Dr. Jaime Corvin, a USF College of Public Health (COPH) alumna and professor, will serve on the board of directors for the National Board of Public Health Examiners (NBPHE). Her term will last two years.

The NBPHE was created in 2005 as an independent organization to ensure that public health professionals have mastered the foundational knowledge and skills required of effective public health practitioners. Prior to its inception, public health was the only health care field without a board exam. 

“As part of our commitment to public health, the COPH has been involved with the credentialing process since inception and has been a supporter of this movement,” Corvin said. “In fact, all our master’s students have the unique opportunity to graduate with both a master’s degree and board certification in public health (CPH), as the college committed to using the CPH to fulfill the graduate school requirement that students pass a comprehensive exam. We currently have a 91 percent first-time pass rate on the exam, and I am so proud that our students perform so well and can carry these important credentials.”

As a board member, Corvin—who also directs the college’s MPH programs—will help guide and implement objectives and initiatives outlined in the NBPHE’s strategic plan. Some of these items include ensuring that board certification is available to an audience beyond new graduates, developing continuing-education strategies and encouraging public health practitioners to get and stay certified.

“This is so exciting to me, as the strategies were data informed and constituent guided. They are the same strategies we teach in our courses,” Corvin commented. “Not everyone can do what we do,” she added, “and we have seen the disastrous impacts when they try. Being board certified in public health (CPH) is the stamp of a public health professional. It provides assurance to employers that a student has a solid public health background, and it ensures the public that our practitioners are trained and can handle 21^st-century public health challenges.”

Corvin said she’s “honored” and “thrilled” to be appointed to the board and credits COPH Dean Donna Petersen with leading the certification charge.

“We were one of the first to integrate our curriculum and to require the exam,” Corvin explained. “Continuing to be involved in these discussions and to be a voice in the future of public health is an amazing honor and keeps the COPH at the forefront of public health leadership and practice.”

Story by Donna Campisano, USF College of Public Health