[Public health competencies and contents in Spanish university degree programmes of Veterinary Medicine]

Abstract

Objective: To reach a consensus among public health faculty from various Spanish universities about the core public health competencies that should be integrated into the Veterinary Medicine degree training.

Methods: The 3rd Forum of University Professors of Public Health was held at the School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Cordoba (12-13 January 2016). Forty-two university professors and lecturers from nine Spanish universities with veterinary degrees participated in the forum. They were divided into five working groups during three working sessions to identify and classify core public health competencies for the Veterinary Medicine degree, propose public health contents for the identified competencies and organize such contents in thematic blocks. The results were discussed in different plenary sessions.

Results: The highest number of core competencies was identified in the activities related to the following public health functions: «Assessment of the population's health needs» and «Developing health policies». The final programme included basic contents organized into five units: 1) Fundamentals of public health; 2) Study and research in public health; 3) Production, animal health and environment; 4) Food security; and 5) Health education.

Conclusions: The public health core competencies and contents identified in this Forum may be considered as a starting point to update public health training programmes for future veterinary professionals.

Keywords: Competencias profesionales; Professional competencies; Public health; Salud pública; Universidad; University; Veterinaria; Veterinary medicine.