Public Health Informatics Competencies

These Competencies for Public Health Informaticians were created in partnership with the
Association of Schools of Public Health (http://www.asph.org/) (http://www.cdc.gov/Other
/disclaimer.html) and the University of Washington Center for Public Health Informatics
(http://www.cphi.washington.edu/) (http://www.cdc.gov/Other/disclaimer.html) .
Download the Competencies for Public Health Informaticians, 2009 (/InformaticsCompetencies
/downloads/PHI_Competencies.pdf) (295KB).
Rationale
As an emerging field, there is no broad consensus on the knowledge, skills, and abilities of public
health informaticians. This collaborative effort involved consultations with a wide variety of experts
to develop a comprehensive list of competencies.
Proficiency in these competencies will enable today's public health professionals to leverage the
power of modern information technology in the science and practice of public health.
Goal
To create a comprehensive list of competencies that:
Define the discipline of public health informatics
Describe the skills of two different levels of practicing public health informaticians
Provide a framework for public health informatics training and career development
Intended Uses
Public health informaticians
Assess current skill levels
Create create career development plans
Employers
Create career ladders for informaticians
Develop training plans
Develop position descriptions and job qualifications
Assess overall informatics capacity
Educators
Design competency-based education and training
Enhance existing coursework
Public Health Informatics Competencies
This work represents a broad set of core competencies for public health informaticians. All
CDC - Public Health Informatics Competencies http://www.cdc.gov/InformaticsCompetencies/
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Page last reviewed: November 6, 2009
Page last updated: April 16, 2013
Content source: Office of Surveillance, Epidemiology, and Laboratory Services; Scientific Education and Professional Development Program
Office
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 1600 Clifton Rd. Atlanta, GA 30333, USA
800-CDC-INFO (800-232-4636) TTY: (888) 232-6348 - Contact CDCINFO
informaticians are not expected to be equally competent in every area. Their competency will depend
on the following:
Seniority
Position
Focus
Location (e.g., health department, academia, federal government)
Related Materials
O'Carroll PW, Public Health Informatics Competency Working Group. Informatics Competencies
for Public Health Professionals. Seattle, WA: Northwest Center for Public Health Practice; 2002.
O'Carroll PW, Yasnoff WA, Ward ME, Ripp LH, Martin EL, eds. Public Health Informatics and
Information Systems. NY: Springer; 2003:5.
Yasnoff WA, O'Carroll PW, Koo D, Linkins RW, Kilbourne E. Public health informatics:
improving and transforming public health in the information age. J Public Health Manag Pract
2000;6:6775.
CDC - Public Health Informatics Competencies http://www.cdc.gov/InformaticsCompetencies/
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