Transforming Public Health Education in the Digital Age

Academic models — from teaching to faculty evaluation to research — are revered, defended, and preserved without question. Yet they have consistently failed to deliver on their stated social mission. To cultivate an alternative intellectual discourse, beyond the narrow obsession with “how to preserve what is,” this project takes aim at entrenched models that remain both orthodox and evidence-free. These frameworks sustain assessment practices and learning approaches that neither prepare students for real-world practice nor reflect the shifting sociopolitical demands of the digital era.

The first phase reimagines curriculum design through a praxis orientation, embedding employability, practice-based pedagogy, and the ethical integration of AI. Central to this work are AI-proofing strategies and AI-smart assignments. The goal is to link learning directly to both professional tasks and students’ passions and lived experiences. In doing so, public health education becomes anchored in practice, while equipping learners with critical thinking and leadership skills that are relevant for their daily work as practitioners and change agents.