Crisis leadership: a case for inclusion in accredited Master of Public Health program curricula.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the exposure to crisis leadership theory already present in Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) accredited Master of Public Health (MPH) programs in the United States and provide a compelling case for its future inclusion. STUDY DESIGN: This was a narrative review. METHODS: We compiled a comprehensive list of 179 CEPH schools that offered an MPH program. During January through March 2021, we examined 179 websites for the core courses and elective courses offered in the MPH degree program to determine if any courses covered the topics of leadership, crisis leadership, or crisis management in either the course title or description. RESULTS: Leadership courses were available in only 55.31% of CEPH-accredited schools. Only a single program (0.56%) offers a crisis leadership course. CONCLUSIONS: The current global COVID-19 pandemic and reality of climate-induced disasters have brought crises to the forefront for health systems. Successful leadership for the future requires public health leaders to have training in crisis leadership. The evaluation and revision of public health curricula must focus on leadership competency development to prepare graduates to lead complex multiple crisis events and system shocks simultaneously.

Public health competences through the lens of the COVID-19 pandemic: what matters for health workforce preparedness for global health emergencies.

The COVID-19 pandemic is raising new questions on public health competences and leadership and on health workforce preparedness for global public health emergencies. The present commentary aims to highlight demand and opportunities for innovation through the disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis. We review the public health competency framework recently launched by WHO and ASPHER through the lens of COVID-19. The framework provides guidance for aligning public health and global health competences across sectors and professional groups. Five critical competency areas can be identified in relation to public health emergencies: (1) flexibility, adaptation, motivation, communication, (2) research, analytical sensitivity, ethics, diversity, (3) epidemiology, (4) preparedness and (5) employability. However, this may not be enough. New models of public health leadership and changes in the health workforce are needed, which transform the silos of professions and policy. Such transformations would include learning, working, leading and governing differently and must stretch far beyond the public health workforce. To achieve transformative capacity, critical public health competences must be considered for all healthcare workers on all levels of policymaking, thus becoming the 'heart' of health workforce resilience and pandemic preparedness.