CDC

Throughout CDC\ue2\u20ac\u2122s 52 year history, a majority of the training and continuing education has focused on developing technical competencies. CDC has addressed cross cutting (core) competencies through various courses such as Principles of Epidemiology, Prevention Effectiveness, Program Evaluation, the Public Health Leadership Institute, and products like CDCynergy, a CD-ROM-based health communications planning course. To date, the agency does not offer a course or learning experience which addresses basic competency in public health.The responsibility for competency identification and validation in public health is ongoing and is not exclusively a CDC/ATSDR role. Professional disciplines (e.g., medicine, nursing, environmental health, health education) will continue to define competencies and related training needed for specific types of practice. Academia, other federal, state and local agencies, and associations will continue to provide training and continuing education based on needs assessment. To achieve measurable impact, all these activities must be better aligned and coordinated in the future. The active involvement of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), which has a legislative mandate for health professions workforce planning and research, in the development of the CDC/ATSDR strategic plan has laid the foundation for a more unified approach at the federal level to the issue of public health workforce development. Clearly the success of public health workforce development depends upon a unified vision and leadership among a broad array of partners. It is our hope that this report stimulates dialogue and action.Running title: Task force report on public health workforce development.OtherOthe