Improve the health and well-being of people where they work, live, and play

Public health and preventive medicine (PHPM) is the medical specialty primarily concerned with people’s health and well-being, with a particular focus on disease and injury prevention and control through health protection and health promotion activities. Encompassing a broad range of acute and chronic health issues, including those that may be related to environmental exposures, PHPM focuses on the health needs of a population.

Monitoring and assessing these health needs, a PHPM specialist develops, implements, and evaluates strategies for improving health and reducing inequity, and is competent in:

• Clinical medicine and the determinants of health
• Epidemiology, biostatistics, and surveillance
• Health promotion and prevention, and healthy communities
• Environmental health, occupational health, health emergency management
• Program and policy surveillance, planning, implementation, and evaluation
• Leadership, collaboration, advocacy, and communication

The PHPM Residency Program at a glance

• A five-year specialty training program (for new entrants) or a three-year program (for re-entrants) that prepares residents for certification as specialists in PHPM in Canada
• Based at UBC’s School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) and accredited by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC)
• Draws teaching faculty from public health physician specialists working across five regional health authorities, two provincial health authorities, and several provincial agencies