Continuing Professional Education

The mission of APHA Learning and Professional Development Programs Unit is to promote professional development, and strengthen public health practice within the core guidelines of the public health essential services. APHA will continually seek to ascertain the ongoing educational needs of its discipline-specific membership including Physicians, Registered Nurses, Certified Health Education Specialists, and other public health professionals. Public health professionals are employed in a variety of settings including: government agencies, non-governmental agencies, clinical practice, academia, and industry. The Learning and Professional Development Programs Unit will develop and modify programs to meet these changing discipline-specific educational needs (Full length Mission Statement).

To achieve its mission, the APHA Continuing Professional Education Programs has set the following goals:

To educate the public health workforce by enhancing their knowledge and skills in public health;

To provide managerial, programmatic, and technical support to local, state, federal, and international organizations involved in the delivery and evaluation of health services.

APHA has found that the continuing education component of its Annual Meeting is compliant with the accreditation criteria of each of the following accrediting bodies. For further information, refer to the printed Annual Meeting program tab labeled, Continuing Education, or contact the education staff at 202-777-2521.

• Certified Health Education Specialist (CHES) - The APHA is accredited by the National Commission for Health Education Credentialing, Inc., to sponsor continuing education for Certified Health Education Specialists. The APHA Annual Meeting is a designated program/activity for the CHES to receive Category 1 contact hour credits in health education. The 90-minute scientific sessions earn 1.5 CHES hours.
• Continuing Medical Education (CME) - The APHA is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians. The APHA Annual Meeting is a designated program/activity for the AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity. The 90-minute scientific sessions earn 1.5 hours AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™ (CME hours).
• Continuing Nursing Education (CNE) - The APHA/PHN Section is accredited as a provider of continuing nursing education by the American Nurses Credentialing Center’s Commission on Accreditation.

Beginning with the 2006 APHA Annual Meeting, one continuing education contact hour credit is earned for every 60-minutes of educational content. The scientific sessions earn 1.5 CNE hours.