Public Health Education Post-COVID: Challenges in the Era of Artificial Intelligence

OBJECTIVES: To examine the challenges public health education faces in the era of post-COVID and artificial intelligence (AI).

METHODS: A narrative review of the literature on the topic published between 2020 and 2023. The review was guided by the PRISMA and Braun and Clarke’s thematic analysis framework.

RESULTS: Key challenges that public health education faces in the era post-COVID and AI were identified as: 1) the difficulties in reforming the education system based on lessons learned from the pandemic and the new opportunities brought by AI; 2) the lack of practical solutions to bridge the wide gap between knowledge and skills taught at school and those needed in practice now and in the future; 3) the dearth of talents—from educators, scholars, to policymakers—who have the knowhow, resolution, and resources to keep public health education breast of students’ aspirations and society’s needs; 4) debates about the uncertainties and ethical issues surrounding cutting-edge technologies like AI can also hinder educators’ and schools’ willingness to incorporate AI knowledge and skills into the curriculum.

CONCLUSIONS: For public health systems worldwide, COVID-19 has been a litmus test. Such is also the case for AI, which brings immense disruptive challenges and opportunities that many campuses lack the ability to embrace. These era-defining influences—COVID-19 and AI—not only revealed policy flaws at the decision-making level, but also deep-rooted structural issues across the global public health ecosystem—most of which could be traced back to inappropriate or inadequate education and training are given to healthcare professionals. We hope insights from this study can help policymakers make more informed decisions in developing policies and investing resources to ensure the public health education system is well-equipped for the challenges and opportunities of the era.