Public Health Law Training and Education Resources

Resources Developed by the Public Health Law Program

• "Public Health Emergency Law"
  A six-unit, PowerPoint-based training resource that provides a broad exposure to the framework of federal and state laws relevant to preparedness for all-hazards public health emergencies. This resource may be used by individual public health professionals and also may be delivered in group settings by public health legal counsel and in schools of public health.
  
  
• "Forensic Epidemiology"
  "Forensic Epidemiology" is used in joint trainings for front-line public health, law enforcement, and emergency management professionals to understand legal and operational aspects of coordinated investigations of suspected bioterrorist events.

  See also:
  Richard A. Goodman, et al., "Forensic Epidemiology: Law at the Intersection of Public Health and Criminal Investigation",  Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics31, 684-700 (2003).
  (PDF file)
  
  First Responders, July 2004 Issue.   First Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis D. Schmitz, Eastern District of Wisconsin gives strong support and high marks to the Forensic Epidemiology training course.
  

• "Community Public Health Emergency Legal Preparedness"
  This workshop-based learning resource brings together the legal counsel to public health agencies with counterparts from hospitals and other health care organizations to enhance their mutual understanding of the legal framework in which health care providers operate during public health emergencies.
  
  
• "Jacobson v. Massachusetts and Public Health Law: Perspectives in 2005" This DVD contains the entire proceedings—plus supplemental learner materials and instructor guides—of the plenary session at the June 2005 CDC public health law conference that explored the legal and public health practice implications of the landmark 1905 U.S. Supreme Court ruling that upheld the state’s requirement that adults be immunized against smallpox.
  
  
• "Law as the Basis of Public Health Action" An introduction to public health law (PowerPoint file) by Frederic E. Shaw, MD, JD, and Richard A. Goodman, MD, JD from the CDC Public Health Law Program. Describes the core concepts of public health law.
  (PowerPoint file)
  (Posted: 09/08/2003 10:15 AM)
  
  
• 26 Readings in Public Health Law
  Each week for 26 weeks during 2004-2005, The CDC Public Health News presented an installment of a special feature, 26 Readings in Public Health Law.  Each week, we published in the News and posted here a short introductory description and a link to illustrative readings in public health law, including cases, law review articles, book chapters, and other materials.  The readings were designed to provide a foundation for understanding public health law.  To see the list of readings, click here.
  
  

Selected Resources Developed by Others

• ASPH Education Committee: "Master's Degree in Public Health Core Competency Development Project", Version 2.3 (Aug. 11, 2006). See the "Health Policy and Management" discipline-specific competencies, page 15.

   

• CDC and CSTE: "Applied Epidemiology Competencies for Governmental Public Health Agencies", June 19, 2006. See pages 8, 15, 38, 43-44.

   

• Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice: "Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals", Aug. 2005. See Domains 2 and 8.

• Public health law-related training and education courses and other resources are available from the Centers for Public Health Preparedness Resource Center. Search on "law" at http://www.asph.org/acphp/

• Public health law-related training and education courses and other resources are available from the Learning Resource Center of the Public Health Foundation. Search on "law" at http://bookstore.phf.org

Additional Resources

• The "Swimming with Sharks: Environmental Health in the Context of Litigation" DVD, produced by the Southern Center for Excellence in Environmental Health is a concise, 30-minute review of issues that front-line public health practitioners encounter in responding to litigation and in using litigation as tool to advance the health of the public health.
  (eh.asp#sws)
  (Posted: 08/11/2005 12:00 PM)
     
• "The Historical Role of Attorneys and 21st Century Public Health Practice." A PowerPoint presententation from the American Bar Association's Center for Continuing Legal Education teleconference series, entitled "Understanding the Role of Public Health in Your Practice." Presented by Gene W. Matthews, JD, CDC Foundation, Atlanta, Georgia, August 10, 2005.
  (PowerPoint file)
  (Posted: 08/11/2005 12:00 PM)
   
• "Comparison of Health Laws."   A presentation at "The Public's Health and the Law in the 21st Century, 3rd Annual Conference" by Audrey Kaiser Manka, JD, Minnesota Assistant Attorney General, June 2004, Atlanta, Georgia.
  (PowerPoint file)
  (Posted: 07/12/2004 2:00 PM)
   
• "Introduction to Public Health in the Constitutional Design." A presentation by Samantha K. Graff, Staff Attorney, Technical Assistance Legal Center, Public Health Institute. Presented at the Ventura County Health Department, California on October 29, 2003.
  (PowerPoint file)
  (Posted: 06/03/2004 2:00 PM)
   
• "State Statutory and Administrative: Law Research, Analysis, and Surveillance: Challenges and Opportunities".  A presentation by Jamie F. Chriqui, Ph.D., M.H.S., Vice-President, Center for Health Policy and Legislative Analysis, The MayaTech Corporation, given to the CDC Work Group on Public Health Law Surveillance, April 1, 2004. 
  (PDF file) (Posted: 04/14/2004 2:00 PM)
   
• "When Public Health Goes to Court," Jan. 21, 2003, by Hon. Linda L. Chezem, Senior Judge, Harrison County, Indiana. Sponsored by the CDC Public Health Law Program.
  (Word file).
   

Training Classes

• First Responders, July 2004 Issue.   First Assistant U.S. Attorney Francis D. Schmitz, Eastern District of Wisconsin gives strong support and high marks to the Forensic Epidemiology training course.
  (Posted: 10/08/2004 3:30 PM)
   
• The Public Health Law and Ethics Syllabus.  A syllabus detailing the objective of The Public Health and Ethics course instructed by Professor Lawrence O. Gostin, of the Georgetown University Law Center, during the Fall semester 2004.
   
• Introduction to Public Health Law for Bioterrorism Preparedness and Response is a training module providing a basic understanding of emergency public health, and the legal issues that may arise during public health emergency threats.  Developed by The Center for Law and the Public's Health.
   
• North Carolina Center for Public Health Preparedness (NCCPHP).  A series of short Internet-based trainings offered by the NCCPHP on public health emergency preparedness that focuses on topics such as surveillance agents of bioterrorism, emerging and re-emerging disease agents and public health law.
  (Posted: 03/09/2005 3:30 PM)
   
• Public Health Law Academic Programs.  A directory listing of academic institutions offering Public Health Law as a course of study in their program curriculum.