Online training of public health professionals

The vast majority of professionals working for state and local health departments in the U.S. did not receive any formal education or training in public health prior to their employment. Given the significant changes in health issues and problems during the past 20 years, the federal government decided to fund several projects designed to develop and offer training to these individuals. Few requirements were placed on the type of training or topics, so long as they were based on the needs of different groups of professionals. One of these projects, the Pacific Public Health Training Center, provides online training to all interested health professionals in California and Hawaii. This is a considerable challenge given the large geographic area included as well as the diversity in terms of access to technology, network connectivity, and health issues of interest. The methods, outcomes, challenges, and lessons learned from this project are presented.