Public Health Workforce Core Competencies

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What are the Council on Linkages (COL) Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals?

The Council on Linkages (COL) Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals is a "set of skills, knowledge and attitudes necessary for the broad practice of public health". The COL Core Public Health Competencies assist:

• Course providers in developing and evaluating competency based training content and curricula
• Agencies and organizations in crafting job descriptions, implementing staff performance reviews, and assessing knowledge and skill gaps of individual employees or of entire organizations
• Learners in assessing and meet training needs
• Public health fields in developing discipline-specific competencies

The COL Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (originally created in 2001) have been revised. The Wisconsin Department of Health Services, Division of Public Health (DPH) and public health partners were represented on the workgroups to develop the revised draft.

• Public Health Foundation: Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice

What are the Association of Schools of Public Health competency sets?

The Association of Schools of Public Health competency sets are used for educational preparation purposes and complement the COL Core Public Health Competencies.

• Master of Public Health, Core Competency Model
• Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) Core Competency Model
• Undergraduate Public Health Learning Outcomes Development Project
• Public Health Preparedness and Response Core Competency Development Project
• Global Health Core Competency Development Project

Are there discipline specific competency sets?

• Association of State and Territorial Nursing Directors (ASTDN) - Publication - Quad Council Competencies for Public Health Nursing (PHN) (PDF, 1.5 MB)
• Competencies for Applied Epidemiologists in Governmental Public Health Agencies (AECs)

Are there other competency sets that cut across disciplines?

Yes, for example, Public Health Informatics Competencies and Bioterrorism / Emergency Readiness Competencies cut across disciplines and are also complementary to the COL Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals.

• The CDC Competencies for Public Health Informatics Competencies
• Competencies for Public Health Informaticians, 2009 (PDF, 295 KB)

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Last Updated: May 14, 2013