Sharing European Educational Experience in Public Health for Israel: harmonization, employability, leadership and outreach

The aim for the proposal has been defined as ENHACEMENT OF THE PUBLIC HEALTH WORKFORCE (PHW) IN ISRAEL THROUGH SHARING EUROPEAN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE, INCLUDING: HARMONIZATION, EMPLOYABILITY, LEADERSHIP and OUTREACH. The Israel Council for Higher Education (CHE) recent evaluation of Public Health (PH) Programmes calls for changes in approach to training PH students. Europe HEIs have made strides to modernize PH training while the EU PH community has developed tools to professionalize its PHW. Bringing together a consortium of EU Partners to share expertise with Israel offers a unique opportunity at this time. The project objectives are to:1. Analyze PH field qualifications as assessed by employers - with adaption of the WHO-ASPHER Competency Framework for the Public Health Workforce in the European Region (CFPHW) tool. 2. Map the matching competencies provided by HEIs using ASPHER’s European List of Core Comptences for the Public Health Professional (ECCPHP) providing a pathway to HARMONIZE programmes between HEIs at all education levels and with employer needs. 3. Increase EMPLOYABILITY of graduates with the creation of an online platform for practical placement, employment and career development modeled on the European Public Health Reference Framework (EPHRF). 4. Empower student capacities by training of Faculty on LEADERSHIP and problem based learning methodologies at a PH leadership academy modeled on Leaders for European Public Health (LEPHIE).5. Valorize and professionalize the PHW through OUTREACH activities to PH system stakeholders and related health professions with awareness campaigns such as “I am PH”. Work will primarily be in English with local resources produced in Hebrew and other languages as needed. The consortium believes this to be an innovative proposal to share European PHW professionalization experience desired in Israel, which will have lasting impact on the PHW and may serve as a model for similar efforts elsewhere.