The Applied Epidemiology Competencies for Governmental Public Health Agencies (AEC) have been developed jointly by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists to improve the practice of epidemiology within the public health system. The AEC:

• Detail a comprehensive list of competencies that define the discipline for practitioners; and
  
• Describe what skills four different levels of practicing epidemiologists working in governmental public health agencies should have to accomplish required tasks.

The AEC are the result of two years of collaborative work by an expert panel representing local, state, and federal public health agencies and schools of public health, and were informed by substantial input from epidemiologists at all levels of public health practice across the country. The competencies were developed within the framework of the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals, a product of the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice, and so are consistent with the larger field of public health practice.

The target audience and intended uses of the AEC include:

• Practitioners – Assessing current skills, creating career development plans, planning specific training.
  
• Employers – Creating career ladders for employees, developing position descriptions and job qualifications, developing training plans for employees, determining compensation, assessing epidemiologic capacity of the organization.
  
• Educators – Designing education programs that train the next generation of epidemiologists to meet the needs of public health agencies, incorporating critical elements of epidemiology practice into existing coursework, providing continuing education to the current workforce.

The AEC define competencies for four different tiers of practicing epidemiologists, with the tiers differentiated based on level of responsibility, experience and education:

• Entry-level or basic;
  
• Mid-level ;
  
• Supervisory;
  
• Senior scientist/researcher.

The CDC and CSTE have developed the AEC to reflect a range of competencies that applied epidemiologists should aspire to attain over time. The intent is that all individuals practicing applied epidemiology gain minimal competency in all of the defined skill domains within the Tier that closest matches their level of responsibility. However, it is not expected that every applied epidemiologist be equally competent in all areas. Different public health programs that utilize applied epidemiology may emphasize different competency areas, and the scope of an agency’s responsibilities, needs and resources may require that individual positions focus on certain competencies.

With the publication of the Applied Epidemiology Competencies, CDC and CSTE seek to generate awareness across the public health system of the availability of this new tool. We encourage individual epidemiologists, public health agencies and academic centers to use the competencies and to join us in moving toward a common goal of improving epidemiology practice. The CSTE Web site, www.cste.org, will be used to publish ongoing information about the competencies, including tools and documentation to support their use.