Framing the future's expert panel report on the MPH degree: a step backward?

Framing the Future Task Force, a group assembled by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health to identify key issues facing public health education as it enters its second 100 years, has recently released a report, "A Master of Public Health Degree for the 21st Century." The report calls for a significant shift in emphasis for the MPH degree away from a generalist, core curriculum in favor of a greater emphasis on areas of specialty. This commentary argues that such a shift would reverse the progress made since the 1988 Institute of Medicine report called on academia to better meet practice needs. Rather, the MPH of the 21st century should continue to focus on methods to better teach core competencies in public health practice at an advanced level.