Disaster Health Core Curriculum
Sustained Excellence
In disaster medicine and public health, competencies are essential for measuring a responder’s ability to execute complex, high-stakes tasks. NIDHC pioneered this field by collaboratively identifying 11 core competencies (and 36 sub-competencies), published as the "Core Competencies for Disaster Medicine and Public Health" (2012). This framework serves as the foundational curriculum for domestic and international organizations—including the Medical Reserve Corps—and has informed specialized standards in nursing, mental health, and pediatrics.
The COVID-19 pandemic significantly shifted the requirements for effective response. To integrate these critical lessons learned, NIDHC is currently executing a two-phased project to modernize the Disaster Health Core Curriculum. This initiative focuses on:
- Revising core competencies based on real-world pandemic response data.
- Explicitly defining competencies for disaster and public health preparedness, response, and management.
- Identifying new content and opportunities to improve training and education for the modern operational environment.
Guided by a panel of subject matter experts, this analysis enables NIDHC to develop and disseminate an enhanced framework of disaster core competencies. This standardized collection serves as a vital resource for agencies, organizations, and academic institutions to build and refine their own disaster medicine and public health training curricula. The Disaster Health Core Curriculum is a free, online course designed to introduce healthcare professionals to a comprehensive array of disaster medicine topics. Across eleven modules, the curriculum encapsulates current response competencies and translates the latest research into effective clinical practices. Credit: CME, CNE, and CHES Available.
To access the training list, please visit: https://nidhc.usuhs.edu/directorates/training-education/disaster-medicine.