Evolution of a Stand-Alone Undergraduate Public Health Program and the Inclusion of a Peace Corps Prep Certificate Program

University of North Carolina Wilmington Public Health Program

The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW) is a midsize institution in the southeast with several colleges, including a College of Arts and Sciences, a College of Health and Human Services, and a College of Education (UNCW, n.d.-a). The School of Health and Applied Human Sciences is housed within College of Health and Human Services, along with the School of Nursing and School of Social Work. In 2012, the UNCW’s community health education program faculty, with full support from administration of both the School of Health and Applied Human Sciences and the College of Health and Human Services, made the decision to expand an existing BA in Community Health Education into a BS in Public Health Studies with multiple concentrations (Figueroa, Birch, King, & Cottrell, 2015). There were several reasons for this change. First, the administration and faculty believed an undergraduate public health degree would be more recognizable and attractive to students and parents. Second, there were strong indications CEPH would soon begin accrediting undergraduate programs and UNCW administration wanted to be in the first cohort of accredited programs. Third, public health was more in line with the mission of the newly formed College of Health and Human Services where the program would be housed. Fourth, by including a concentration in community health education within public health studies the program would leverage its existing strengths in that area.

While there was some overlap between the previous community health education program and the new public health studies program, a revision of the curriculum was needed to make certain all of the public health domains were adequately covered, such as “conduct and disseminate assessments focused on population health status and public health issues facing the community,” “investigate health problems and environmental public health hazards to protect the community,” and “inform and educate about public health issues and functions” (Public Health Accreditation Board, 2011). Some previous courses that did not cover any Public Health Domains were eliminated, some courses were added to cover domains that were not included in the previous coursework, and other courses were modified to better fit the new public health focus. The current UNCW Public Health Studies program requires all students to complete the following core public health courses:

In addition to the core public health courses, each public health student must complete one of three concentrations. The Community Health Education concentration used several existing classes and faculty expertise from the old community health education program. A total of 30 semester hours are required for the concentration. Students in this concentration meet all of the responsibilities, competencies, and subcompetencies of a health education specialist as defined by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing (NCHEC) and are eligible for the Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) exam. NCHEC is credential organization for Health Education Specialists (NCHEC, n.d.). The organization provides two types of credentialing: CHES for early-career professionals and Master Certified Health Education Specialist (MCHES) for those with 5 years or more of experience.

A second concentration is offered in preclinical health. Students in this concentration are required to complete the public health core courses as all other public health students plus take 22 required concentration semester hours in psychology, calculus, biology, and chemistry. These students have to complete 11 more semester hours in chemistry or biology based on the clinical specialty degree a student wants to pursue. Students graduating from the preclinical concentration are prepared to continue studies in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, physician assistant, dentistry, physical therapy, and so on.

Furthermore, global health was seen as an emerging subdiscipline in public health and was closely aligned with the UNCW strategic plan, making the third concentration a logical fit. Students who declare the global health concentration concertation at UNCW complete similar requirements to students in the community health concentration, but they also take additional required classes with a global perspective and are recommended to take additional foreign language classes. These students must do their internship in an approved international site or at a U.S. site that serves disadvantaged populations. On completion of the program they are also eligible for CHES certification and can choose to complete the Pre–Peace Corps Prep Program as part of their global health concentration.

In an increasingly global society, international public health initiatives were viewed as important to improve the health status of people in low- and middle-income countries. Therefore, as interest in public health programs increased, so have the number of global health training programs (Keralis et al., 2018). According to the U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics (2017), there were at least 77 undergraduate global public health and international health programs in the United States in 2015. Many of these programs aim to successfully prepare students to be competent to address the growing public health demands in the United States and around the world. According to Merson (2014), health is an aspect of national security, and university programs can prepare students in multiple areas of global health, including education and training, capacity building, research, innovation, and service delivery. Of 35 surveyed universities, Matheson, Pfeiffer, Walson, and Holmes (2014) noted an increase from three university global health programs prior to 2000 to 35 in 2012. Education, mentorship, and training were the foci of these programs with faculty and students primarily from public health and medicine. Drain et al. (2017) conducted a systematic review of eight undergraduate global health programs to assess how they emerged, program focus, and preparation of students for postbaccalaureate careers, and highlighted the interdisciplinary nature of these online and face-to-face programs. The researchers also reported these programs prepared students for successful matriculation to a number of postbaccalaureate options, such as Teach for America and Peace Corps. As further evidence of the emphasis on global health, the Society for Public Health Education (2018) recognized the importance of a global perspective in its mission statement: “To provide global leadership to the profession of health education and health promotion and to promote the health of society.”

