Competency sets are often mistaken as static reference tools utilized only infrequently. In reality, they are living, breathing, useful resources that can make your everyday work life more efficient.

For more than 15 years, the Core Competencies for Public Health Professionals (Core Competencies), developed by the Council on Linkages Between Academia and Public Health Practice, have provided a consensus set of knowledge and skills for the broad practice of public health.

Using the Core Competencies as a foundation, the Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists (CSTE) developed the Applied Epidemiology Competencies (AECs). Last updated in 2023, the AECs define the role of an applied epidemiologist and serve as a resource for workforce development activities, including but not limited to the creation of job descriptions, career portfolios and training plans.

CSTE has developed three major avenues to help you, the public health professional, fully use both the Core Competencies and AECs to their fullest potential.

CSTE is excited to provide evaluation tools for individuals and/or supervisors to assess their knowledge, skills and abilities across the seven domains of the AECs. These tools can be used to identify areas for individual professional development and improvement. Supervisors and individuals can also compare their respective evaluations of that individual’s skills for use with performance reviews, assignment of professional development activities and consideration for promotion. Learn more about the Evaluations here.

Two new courses on CSTE Learn are available to make using the AECs easier than ever.

The first, “Introduction to the Applied Epidemiology Competencies (AECs)," describes real life examples of epidemiologists using the competencies in their health department. Topics include why the 2008 AECs were developed, how they were updated in 2023, how to conduct an analysis of relevant parties to incorporate the AECs into your organization, and how the AECs can be used generally to support health departments and other organizations.

The second, “Using the Applied Epidemiology Competencies (AECs) for the Recruitment and Retention of Epidemiologists," covers how to utilize the AECs for finding the right candidate, minimizing turnover and encouraging continued professional development. Topics include how to use the AECs to create competency-based job descriptions and interview questions, identify necessary additional skills and develop a training plan to acquire them, and develop career advancement portfolios.

New and updated AEC toolkit materials will help you put the competencies into action. The toolkit includes the following, and more:

Don’t forget! These CSTE tools and resources can be utilized with any competency set, including the Core Competencies. Both the Public Health Foundation and CSTE are committed to a healthy, engaged, and informed applied epidemiology workforce!

For additional questions, please contact WFResources@cste.org​.​​​