Translating knowledge to practice: application of the public health apprenticeship

As public health challenges continue to grow and deepen in complexity, public health workforce roles are becoming increasingly difficult to fill. As a result, the public health educational system must adapt to address these dynamic workforce needs. Health-related professions commonly utilize experiential learning models such as post-graduate programs, practicums or applied practice experiences, apprenticeship, and mentorship. However, there is a gap in practice-based, post-master's programs to develop these skills for Master of Public Health graduates. Accordingly, this paper proposes the public health apprenticeship, guided by the Cognitive Apprenticeship Theory, as a solution to fill this gap. A real-world application of the public health apprenticeship is described, and development of public health competencies are measured to evaluate the effectiveness of the public health apprenticeship model.