Public Health and Preventive Medicine Residency Program

The first year of the Public Health and Preventive Medicine Residency is a clinical year which prepares the students to write the MCCQE Part II, and provides foundation clinical experiences which are important preparation for developing Public Health and Preventive Medicine competencies (Family Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Public Health). It also provides an opportunity for the resident to pursue a particular interest through electives (e.g. Occupational health).

The second year of the program is designed to ensure that the resident learns the basic science of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. Most residents have a limited understanding of the core disciplines of epidemiology, biostatistics, and health promotion and prevention, or of how to systematically approach the wide range of important public health issues which they will face, one way or another, when they enter public health practice (regardless of the setting). Courses in these subjects provide the basic theoretical and conceptual training which is required to prepare the resident to work in Public Health and Preventive Medicine. The two month placements before and after the courses provide an opportunity to see how the basic science is applied in the clinical setting. The residents may apply these courses toward a Master of Science in Epidemiology if they choose.

The third year is spent practising public health at Ottawa Public Health, the Public Health Agency of Canada, Health Canada (FNIHB), or the Department of National Defence. The resident works directly with an Associate Medical Officer of Health or another professionally accredited public health professional, dependent on the setting. Six months are spent in communicable disease and six months in health promotion. The residents also take on at least one project in environmental health during this time. This year provides the resident with an opportunity to apply their basic knowledge with increasing responsibility for projects over that time.

The fourth year is spent in rotations in these and/or other organizations.. The residents learn to work more independently and with an increasingly broad range of professionals.

The fifth year is an elective year. This allows the resident to work in new settings such as the developing world or smaller health units, or to return to one of the other placements for more advanced work. It is designed to give time to the resident to fill any remaining gaps or to help them choose what kind of career they would like. Some of the residents use this time to complete their master’s thesis. In this case, the elective time may be moved into third year and some of the third year rotations are done in fourth year.

The residents participate in a formal academic program, on one half day per week. Topics which are best studied this way, (e.g. media relations and emerging health issues) are approached through seminars, visits, guest presenters, films, etc. Every six months a list of possible topics are identified to ensure that no major issues are missed. In addition to the Academic Half Day, Field Epidemiology rounds are held every month. The topics include emerging and important health issues of the day. They are also attended by other health professionals both from within and outside the government. This creates a lively and interesting discussion period.

Content and Sequence of Training

Mandatory Content of Training

Description

Duration
(4 week blocks)

Year 1
Clinical Rotations

Year 2
Determined with Program Director
Academic courses
Public Health – General

Year 3 and 4 (order will vary)
Communicable Disease Control and Health Protection
Health Promotion and Disease Prevention
Policy and Planning
Epidemiology and surveillance
Consolidation*

13 blocks

2 blocks
9 blocks
2 blocks

6 blocks

6 blocks
4 blocks
4 blocks
6 blocks

Elective** Content of Training

Description

Duration

Year 5
Alone or in combination:

Research Elective
Return to any of the mandatory placements
Unapproved elective opportunities locally, provincially, nationally and internationally

1-13 blocks

*The consolidation rotation is intended to provide the resident with graduated responsibility in an area with whose content they are already familiar.

**If significant areas of weakness are identified at the end of Year 4, the program Director may require the resident to address these in Year 5.

Program Architecture Years 3-4

	Possible Placements	Duration (4 week blocks)	Point in Residency
Communicable Disease/ Health Protection	OPH	6	R3
Health Promotion/ Disease Prevention	OPH, DND	6	R3-4
Surveillance/ Epidemiology	OPH, DND, PHAC	4	R3-4
Public Health Policy	FNIHB, PHAC, OPH, CMA	4	R4	Should cover objectives under Physician as Health Advocate
Consolidation	FNIHB, PHAC, OPH, DND	6	R4	Should cover objectives Physician as Collaborator, Communicator and Manager not covered in previous rotations and provide opportunities for graduated responsibility appropriate for a senior resident

CMA – Canadian Medical Association
DND – National Defence
FNIHB –Health Canada First Nations and Inuit Health Branch
OPH – (City of ) Ottawa Public Health
PHAC – Public Health Agency of Canada