Task Force on Changing Structures:
Discussion Paper on School of Public Health
2nd Draft FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY
(As of April 10, 2006)
Vision
To foster an internationally competitive interdisciplinary public health research and training
environment that would dramatically improve human health and well-being.
Mission
To produce public health professionals capable of measuring, assessing and managing the ever
increasing complexity of population and public health issues through the broad, practical
application of a full spectrum of health and related disciplines related to environmental and social
sciences, kinesiology, medicine, veterinary medicine, nursing, physical therapy, pharmacy and
nutrition that collectively provide a greater benefit to society than any one of the disciplines could
individually.
.
Background and Demand
The role of public health, and public and government understanding of this role, has changed
significantly in the early years of this century. Public inquiries (i.e. Walkerton) and outbreaks
(i.e. Sars, Avian Flu) have focused attention on the state of the Canadian public health system.
Recent discussions in this field focus both on current infrastructure inadequacies (i.e. inadequate
epidemiologic investigation capacity, difficulties in managing information and weak links
between public health and personal health care delivery. 1 ) and the vital role of public health in
creating and supporting a healthy society. In the last few years, investments in public health –
including identification of a federal cabinet minister for public health and creation of both the
Public Health Agency of Canada and the position of Chief Public Health Officer – have
emphasized the growing role of this field in Canadian society.
Little comprehensive information is currently available on the public health workforce. Though
common understandings are emerging around the five broad responsibilities of the public health
system 2 , an accepted list of occupations and/or specific system functions has not been agreed
upon. Preliminary investigations suggest that the public health sector is characterized by
vacancies, poor distribution, aging workforce, and insufficient training positions. 3 The Ontario
Public Health Association recently released a discussion paper—Capacity Mapping in Public
Health (April 2005)—which explored the activities and membership of its constituent
1
http://www.lachsr.org/static/ForoGuatemala/pdf/BrentMoloughney.pdf
2
Essential functions of the public health system: Population assessment, health surveillance, health promotion, disease
and injury prevention, and health protection. Canadian Institutes of Health Research, “The Future of Public Health in
Canada: Developing a Public Health System of the 21st Century,” (June 2003).
3
http://www.lachsr.org/static/ForoGuatemala/pdf/BrentMoloughney.pdf
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associations. 4 More significantly the Public Health Agency of Canada has indicated that it is
developing strategies to capture public health workforce information. 5 Significant to
understanding the demand for graduate programs in public health is the recent work of the joint
Task Group on Public Health Human Resources; this group is developing a set of core
competencies for public health workers. These competencies emphasis: analysis and assessment,
research and critical thinking, effective communication and leadership.
A survey of Canadian universities indicates a scattering of undergraduate and graduate programs
in public health. Highlights of current Canadian public health offerings include:
ƒ
In 1997, the University of Toronto entered its “Third Generation” of public health
education through the establishment of a new Department of Public Health. The
Department includes 200 plus faculty with either primary or cross-appointments in the
Department. In conjunction with the Graduate Department of Public Health, the
Department boasted 300 graduate students in its four MSc/PhD programs (Behavioural
Science, Biostatistics, Epidemiology, Occupations and Environmental Health) and five
professional MHSc programs (Community Health & Epidemiology, Health Promotion,
Occupational & Environmental Health, Community Nutrition, and Family & Community
Medicine).
ƒ
Lakehead University introduced a Masters of Public Health in 2002. The program is
specifically geared to issue of public health in northern, rural and remote communities
and provides two options for study – health studies or a nursing specialization.
ƒ
In 2005, Simon Fraser University identified a unique niche in the public health sector and
introduced a Masters in Global Health to complement its existing Masters in Population
and Public Health. Billed as one of the first University’s to offer this focus, the M.A. in
Global Health is intended to develop expertise and in public policy development that is
informed by global health issues and is culturally sensitive.
