Designing interdisciplinary education in digital public health : a position paper

Abstract

The rapid digital transformation of health systems worldwide demands an interdisciplinary public health workforce proficient in digital technologies, ethical frameworks and systems-level thinking. However, current public health curricula remain largely discipline-specific and fail to systematically embed digital competencies or foster collaboration across sectors such as technology, ethics, law, and policy. This position paper emerges from a high-level workshop held during the Digital Public Health Conference 2025, where international experts and educators debated strategies for advancing interdisciplinary education. Drawing on multilevel evidence, including participant reflections, international frameworks, and case studies, we identify and analyse five critical challenges shaping the future of digital public health education: (1) embedding ethics and regulation into digital public health education; (2) strengthening digital public health literacy with a salutogenic approach; (3) defining interdisciplinary competencies for the future workforce; (4) integrating real-world applications into classroom learning; and (5) enabling long-term, crossborder collaboration in education. For each theme, we propose actionable goals rooted in pedagogical innovation, policy alignment, and institutional governance. Designing inclusive, ethical, and practice-informed education models is essential to prepare a digitally fluent and socially accountable public health workforce.