Italy often experiences major events, such as earthquakes, floods, and migrant shipwrecks. Current and future global challenges for health workers are made up by climate change, pandemics, and wars. In this work, we will assess the state-of-art of training and interest towards these challenges among Italian post-degree public health schools.

A cross-sectional survey was conducted in Italy in June 2023 among Italian public health residents. The study investigated training levels and updates regarding emergencies in Italian residencies. It also analyzed interest and importance of topic, impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, and sources of information.

Of 289 respondents, 86.2% deemed the topic important and 74.4% expressed interest. 90.1% pointed out the lack of dedicated courses and 93.1% of specialized master’s programs. Perceived importance in the topic was associated with the desire to attend dedicated conferences. As for COVID-19, 24.6% recognized the importance of this topic pre-pandemic, while 50.9% raised awareness during the pandemic.

This survey shows the need for the offer of emergency training programs in Italian public health schools. Professionals in public health can make a great contribution to emergencies, not only in preparedness, but also in response and recovery phases.

Italy frequently experiences major events like earthquakes, floods and migrant shipwrecks. Global concerns include climate change, pandemics and wars. We would assess the role of public health experts and the current state of Italian post-degree Public Health schools towards these challenges.

A cross-sectional online survey was conducted in Italy in June 2023, among all Italian Public Health residents enrolled in SItI. The study investigated the presence of trainings and updates about emergencies. It also explored interest and importance of topic, impact of Covid-19 pandemic and sources of information.

Out of 289 respondents, 86.2% deemed the topic important and 74.4% expressed interest (both p<0.001). 90.1% pointed out the lack of dedicated courses and 93.1% as for specialized master’s programs (both p<0.001). Perceived importance in the topic correlates with the desire to attend dedicated conferences (p<0.001). For COVID-19, 24.6% recognized the importance of topic pre-pandemic, while 50.9% raised awareness during (both p<0.001).

A discussion is needed for enhanced training programs in public health emergency prevention and management across Italy, pledging for uniformity within different training networks. In this way, a more robust response to future emergencies may be ensured.