Programs and Students
The School would offer a range of graduate training programs. A course-based Masters degree in
Public Health (MPH) would be the foundational program. Built around that program would be a
thesis-based Masters degree in Public Health (MSc), and a thesis-based Doctoral degree in Public
Health (DrPH). Strength in vaccine-preventable infectious diseases would be present in Masters
and Doctoral degrees in Vaccinology. Programs that would transfer over from the College of
Medicine include the Masters and Doctoral degrees in Community Health and Epidemiology,
with future specializations in epidemiology and biostatistics. This would represent approximately
4
Ontario Public Health Association recently released a discussion paper - Capacity Mapping in Public Health (April
2005). http://www.opha.on.ca/resources/CapacityMapping-FinalReport-2005.pdf
5
More specific information is available through the Canadian Institute of Health Information. This agency maintains a
health database on aggregate, supply-based information on the number of health care personnel in Canada and in 2004
launched a project to expand collection to five regulated health professions. The Health Database contains aggregate,
supply-based information on the number of health care personnel in Canada, for selected occupations, by
province/territory and year. Health professions included are : chiropractors, dental hygienists, dentists, dietitians, health
records professionals, health service executives, licensed practical nurses, medical laboratory technologists, medical
radiation technologists, medical physicists, midwives, occupational therapists, optometrists, pharmacists, physicians,
physiotherapists, psychologists, registered nurses, registered psychiatric nurses, respiratory therapists and social
workers. Human Health Resources, Canadian Institute of Health Information
http://secure.cihi.ca/cihiweb/dispPage.jsp?cw_page=hhrdata_e
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110 students (20 MPH, 15 MSc, 15 DrPH, 10 MSc Vaccinology, 10 PhD Vaccinology, 30 MSc
CH&E, 10 PhD CH&E). Post-doctoral fellows in the School may number 20.
Graduate students would enter the School’s programs with undergraduate backgrounds in the
professional health sciences (70%), basic sciences (10%), social sciences (10%), and management
and administration (10%). Depending of their field, they would find employment as leaders,
managers, and researchers in public health departments, health regions, ministries of health, the
food, livestock, pharmaceutical industries, and academic institutions.
Public health issues have been at the forefront of concerns for the government and citizens of
Canada in recent years. The outbreaks of SARS, avian influenza and contaminated water in
Walkerton and North Battleford have been attributed in national commissions of inquiry to
inadequate public health infrastructure. Among the urgent issues that need to be addressed, the
Naylor and Kirby commissions identified inadequate public health human resources and training,
insufficient investment in public health research and knowledge application. The Public Health
Agency of Canada and the post of Chief Public Health Officer have been created and are leading
the rapidly advancing developments in these areas. A School of Public Health at the University
of Saskatchewan is well-placed to play a key role in this national agenda.
Specific Research Units
A number of existing research units at the University of Saskatchewan might productively be
housed together in a School of Public Health. These include the Vaccine and Infectious Disease
Organization (VIDO), Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture (CCHSA),
Saskatchewan Population Health and Evaluation Research Unit (SPHERU), CommunityUniversity Institute for Social Research (CUISR), Indigenous Peoples’ Health Research Centre
(IPHRC), the Prairie Region Health Promotion Research Centre (PRHPRC) and the sociopopulation health research group of the College of Kinesiology. Such co-location would be
expected to provide excellent opportunity for creative synergy between research teams and
paradigms.
The University of Saskatchewan is uniquely placed to be a national and international centre of
excellence for public health research and teaching. It has now, or has the ability to attain, preeminence in 1.) vaccinology and infectious disease epidemiology, 2.) rural and remote public
health, 3.) veterinary public health, 4.) aboriginal peoples’ public health, 5.) socio-population
health. Interdisciplinary collaboration is well developed at the University, but the creation of a
School of Public Health will raise it to a new level. The School will serve as a crucible for the
discovery, application and dissemination of new knowledge in public health. Faculty and trainees
will be well positioned to respond quickly to the complex health issues of the 21st century, which
frequently cross disciplinary boundaries, be this a response to a call for research or a public health
emergency.
