Public Health Practice

 Introduction to Public Health

New PHPM residents will undergo an introductory public health experience lasting 8-12 weeks, occurring in a regional health authority or provincial agency within British Columbia. Although it usually happens in the Lower Mainland, such as Vancouver or Surrey, other locations may be considered.

General and Subspecialty Public Health Practice

Throughout the five-year program, residents are required to fulfill a minimum of 12 months in general public health practice AND 12 months in subspecialty public health practice.

Typically, general public health practice training includes three four-block rotations, each involving work with at least three of the five regional health authorities. If you choose to live outside the Lower Mainland, we can also consider extended longitudinal general public health practice experiences, spanning 12-24 months.

Training experiences in speciality public health practice will include three to five 2 to 4-block rotations drawing from a number of BC agencies that specialize in various aspects of public health and preventive medicine. Training opportunity areas include:

• Environmental health

• Communicable disease control
• Occupational health
• Infection control
• Medical microbiology
• Tuberculosis control
• Sexually transmitted and blood borne infection control

These represent the “core of the discipline” in the CanMEDS continuum of competence.