Peace Corps and Peace Corps Prep

Created under the leadership of President John, F. Kennedy, The Peace Corps Act of 1961 was established with three main goals:

to help the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women; to help promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served; and to help promote a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans. (Peace Corps, n.d.)

Since inception, over 200,000 volunteers have served in 141 countries, the majority in education and health sectors.

The Peace Corps Prep Program (PCPP) was established in 2007 with the goal of “fostering stronger partnerships between undergraduate institutions and developing a pipeline of highly qualified Peace Corps applicants” (UNCW, n.d.-b, para. 5). Since then, nearly 100 PCPP have been established at colleges and universities across the country. These programs provide undergraduate students with essential skills to be successful volunteers, as well as gain additional knowledge and skills to work in global environments. The core competencies of the PCPP are: sector-specific skills, foreign language proficiency, intercultural competence, and professionalism and leadership. Students fulfill course requirements addressing these competencies. In consideration of concentrated efforts to prepare undergraduate students for postbaccalaureate careers, one university created an opportunity for the PCPP requirements to overlap with degree requirements.

At UNCW, the idea of a Global Health concentration intentionally coincided with the idea to develop a PCPP. A public health faculty member, who had worked with Peace Corps at a previous university, approached the UNCW Office of International Programs to gauge interest in a PCPP. The International Office was highly receptive and suggested convening a group of UNCW faculty who had been Peace Corps Volunteers to serve as a steering committee. Once formed, the steering committee developed a proposal to initiate a formal program at UNCW. The PCPP was officially approved by the Peace Corps in 2015 with the aim “to introduce students to a variety of global issues and to the Peace Corps as an organization to address global issues” (UNCW, n.d.-b, para. 2). The steering committee has overseen the program since inception and has actively recruited and mentored students. Although students in the PCPP are from various disciplines, the Public Health Studies curriculum serves as a viable primer for students interested in global health careers.

The Public Health Studies Program fully supported this effort with the idea that students in the proposed Global Health concentration could also complete the requirements of the PCPP. This effectively allowed students to complete a Global Health concentration and a PCPP certificate at the same time. The requirements are the following:

Connecting the Pieces

As one of the first four CEPH-accredited, stand-alone undergraduate Public Health programs in the United States, the UNCW provides students a unique opportunity to meet degree requirements while completing the PCPP. The combination of a CEPH-accredited program, applied learning opportunities, and service experiences help students move beyond textbook knowledge to work with communities they will serve in the future. The structured curriculum teaches students essential skills related to the NCHEC competencies and the CEPH public health domains. In addition, internship and capstone experiences are required. UNCW links students who have chosen the global health concentration with students from other majors interested in global topics through the PCPP. The PCPP provides access to service opportunities, a network of Returned Peace Corps Volunteer faculty mentors, and assistance with the Peace Corps application process.

The number of undergraduate public health programs has increased rapidly since the early 2000s. So too have the number of global health programs. The structure of the UNCW Public Health Studies program exemplifies program and curriculum development to meet national standards as well as local workforce needs while also contributing to the mission of the school and college. The program has grown from approximately 110 students when initiated in 2013 to over 300 students in just 5 years. Students now enter UNCW with the expressed intent to major in public health, which rarely occurred with the old community health education program. The UNCW public health program is graduating students who will work as health education specialists in public health departments and community health agencies, who will work as health education specialists within the Peace Corps or other international health agencies, or go on to complete advanced training in medicine, dentistry, nursing, physician assisting, or any of a number of clinical specialties. Ultimately these students will serve to improve health outcomes of people and communities locally and around the world.

Evaluation and assessment are critical to determine the effectiveness of the program model described in this article. The researchers were unable to find any peer-reviewed publications evaluating the effectiveness of the PCPP, including the number of students who successfully complete the program and matriculate into the Peace Corps. As more institutions develop PCPPs and concentrations in global health within undergraduate Public Health degrees, future projects could include an evaluation of the application and impact of students’ knowledge and skills within global arenas, including Peace Corps and other international health careers. Studies that examine the difference between students who have completed undergraduate programs and worked in global health arenas in comparison to those who did not receive this training and education prior to pursuing global health volunteer or career opportunities may also be helpful. Furthermore, the UNCW Public Health Studies curriculum aligns with NCHEC Competencies and Public Health Domains. An additional assessment opportunity would be to examine whether incorporating these national standards with the PCPP further enhances student learning and preparedness.

In summary, there are numerous opportunities for evaluation and assessment related to undergraduate public health programs, global health programs, and PCPPs. The researchers recognize the lack of evaluation data as a limitation of this article but believe this article demonstrates the viability of incorporating PCPP into new and existing public health/global health programs. This article describes a promising new model for other universities to emulate and sets the stage for future impact evaluations.