Faculty and Staff
In the short term, we envisage a number of new and existing positions to be drawn together to
form the school, to meet the demand in the realms of teaching and research, and to be eligible for
accreditation with the North American accrediting body (the Council for Education in Public
Health). We anticipate a number of new faculty positions, including an Executive Director
responsible for the overall leadership of the school; a number of existing faculty positions drawn
from appropriate/cognate/contributing disciplines (Community Health and Epidemiology,
CCHSA from Medicine; WCVM; Nursing; Kinesiology; Health Care Administration from
Commerce); a number of ‘joint’ appointments from existing departmental faculty; a number of
‘adjunct’ appointments from co-located partners, some support staff to provide technical,
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administrative, and secretarial support; affiliation with existing Canada Research Chairs;
affiliation with principal investigators currently associated with VIDO including staff and
trainees; a number of endowed chairs including the creation of a new University of Saskatchewan
Centennial Chair position from the University’s capital campaign.
Space
The School of Public Health will be located in the Socio-Population Health building of the new
Academic Health Science Complex and have associated facilities, including labs, in other
Colleges. It is currently envisaged that VIDO may become part of the School of Public Health
(initial discussions). If this comes to fruition, significant space would become available to the
School of Public Health. VIDO currently has over 100,000 sq. ft. of laboratory and office space,
plus lecture rooms and is adding 120,000 sq.ft. of new level III laboratories and animal facilities
to accommodate work on emerging diseases. The combined existing and new space will
accommodate between 6-10 new faculty recruits as proposed in the “Academic Opportunities for
Infectious Diseases” at the University of Saskatchewan.
Structure and Governance
The School of Public Health is best positioned in the university as an academic entity equivalent
to, but separate from, the professional health science colleges. This would not only promote the
necessary interdisciplinary research and teaching environment, but is required for accreditation by
the North American accrediting body, the Council on Education for Public Health
(www.ceph.org).
Appointments of new faculty and transfers will be to the School; others will be joint
appointments subject to the arrangements with existing departments and colleges. The Director
of the School will report to the Provost and sit on the Council of Health Science Deans. The
School will be an interdisciplinary unit with its own collegial processes (annual assessment,
tenure and promotion) and some activities managed through direct relationships to senior
administration and Council (e.g., curriculum).
Objectives and Accountabilities
The School is a new initiative to be launched in 2006 that will be measured in 2011 against the
following ten objectives:
1. To promote a university-wide and societal awareness of the focus on public health and
well-being.
2. To produce an interdisciplinary transformation of training in the health science colleges
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
and College of Arts and Science without necessarily diminishing disciplinary expertise
residing within departments and colleges.
To develop strong linkages between health science, infectious disease science and
veterinary science leading to unique research and programmatic opportunities.
Create interdisciplinary visibility and focus; show how interdisciplinary works!
To increase graduate student enrolment to a total of 110 students.
To increase overall public health research (e.g. grants and contracts) by 50%.
Establish the U of S as the one of the top world Centres for Public Health research and
learning (as measured by external reputation surveys).
Establish linkages (national and international) with researchers and organizations that
would enhance the profile of the University of Saskatchewan and recruitment
opportunities.
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Outreach – Opportunities for Leverage
The School of Public Health will work closely with provincial and Canadian partners in
developing its programs. These partners include: the Saskatoon Health Region; Saskatchewan
Health; Medical Officers Council of Saskatchewan; Canadian Food Inspection Agency; Vaccine
and Infectious Disease Organization; Toxicology Research Centre; Centre for Coastal Health,
Nanaimo, and the Public Health Agency of Canada. Partnerships with the Universities of
Alberta, Manitoba and Northern British Columbia are being explored. Through these interactions
the School will:
1. Become a node of The Public Health Agency of Canada’s National Coordinating Centres
in Infectious Diseases, Socio-population Health, and Aboriginal Peoples’ Health.
2. Be a critical player in Canada’s vaccine research infrastructure.
3. Be the anchor for the Canadian Centre for Health and Safety in Agriculture.
4. Investigate significant health issues of aboriginal populations.
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