Goals for USOPHE Professional Development

Professional Development Goals for USOPHE

The Board at USOPHE has developed the following core professional development quality goals for its members:

Core Competency

The resources and capabilities that comprise strategic advantages. Core competencies reflect the values, knowledge, attitude, and skills that health care professionals have deemed essential to their specific discipline, and endorse a social contract between the public and the practitioner (Amos, 2021). Competencies are acquired through talent, experience and formal education. It is through enforcement of these competencies that health care professionals establish expectations of performance excellence.

Public health educators must have sufficient knowledge of the required core competencies. These competencies fall under eight domains as listed: 

Area I: Assessment of Needs and Capacity

Area II: Planning

Area III: Implementation

Area IV: Evaluation and Research

Area V: Advocacy

Area VI: Communication

Area VII: Leadership and Management

Area VIII: Ethics and Professionalism

Continuing Education

Continuing education (CE) refers to post-secondary learning. CE within the public health industry ensures that employees remain current with industry practices and new knowledge and research. Some forms of CE include degree credit courses, workforce training, conferences, experiential learning, or self-directed learning. The USOPHE Online Training Center seeks to provide CE opportunities for its members. Take USOPHE’s survey to submit your topic of interest. If you would like to present on a topic or have a speaker in mind, fill out and share our webinar proposal form.

Leadership

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Relates to the ability of an individual to influence, motivate, and enable others to contribute toward the effectiveness and success of their community and/or the organization in which they work. It involves inspiring people to craft a vision to achieve goals. According to a top leadership training CEO writing for Forbes magazine, leadership is, “a process of social influence which maximizes the efforts of others towards the achievement of a goal (Kruse, 2013).

Unique to public health is the necessity for interdisciplinary cooperation and systems thinking. The ability to maximize the efforts of others is the focus of public health leaders. The CDC has launched and maintains a leadership training course for public health professionals at no cost. The Public Health Learning Navigator also provides a free leadership webinar. Check with your HR department for leadership training offerings and opportunities.

Advocacy

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Encompasses direct service to the individual or family as well as activities that promote health and access to health care in communities and the larger public. Advocacy happens in a myriad of ways, from speaking up when others are disadvantaged, writing political leaders, and organizing groups to implement change.

Extensive webinars and online courses are available to enhance your knowledge of Advocacy. Start with A Blueprint for Change Makers or an intermediate course on public health policy that is also available for free credits. Join the USOPHE Advocacy Committee to become involved locally.

Resiliency

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The ability of a community to use its assets to strengthen public health and healthcare systems and to improve the community’s physical, behavioral, and social health to withstand, adapt to, and recover from adversity. Resilience can protect you from various mental health conditions (Mayo Clinic Staff, 2022). 

Many online resources can be used to work on strengthening skills of resilience. In this article on resilience, many activities and resources are outlined to fortify one’s ability to cope with adversity. Simple changes to your mindset and perspective on problem solving not only combat mental health disorders, but will give you positive mental health (Riopel, 2019).

USOPHE is committed to providing continuing resources in our online training center for personal development in these core competency areas. Look for further material under professional development to learn more on these topics.

References

Amos, K. (October, 2021). Core competencies for public health professionals. The Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice. https://www.phf.org/resourcestools/Pages/Core_Public_Health_Competencies.aspx

Kruse, K. (April, 2013) What is leadership? Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/kevinkruse/2013/04/09/what-is-leadership/?sh=35d843635b90

Mayo Clinic Staff. (July, 2022). Resilience: build skills to endure hardship. Mayo Clinic. https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/resilience-training/in-depth/resilience/art-20046311Riopel, A. (2019). Resilience skills, factors and strategies of the resilient person. Positive Psychology. https://positivepsychology.com/resilience-skills/