DrPH Competencies Breakout Summary Chaired by: Dean Jim Raczynski

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DrPH Competencies Breakout SummaryChaired by
Dean Jim Raczynski

• Need a forum for the DrPH directors to keep
  meeting (at the ASPH annual meeting in the fall
  and the spring Ed Comm mtg.)
• Feedback and general consensus for the DrPH
  consensus statement
• Need to move forward on the DrPH competency
  development proposal
• Get input from the practice community early
• Invite practitioners to the consensus conference,
  which needs to happen early
• Think outside the box re the domains for the
  DrPH competencies (use a Delphi)

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Consensus Statement -- Background

• Stemming from the ASPH associate deans in the
  summer of 2003 with input from the full
  sub-committee inaugural meeting (Boston, 2006),
  the DrPH steering committee worked to develop the
  following draft statement that was refined by
  todays meeting

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Consensus Statement

• There is consensus for the IOM report Who Will
  Keep the Public Healthy? (Institute of Medicine,
  2003) statement that the basic public health
  degree is the master of public health (MPH),
  while the doctor of public health (DrPH) is
  offered for advanced training in public health
  leadership.

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Consensus Statement, cont.

• The DrPH curriculum should serve to integrate the
  five core areas of public health, require work
  experience relevant to the degree, and address
  learning methods and context.  The DrPH should
  represent an advanced competency in public health
  practice skills, differentiating it from the MPH.

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Consensus Statement, cont.

• DrPH programs should ensure that graduates have
  experiences in collaborating with senior public
  health practitioners through some form of
  practicum or other means.  This experience should
  be an opportunity to observe and to develop
  advocacy and leadership skills. 

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Consensus Statement, cont.

• There should be a capstone requirement for the
  DrPH. The capstone project may, however, not be a
  traditional PhD dissertation (i.e., exclusively
  research-based).  The project, nonetheless,
  should involve a written product that addresses,
  generates, and/or interprets knowledge applicable
  to practice.

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Core Competency Development Proposal

• Consensus conference with diverse practice
  community
• Establish contract with competency development
  expert
• Develop domains of competencies (iterative as
  competencies are developed) think outside of
  our boxes
• Identify competencies
• Public review/comment
• Disseminate competencies

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Other Identified Directions

• Need to work with ASPH Communications Committee
  once consensus is developed for DrPH to educate
  and change misperceptions of stakeholder groups
  of the DrPH being less in status than PhD degree

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Comments - Questions