Objective: The aim of this study was to evaluate the educational needs of public health specialists and students in training during the COVID-19 pandemic. The curriculum of the public health specialty education was assessed in terms of responsiveness to problems during a pandemic.

Material and Method: Data was collected from public health specialists and students within the context of Public Health Proficiency Board monitoring and evaluation work, using a data collection form created on a web-based platform between 12 and 31 May 2020.

Results: Among 170 participants, 57 were specialists and 133 were in training to be specialists. Of the participants, 67.6% female and 32.4% male. Participating in this study during a time of pandemic, 89.4% stated that they worked in the frontlines in pandemic control. Of these 71.8% (n=109) stated that they faced difficulties during the pandemic. Top two difficulties were burnout (n=59) and anxiety of contracting the disease (n=58). Specialty training was sufficient according to 26% of the participants. Residents of public health specialty training program and graduates of the program differed in their views of the content of specialty training (p=0.04).

Conclusion: In conclusion, we find it advisable to organize training activities to address the educational needs of students’ training in public health that emerged during the pandemic process.

Public health Education (public health) Proficiency Pandemic COVID-19