Public health education at the University of Florida: synergism and educational innovation

Abstract

The College of Public Health and Health Professions at the University of Florida is composed of five public health departments and four clinical health professions departments, and the college is one of six that make up the university's Health Science Center. These organizational resources, along with the university's explicit emphasis on collaboration across professions, colleges, institutes, and centers and the strong leadership and full support of deans and other academic leaders, provide a strong foundation for educational innovations. Three key areas in which the college has built upon these opportunities are interprofessional education, development of One Health instructional programs, and application of cutting-edge technology to students' educational experiences. These innovations represent the types of creative approaches to preparing the 21st-century workforce that can be developed through collaboration among multiple disciplines in a major university.