Project management educational curriculum for public health professionals: development and evaluation

Successful completion of public health projects is critical to achieving population health objectives. However project execution can be challenging due to scarce time and resources, rapidly changing environments and complex stakeholder requirements. To address these challenges physicians and other professionals working in public health need to learn the practical skills of project management. However curricula tailored to project management skill development for public health professionals is not widely available. A one-week curriculum on project management for public health professionals has been developed enabling participants to independently lead small-scale public health projects. This course adapts a private-sector curriculum for use in public health practice and incorporates a unique skill-building teaching method. Evaluation of the initial curriculum delivery at the Weill-Bugando University, Tanzania indicated the majority of students intended to use project management upon return to their positions in public health. Students indicated a lack of a critical mass of public health professionals with required knowledge and skills represents the greatest barrier to integration of project management into public health practice. A unique one-week curriculum in project management has been developed and is being made publicly available. The course will enable physicians and other professionals working in public health to rapidly learn and apply the methodology to the front lines of public health.