Public Health Education in the United States: Then and Now

It was against a background of no formal career path for public health officers that, in 1915, the seminal Welch-Rose Report1 outlined a system of public health edu­cation for the United States. The first schools of public health soon followed, but growth was slow, with only 12 schools by 1960. With organization and growing numbers, accreditation became an expectation. As the mission of public health has grown and achieved new urgency, schools have grown in number, depth and breadth. By mid-2011, there were 46 accredited schools of public health, with more in the pipeline. While each has a unique character, they also must possess certain core characteristics to be accredited. Over time, as schools developed, and concepts of public health expanded, so too did curricula and missions as well as types of people who were trained. In this review, we provide a brief summary of US public health education, with primary emphasis on professional public health schools. We also examine public health workforce needs and evaluate how education is evolving in the context of a growing maturity of the public health profession. We have not focused on programs (not schools) that offer public health degrees or on preventive medicine programs in schools of medicine, since schools of public health confer the majority of master’s and doctoral degrees. In the future, there likely will be even more inter-professional education, new disciplinary perspectives and changes in teaching and learning to meet the needs of millennial students

School Entry Requirements and Coverage of Nontargeted Adolescent Vaccines

Low human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination coverage is an urgent public health problem requiring action. To identify policy remedies to suboptimal HPV vaccination, we assessed the relationship between states’ school entry requirements and adolescent vaccination

Summer Peaks in Uptake of Human Papillomavirus and Other Adolescent Vaccines in the United States

BACKGROUND: Seasonality in human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination could have a large impact on national cancer prevention efforts. We hypothesized that uptake of HPV vaccine and other adolescent vaccines in the United States would be highest in the summer. METHODS: Data came from health care provider-verified vaccination records for 70,144 adolescents (ages 13-17 years) from the 2008 to 2012 versions of the National Immunization Survey-Teen. Using the Edwards method for testing annual trends, we examined seasonal patterns in the uptake of HPV and other recommended adolescent vaccines [tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) booster and meningococcal vaccine]. HPV vaccine initiation (receipt of the first of the three-dose series) data were for female adolescents. RESULTS: Uptake for HPV and other adolescent vaccines peaked in the summer across years and states (all P < 0.001). Uptake was five times as frequent at the peak as at the trough for HPV vaccine, and HPV vaccine initiation was highest in June, July, and August (percent of doses delivered in these months: 38.7%). The same pattern existed for Tdap booster and meningococcal vaccine. Concomitant (same-day) vaccination of HPV vaccine with other adolescent vaccines also demonstrated summer peaks each year nationally (all P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Uptake of adolescent vaccines increased dramatically in summer months. These summer peaks are an important opportunity for interventions focused on concomitant vaccination. IMPACT: The potential cancer prevention impact of HPV vaccination programs could be increased, for example, by delivering messages about concomitant vaccination during the summer, when adolescents and their parents might be most open to them

Standard Definitions of Adherence for Infrequent yet Repeated Health Behaviors

To present common language for defining adherence of infrequent yet repeated health behaviors

Longitudinal Predictors of Nonadherence to Maintenance of Mammography

Regular adherence to screening mammography, also known as maintenance of mammography, reduces breast cancer morbidity and mortality. However, mammography maintenance is uncommon, and little is know about why women do not maintain regular screening schedules. We investigated longitudinal predictors of women not maintaining adherence

A global health action agenda for the Biden administration

Joe Biden will assume the US presidency at a time of unprecedented global health crises, with the COVID-19 pandemic and major setbacks in reducing poverty, hunger, and disease. The COVID-19 pandemic offers rare opportunities for the US President-elect to spearhead long-overdue structural changes and revitalise global health leadership. Building trust among global partners will be challenging, given the USA\u27s withdrawal from, and disruption of, international cooperation under the presidency of Donald Trump. The USA will have to lead in a different, more collaborative way. Here, we offer a Global Action Agenda for the Biden Administration

Implementation Science in Cancer Prevention and Control: A Framework for Research and Programs in Low- and Middle-Income Countries

Implementation Science is a set of tools, principles and methodologies that can be used to bring scientific evidence into action, improve health care quality and delivery and improve public health. As the burden of cancer increases in low- and middle-income countries, it is important to plan cancer control programs that are both evidence-based and delivered in ways that are feasible, cost-effective, contextually appropriate and sustainable. This review presents a framework for using implementation science for cancer control planning and implementation and discusses potential areas of focus for research and programs in low and middle-income countries interested in integrating research into practice and policy

It’s the Amount of Thought that Counts: When Ambivalence Contributes to Mammography Screening Delay

This study examines whether ambivalence towards mammography screening, as moderated by total amount of thought given to the reasons for and against getting mammograms at recommended intervals, predicts greater delay in obtaining subsequent screening mammograms

Effectiveness of a patient- and practice-level colorectal cancer screening intervention in health plan members: Design and baseline findings of the CHOICE trial

Evidence-based interventions have been found effective in increasing colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. Translating these successful interventions into real world settings, such as health plans, can be challenging