Skills Enhancement for Public Health
online continuing education modules

The Skills Enhancement for Public Health modules are offered through the Internet to public health practitioners across Canada. This continuing education opportunity helps public health practitioners to strengthen their knowledge and skills to help meet the core competencies for public health, thereby improving public health practice.

"The experience of learning online was especially convenient and flexible. I could work on this anywhere I had access to a computer."
- learner

The benefits
What to expect
Unfacilitated modules
Share your expertise - become a facilitator
Recognition
Online learning schedule
How to register
Current modules
Future modules

The benefits

Both public health practitioners and their organizations will benefit from participating in the Skills Enhancement program

Public health practitioners will benefit as they expand their knowledge and skills. A wide range of information and resources are available to support learning, including online facilitators who are experienced public health practitioners. Other benefits include:

• Support the knowledge and skills to meet the core competencies for public health
• Learn with other public health practitioners from across Canada
• Enhance critical thinking, effective use of data and data sources and computer skills
• Become professionally stimulated - dynamic learning
• Support professional, continuing education

"I found (and continue to find) the online experience timely, practical, convenient, and an excellent resource with linkages to terrific sites."
- learner

Organizations will benefit by having better skilled employees. The module content will help equip employees with basic up-to-date public health tools. Public health staff will have better decision-making and planning abilities. Other benefits include:

• Provide consistent and common baseline understanding of public health principles
• Support health standards and mandatory programs
• Build public health human resource capacity
• Enhance staff skills in using data sources to better understand community health status
• Create a network of trained persons
• Contribute to a national program to strengthen public health capacity

"… a good course to offer all new public health staff to establish a common working use of epidemiological terms and concepts."
- public health manager

Maintaining individual professional development programs has many benefits, but requires time - something many public health practitioners already do not have enough of. A resource to help Skills Enhancement program participants negotiate time with their employers (replace with revised document) is available. This resource outlines different strategies and approaches to negotiate doing some of your learning during work hours and being recognized for your efforts. Benefits to participating in the Skills Enhancement modules are also identified.

What to expect

Prerequisites
The modules are designed for public health practitioners in Canada. These include public health nurses, environmental health professionals, health promoters, program managers, dental hygienists, dieticians, policy analysts and other public health practitioners. Learners must first complete "Orientation module before starting any of the other modules. Some of the modules are prerequisites for subsequent modules and these must be completed first. Information on the specific prerequisites for each module can be found under each module description .

Required technology
The minimum technical requirements are:

• Internet access with minimum of 56kbps
• Web browser (version 4.0 or higher)
• 233 MHz Pentium processor, or equivalent
• 32 MB RAM
• Windows 95/98/NT/2000, MacIntosh OS8 or OS9, Unix
• 800x600 screen resolution
• 16 bit or higher colour depth
• Sound/ video card, speakers (optional)
• Email address

Cost
There is no fee to participate; however, there is an eight week time commitment. Learners must provide their own supplies and have the required technology.

Time required to complete a module
Learners have 8 weeks to complete the 25 to 30 hours of work needed for each module. Suggested pacing guidelines for each module are provided to help learners manage their time.

Facilitated modules

For each module, learners have access to a trained online facilitator who are experts in public health. Skills Enhancement facilitators provide overall guidance and act as mentors in the online learning environment. They are available to answer content-related questions, provide feedback on learning exercises, and encourage discussion among all the participants using bulletin board discussions. Teams are made up of 15 to 18 learners from across the country and are representative of a variety of public health disciplines. After successfully completing a module, participants receive a certificate of successful completion from the Public Health Agency of Canada.

Share your expertise - become a facilitator

If you are an experienced public health practitioner and would like to help others learn online, there are many opportunities for you to share your expertise. Click here to find out about the roles, responsibilities and benefits associated with becoming a Skills Enhancement online facilitator .

Recognition

After successful completion of each module, learners are recognized with a certificate of successful completion from the Public Health Agency of Canada. The Skills Enhancement modules are endorsed by several national professional public health associations and organizations, and have the support from the provinces/territories, regional health authorities and local public health departments. Skills Enhancement is working to develop recognition strategies with the universities as they develop their Master of Public Health programs. Discussions are underway with various other potential partners, regarding recognition.

Online learning schedule

Modules are offered in the Fall (beginning in September), Winter (beginning in January), and Spring (beginning in April). A detailed schedule of current and future modules is available.

How to register

Registration for public health practitioners is easy and can be done online. For the registration schedule and to access the online registration form, click here (insert link??? http://www.phac-aspc.gc.ca/csc-ccs/sehs-acss/registration_e.html)

Current modules

Modules currently available include:

Orientation : WebCT Tutorial (must be completed before EPI1)

EPI1: Basic Epidemiological Concepts

EPI2: Measurement of Health Status

EPI3: Descriptive Epidemiologic Methods

APP2: Epidemiology of Chronic Diseases

APP1: Outbreak Investigation and Management

SUR1: Introduction to Public Health Surveillance

APP3: Applied Epidemiology: Injuries

Future modules

Future modules