Reaching and educating the global tobacco control community: innovative approaches to tobacco control training

To slow and end the growing global burden of tobacco-related death and disease, schools of public health need to provide tobacco control education and training for public health professionals generally, and for the next generation of tobacco control professionals in low- and middle-income countries specifically. As the tobacco epidemic continues to grow, there is an increasing need for training to develop the research and intervention skills required to stem the epidemic and reduce the inevitable burden of disease and death. A wide range of educational approaches has been developed to increase tobacco control educational capacity in high-, middle-, and low-income countries, including traditional on-site classes, on-line courses, open source courseware, summer school programs, and training workshops. This article provides a perspective on the education and training needs of tobacco control researchers around the world and reviews the strengths and weaknesses of education and training approaches currently being used in tobacco control by schools of public health. In each case, we draw on the experience of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in educating national and international audiences in tobacco control.