Program Structure & Content
Over three years, NSW Public Health Officer Trainees rotate through a range of public health placements within the NSW health system. These placements provide opportunities to develop public health competencies and professional networks while working to improve the health of the people of NSW. The Program also provides an emergency surge capacity for the NSW Health system and trainees can be asked at short notice to work on issues of immediate concern to NSW Health.
The Training Program is based upon 11 competency areas of public health practice:
- Professional Practice
- Management
- Epidemiology and Biostatistics
- Information Management
- Communication
- Health Policy
- Health Promotion
- Health Evaluation
- Communicable Diseases
- Risk Assessment/Management
- Health Economics
A summary of the Program's current competency framework can be accessed through the following link:
Qualification and Assessment
To assess competency attainment in all 11 competency areas trainees produce a professional portfolio of evidence; successful completion is recognised by the award of a Certificate of Attainment. Trainees are concurrently enrolled in a Professional Doctorate in Applied Public Health (DrPH) through a partnership between the NSW Ministry of Health and the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of New South Wales. Trainees develop a thesis that consists of chapters that demonstrates applied public health practice. Thesis chapters are developed from the workplace learning presented in the professional portfolio. The DrPH thesis is submitted for examination at the end of at least three years and following the award of the Certificate of Attainment.
Supervised Work Placements
The majority of learning is undertaken through projects in supervised work placements. Placements are full-time and 6 to 12 months in duration, allowing between three and six placements to occur over 3 years. The variety of placements provides the Trainee with a range of supervised public health experiences. For example, all Trainees, under supervision, will: manage the investigation of an acute communicable disease outbreak; analyse at least one large data set; design a survey; publish a paper in a peer-reviewed journal; translate the results of a study into appropriate policy; conduct an evaluation; carry out health promotion; negotiate/work with people from different sectors and present information to a wide range of audiences using a variety of media.
Placements are located within NSW Ministry of Health, local population health organisations and NSW Health funded research centres. Trainees are encouraged to undertake at least one placement within the NSW Ministry of Health and one within a metropolitan Local Health District.
Rural Placements
All trainees are required to undertake a 6 month rural placement during their 3 years of training. The aim is to experience how rural public health professionals work within the constraints imposed by these environments to address issues particular to rural and remote populations. The rural placement is intended to allow Trainees to gain insight, understanding, exposure to and experience of:
- The impact of rurality on the management of public health issues, including the challenge of working with distance, limited resources and unique health issues;
- The lack of equity in rural settings, including in access to health services. The specific public health issues facing rural populations, both acute and chronic, particularly issues which are unique to the rural or remote environment;
- Engagement with rural communities, including rural indigenous communities; and
- Public health workforce issues in rural communities, including issues related to the limitations in public health infrastructure.
Outbreak Investigations and Emergency Placements
Occasionally, Trainees are temporarily removed from their placements to participate in acute emergency placements - usually communicable disease outbreak investigations. Emergency placements provide an excellent opportunity for Trainees to gain disease outbreak experience and contribute to the achievement of a range of competency areas, in particular communicable diseases and risk assessment
Formal Education Sessions
To support the learning provided in work placements, Trainees are required to attend 1-2 days of formal education sessions each month. Sessions are delivered through a variety of formats, including:
- regular day-long seminars/training days which are usually themed and addressed competency areas;
- workshops of 2-5 days duration which usually focus on a single competency area;
- problem based learning exercises;
- Special Interest Group meetings; and
- Additional workshops, conferences and seminars to meet the specific needs of individual Trainees.