Mapping the Transition to Competence By Design in Public Health and Preventive Medicine in Canada

Date
2022-10-03
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Abstract
Public Health and Preventive Medicine (PHPM) is a 5-year Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada (RCPSC) postgraduate medical training program which aims to prepare specialists who work to safeguard and improve the health of populations. In Canada, PHPM offers a broad scope of practice that includes different fields such as clinical, academic, administrative, and/or a mix of any of those. Most commonly, PHPM training prepares graduates to practice as a Medical Officer of Health (MOH) or equivalent. This role serves to protect and promote the wellbeing of populations based on principles of biostatistics and epidemiology, environmental health, social and behavioral sciences, health program planning and policy, management, health economics, and relevant biological and social sciences. PHPM training varies across provinces depending on public health systems and structures. Consequently, implementation of Competence By Design (CBD) in this specialty is inherently challenging. CBD is the outcome-based medical education model mandated by the RCPSC to be adopted in all postgraduate medical training programs in Canada. This constructivist grounded theory (CGT) based study involved 35 iteratively conducted, semi-structured interviews which were analyzed through paired and parallel coding to explore and describe PHPM stakeholders’ perspectives about the landscape in PHPM training and practice in Canada as well as the anticipated changes required for a successful transition to CBD. Challenges of CBD implementation identified in this study included the non-standardized training path across Canada, the scarcity of financial and human resources to support this transition, and the lack of integration of the three different training components in this specialty (clinical, academic, and public health).
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Keywords
Public Health and Preventive Medicine, PHPM, Competence By Design, CBD
Citation
Mejia, F. (2022). Mapping the transition to Competence By Design in Public Health and Preventive Medicine in Canada (Master's thesis, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada). Retrieved from https://prism.ucalgary.ca.