparities

 Measuring Health Disparities CD-ROM

 Communicate to Make a Difference Series
 Measuring Health
Disparities CD-ROM
 Self-paced, interactive course
 Explores what health disparities are and how
they are defined
 Provides an overview of common issues
faced in measuring health disparities
 Introduces users to a range of technical
health disparity measures, providing
advantages and disadvantages of each
 Identifies different measures to communicate
and evaluate health disparity in our
communities
NY & NJ PHTC Communicate
to Make a Difference Series
Practicing Cross-Cultural
Communication:
 Consists of three separate
modules, each with its own
evaluation and continuing
education credits forms
 Each module should take
about 1.5 hours to complete

Exploring Cross-Cultural
Communication:
Learners explore the meaning of
culture, methods of communication,
and strategies for communicating
more effectively by taking part in
“virtual” group conferences, reading
and responding to simulated e-mails,
and utilizing resource documents
 Environmental Health Nursing
Initiative
 Supplemental funding provided by Agency for Toxic Substances
and Disease Registry ($10,000 per center) FY 2002-2004
 Over 10,000 nurses and other health care professionals trained
 Examples of Trainings:
 Online course developed by the Midwest Center for Lifelong Learning
in Public Health
 Live workshops/telehealth conferences provided by all PHTCs
 Topics covered include:
 Taking an Exposure History
 Foodborne Illness
 Lead Toxicity
 Exposure Case Studies
 Public Health Nursing Committee

 Mission: To advance public health nursing by

addressing learning and training needs through the
partnership between public health academia and
practice.*
 Comprised of over 40 members representing
academia and nursing practice

*Public health nursing is an umbrella term used for public health and community health
nursing.
Rural Public Health Committee
 Purpose: to share best practices, concerns and
programming, particularly as it relates to the needs of
the rural public health workforce with an emphasis on
learning and training needs.
 Rural Public Health Research Agenda Setting
Meeting:
 Purpose: Identify and articulate areas of public
health research that can impact the health of
rural populations
 Outcome: Report distributed by University of
Pittsburgh Center for Rural Health Practice
Rural Public Health Research
Agenda Report

Bridging the Health Divide

The Rural Public Health Research Agenda
Published April 2004

University of Pittsburgh
Center for Rural Health Practice
http://www.upb.pitt.edu/crhp/
 National PHTC Network
 Improve quality and outcomes of public health
training
 Increase efficiency of PHTC operations and training
delivery
 Expand the coverage of PHTC and the National
PHTC Network
 Evaluate the impact of training
 Advocate for broadened support for public health
workforce training in general and the PHTC in
particular
Improving Quality and Outcomes of
Training

 Standardize PHTC training programs

 Collaborate in designing a culturally
competent core curriculum
 Share resources and best practices with each
Center
 Increasing Efficiency of PHTC
Operations and Training Delivery

 Develop relationships with other training

initiatives (e.g. AHEC, ACPHP)
 Address multi-state training jurisdictional
issues
 Serve as a vehicle for:
 Coordinating, facilitating, and disseminating
information
 Providing technical assistance for individual
Centers and their partners
Expanding Coverage of PHTC
 PHTC will devise a logical and equitable plan
to extend the coverage of the PHTC to
include:
 Six remaining schools of public health
 Remaining six states
 Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands
Expanding Coverage of PHTC
 PHTC will devise a logical and equitable plan
to extend the coverage of the PHTC to
include:
 Five remaining schools of public health
 Remaining five states
 Puerto Rico, and U.S. Virgin Islands
Evaluating the Impact of Training
 Develop a PHTC Logic Model
 Assess the outcomes on the agency and
organization as a function of PHTC training
 Evaluate PHTC program's performance
 Develop guidelines for PHTC annual reports
Advocating for Public Health
Workforce Training

 Increase awareness of PHTC

 Develop case studies and lessons learned
 Specifically advocate for local public health,
local training, and the local/regional PHTC
 Speak on behalf of all the PHTC collectively
 Collaborate with others working on public health
workforce issues
 For More Information, Contact the PHTC
Serving Your Area
Heartland Public Health Education and Training Center Northwest Center for Public Health Practice
www.heartlandcenters.slu.edu/hc_education.htm www.nwcphp.org/phtc

Michigan Public Health Training Center Pacific Public Health Training Center
www.mitrainingcenter.org www.pphtc.org

Mid-America Public Health Training Center Pennsylvania and Ohio Public Health Training Center
www.uic.edu/sph/maphtc www.pophtc.pitt.edu/

Mid-Atlantic Public Health Training Center South Central Public Health Training Center
maphtc.jhsph.edu www.scphp.sph.tulane.edu/scphtc/

Midwest Center for Life Long Learning in Public Health Southeast Public Health Training Center
www.publichealthplanet.org www.sphtc.org

New England Public Health Workforce Development Alliance Texas Public Health Training Center
www.bu.edu/publichealthworkforce/index.html www.txphtrainingcenter.org/

New York and New Jersey Public Health Training Center Upper Midwest Public Health Training Center
www.nynj-phtc.org www.public-health.uiowa.edu/UMPHTC/

Health Resources and Services Administration

http://bhpr.hrsa.gov/publichealth/phtc.htm

Association of Schools of Public Health

www.publichealthtrainingcenters.org r. 05/22/06