Credentialing and Continuing Education
The ASPPH Center for Public Health Workforce Development advances public health credentialing and continuing education to formally recognize and enhance the skills of professionals throughout their careers.
The ASPPH Center for Public Health Workforce Development advances credentialing and continuing education to ensure that public health professionals maintain up-to-date competencies, adapt to evolving challenges, and demonstrate validated expertise throughout their careers.
Recognizing that public health threats, technologies, and societal needs are constantly changing, the Center promotes credentialing as a way to formally recognize specialized knowledge, uphold standards of practice, and build public trust in the workforce. Continuing education is equally critical, offering public health professionals opportunities to refresh skills, learn new methodologies, and deepen their understanding of emerging issues such as data science, health equity, and systems leadership. The Center supports these goals by developing competency frameworks, identifying gaps in training, curating and creating accessible lifelong learning resources, and collaborating with partners. Through these efforts, the Center not only advances individual career growth but also strengthens the overall quality, resilience, and diversity of the public health workforce, ensuring it is prepared to protect and promote health in a rapidly changing world.
Certified in Disease Intervention (CDI)
The National Disease Intervention Certification Project is a collaborative initiative led the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) through CK20-2003, “Improving Clinical and Public Health Outcomes through National Partnerships to Prevent and Control Emerging Infectious Disease Threats.” The Center and the selected certification provider, National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE), is implementing the Certified in Disease Intervention (CDI) program.
Fact Sheet
(PDF)
Certified Health Education Specialist
Funded by CDC as a Workforce Improvement Project (WIP), ASPPH and Claremont Graduate University partnered to increase registration, preparation, and completion of the CHES®/MCHES® exam among ASPPH/CDC Public Health Fellowship Program in the Health Education Track by providing access to a customized CHES® Prep Program. CHES® Prep was developed in 2022 to encourage eligible candidates to register, prepare, and complete the CHES®/MCHES® Exams. Claremont Graduate University customized the CHES® Prep program for CDC Health Education Fellows to address a known workforce gap in health education and strengthen the pipeline of qualified health education professionals.
Continuing Education
The ASPPH Center for Public Health Workforce Development fosters continuing education to ensure that public health professionals remain current, competent, and capable of responding to evolving public health challenges.
Public Health Leadership
Public health leadership is critically important as the world faces increasingly complex, interconnected, and urgent health challenges that demand visionary, skilled, and equity-driven responses. Leaders must build trust with communities, foster cross-sector collaborations, advocate for policy changes, and drive systems transformation centered on health equity to meet today’s urgent needs while envisioning a healthier, more equitable future. Public health leadership degree and certificate programs, while diverse in structure and delivery, are essential for developing these competencies and must be thoughtfully designed and supported despite infrastructure and financial challenges.
Collaboration and sharing of best practices can further enhance leadership education and better prepare graduates for the evolving demands of the field. To support this effort, the ASPPH Center for Public Health Workforce Development developed the Public Health Leadership Competency Mapping and Training Agenda and subsequently created the Public Health Leadership Training Search Tool to operationalize the identified competencies, connecting public health professionals and educators with targeted, competency-aligned training programs to systematically strengthen leadership capacity across the workforce.
Disease Intervention
The disease intervention workforce plays a vital role in controlling the spread of infectious diseases, yet they require continuous learning to adapt to evolving epidemiological challenges, new technologies, and updated public health practices. The Center advances the continuing education of the disease intervention workforce to strengthen the preparedness, competency, and professional development of a critical segment of the public health system.
To meet this need, we developed This is Disease Intervention, a platform designed to raise awareness of the disease intervention profession and provide foundational resources that highlight the essential skills and impact of the workforce. Complementing this, we are launching UniversiDI, an accessible learning platform offering specialized, competency-based training modules tailored to the real-world responsibilities of disease intervention professionals. Through these initiatives, the Center ensures that disease intervention professionals have ongoing access to high-quality, standardized education and training, helping them build core and advanced competencies, stay current with best practices, and advance their careers.
