[On the training of public health professionals, some advances and many challenges. SESPAS Report 2010]

Given the progressive institutionalization of public health in Spain, as shown by the recently approved Valencian and Catalan public health laws and the national draft, reflection on the training of the public health professionals who will apply these rules is essential. Becoming a public health professional requires a certain degree of competence in developing activities to promote and protect citizens' health, mainly that of the population at large. The acquisition of these competencies continues throughout professional life, beginning with a masters' degree in public health until advanced expertise is achieved, characterized by the capacity innovate, lead and provoke changes in public health, both nationally and internationally. Some of the challenges proposed include developing research on public health training, producing a strategic plan for public health training, and establishing an accreditation system, initially voluntary, promoted by professional societies.