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Life sciences · Journal article
BMC Medical Education · August 28, 2026
Early or partial results. Treat as a signal, not a conclusion.
This cross-sectional survey documents perceived misalignments between undergraduate public health curriculum and frontline workforce competency requirements in a border region of China, based on aggregated responses from 160 students and 190 employers. Students reported generally low satisfaction across six curriculum domains, while employers identified significant performance gaps in field epidemiology, policy understanding, multisectoral collaboration, and data analysis. The findings are descriptive and identify areas for potential curriculum improvement but do not test the effectiveness of specific interventions.
Dual-perspective cross-sectional survey with qualitative open-ended response analysis. Undergraduate public health students at Kunming Medical University (2020, 2021, 2022 cohorts) and employer respondents from public health-related institutions in Yunnan, China.. n = 350. Yunnan Province, China (single academic centre and regional public health employers).
160 students across 2020, 2021, and 2022 cohorts reported generally low satisfaction across six training domains including curriculum, classroom teaching, learning resources, faculty support, practical training, and career guidance. 190 employer respondents rated most medical–public health integration competencies as important or very important but reported perceived performance gaps among recent graduates, particularly in field investigation of outbreaks, policy understanding and implementation, multisectoral collaboration, and data analysis. The 2021 cohort reported relatively higher satisfaction scores than 2020 and 2022 cohorts, though absolute satisfaction levels remained low.
Safety was not reported in the material analysed. Check the source before drawing any conclusion about harm.
Educators and workforce planners should consider these findings as provisional evidence of curriculum–practice gaps in a specific region and setting; findings suggest priority areas for curriculum revision (practice-based training, field epidemiology, data analysis, policy implementation) but do not establish the efficacy of any specific intervention. Further research is needed to confirm transferability beyond this single centre.
A cross-sectional survey of students and employers identifying perceived misalignments in curriculum design; descriptive findings without experimental design or hard outcomes, establishing a problem rather than testing a solution.
As stated by the source record.
Quoted from the source exactly as published.
Educators and workforce planners should consider these findings as provisional evidence of curriculum–practice gaps in a specific region and setting; findings suggest priority areas for curriculum revision (practice-based training, field epidemiology, data analysis, policy implementation) but do not establish the efficacy of any specific intervention. Further research is needed to confirm transferability beyond this single centre.
Graded across the dimensions that decide whether you should act, each from what the source actually supports. There is no single score, and where a dimension was not assessed it says so.
Misalignments may exist between undergraduate public health training and frontline workforce competency requirements under medical–public health integration, particularly in border and multi-ethnic regions. This study assessed this alignment from the combined perspectives of students and employers. We conducted a dual-perspective cross-sectional survey supplemented by analysis of open-ended responses among undergraduate public health students enrolled in the 2020, 2021 and 2022 cohorts at Kunming Medical University and employer respondents from public health-related institutions. The student questionnaire included 13 satisfaction items across six training domains. The employer questionnaire assessed the perceived importance of 10 core competencies related to medical–public health integration and the perceived performance of recent graduates in these competencies. Descriptive statistics, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), importance–performance analysis, secondary exploratory k-means clustering and analysis of open-ended responses were used. We analysed responses from 160 students and 190 employer respondents. Given the scale direction, students reported generally low satisfaction across curriculum and classroom teaching, learning resources, faculty and teaching support, practical training, career guidance and overall programme satisfaction. The 2021 cohort reported relatively higher scores than the 2020 and 2022 cohorts, but absolute satisfaction levels remained low. Employer respondents rated most medical–public health integration competencies as important or very important, while reporting perceived performance gaps among recent graduates from the focal programme, particularly in field investigation of outbreaks, policy understanding and implementation, multisectoral collaboration, and data analysis and outbreak assessment. Open-ended responses further highlighted concerns about curriculum–employment alignment, authentic practice opportunities, data and information skills, and career preparation. The findings indicate perceived misalignments between undergraduate public health training and frontline competency requirements under medical–public health integration. Potential priority areas for curriculum improvement include practice-based training, policy understanding and implementation, field epidemiology, data analysis, intercultural communication and career preparation. Public health curricula may benefit from stronger authentic, practice-based learning and sustained collaboration among universities, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDCs), hospitals and primary healthcare institutions, while further studies are needed to examine their transferability to broader settings.
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