A Cadre of Outstanding Public Health Professionals: Building The Public Health Workforce In Canada

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A Cadre of Outstanding Public Health
Professionals Building The Public Health
Workforce In Canada
Skills Enhancement Learner and Facilitator
Forum Quebec City March 23, 2006
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Concerns about the Public Health Workforce

• Unfilled positions in many public health
  occupations
• Existing public health staff need skills
  upgrading
• Insufficient number of new graduates
• Aging workforce
• Uneven distribution

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Underlying Weakness

• Lack of Public Health Human Resource planning
• Training
• access not optimal
• universities favour research
• faculty
• practice-based education
• non-thesis masters
• exposure of students
• Continuing Professional Development
• Instability
• Retention issues

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• Vision
• Through collaborative planning, all jurisdictions
  in Canada will have a flexible, knowledgeable
  public health workforce working in safe
  supportive environments to meet the population's
  public health needs, reduce health social
  disparities.

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• Our national aim should be to produce a cadre
  of outstanding public health professionals who
  are adequately qualified and compensated, and who
  have clear roles, responsibilities and career
  paths.
• Learning from SARS Renewal of Public Health in
  Canada (2003)

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The Goals of the Strategy

• Optimal number, mix and distribution of public
  health skills workers.
• Inter-professional public health workforce with
  appropriate skills competencies.
• Appropriate mix of public health workers deployed
  in inter-professional, population
  client-centred service models.
• Enhanced capacity to recruit retain public
  health providers.
• A stable, affordable public health workforce in
  healthy, safe work environments.

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Office of Public Health Practice

• Policy Partnerships
• e.g. Public Health Network, Collaborating Centres
• Information Knowledge Systems
• e.g. iPHIS, Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Workforce Development

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New Expanded Federal Programs

• Canadian Field Epidemiology Program
• Skills Enhancement Program
• Competencies Health Human Resources planning
• Community medicine residency funding
• Scholarship Program

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Conclusion

• YOU are critical in helping to
• build public health in Canada.