SPECIAL ROLE OF PUBLIC HEALTH MEDICINE

A lthough public health medicine is only one of several Physicians is itself an event of some significance -professional disciplines working within the NSW reflecting an acknowledgement of the importance ofpublic health network, its singular position at the interface population-based approaches within the mainstream ofbetween traditional clinical approaches and the more medicine. Established in late 1990, the faculty recognisesbroadly based health, behavioural and environmental the importance of a clear direction and a pro-activesciences, gives it the potential to make a special approach if it is to achieve recognition as a leadingcontribution to public health within this State. force within Australian public health.

A recent directionsetting "think tank", organised by theAustralian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (AFPHM)to look at the challenges and opportunities facing publichealth medicine during the coming years, may thereforebe of interest to a wider readership.

The formation of the Australian Faculty of Public HealthMedicine within the Royal Australasian College of

PLACEMENTS OF PUBLIC HEALTH OFFICERS, NSW, 19Public Health Officers (PHOs) have now been assigned topositions of their choice. The assignments are shown inTable 3.

PHO First six Second sixmonths months

Final Year OfficersPeterLewis HUNPF-LU HUNPHUTim Churches NERPHU SWSPHUChristine Roberts WSA PHU Health servMarkBek Chrondis NSAPHUThais Miles Health serv Health serv

Second Year OfficersTorWestley-Wise [nfdis Repro healthMarion Heas Health serv Chron disLee Taylor Repro health NCR PHUHelen Moore Envir health Envir healthJohanna Westbrook CHERE CI-LERESusan Furber ESA PHU ESA PHUGlenn Close WSA PHU WSA PHUMargaret Williamson Chron dis Chron disMarie-Louise Stokes NSA PHU NSA PHU

First Year OfficersCait Lonie* Illawarra PHU Inf disJustine Waters Envir health Eflvir healthIslaTooth SWSPHU SWSPHU

Cit Lorire will be working ir the nf. Dic section of EhSES until Merdi 30, 1 592.Wayne Smith left the program in Febrastoomplete his PhD.

Any comments on the Public Health Officer trainingprogram can be directed to Marion Haas, PHO coordinator,or George Rubin, Editor, Public Health Bulletin.

AbbreviationsInf dis Infectious disease, Epi BranchChron dis Chronic diseases, Epi BranchHealth serv Health Services Evaluation, Epi

BranchEnvir health Environmental health, Epi BranchRepro health Reproductive health, Epi BranchESA Eastern Sydney AreaHUN HunterWSA Western Sector (Area)NSA Northern Sydney AreaNCR North Coast RegionNER New England RegionSWS South West SydneyCHERE Centre for Health Economics Research

& Evaluation

The "think tank" was held at the old quarantine stationat North Head, Manly - a venue with echoes of the earlyhistory of public health in Australia. The weekend attractedparticipants from all States and Territories in Australia, aswell as representatives of the New Zealand College ofCommunity Medicine, senior members of the RACP, full-time academics, public health practitioners working in bothurban and rural environments and representative youngerfellows and trainees. The New Zealand college is likely toamalgamate with the Australian faculty later this year tobecome an Australasian faculty.

Addressing such topics as "What are the opportunities forpublic health medicine in Australia in the coming years?","What strategies need to be adopted to achieve these?" and"What skills will future public health physicians require?",participants generally took an optimistic approach.

The boundaries of public health medicine 'vere bothchanging and expanding, and the public health physician ofthe future will undoubtedly have the opportunity to applythe basic "tools of the trade" - epidemiology, biostatisticsand increasingly computer applications - to a wide rangeof problems, from the growing field of clinical epidemiology,to the health implications of ecologically sustainabledevelopment.

At the end of the two-day workshop, one participantdescribed the proceedings as a "smorgasbord of goodideas". It was therefore necessary to select priorities, andthe following were proposed as a desirable and achievablerole for the faculty in the coming years:

establishing a strong sense of self-identity amongpublic health physicians;

ensuring adequate training, continuing educationand "quality assurance" opportunities for the publichealth medical woi-kforce;

enhanced communication skills leading to a pro-active role in dealings with the media, all levelsof government and the community;

improved communication and increasedunderstanding of the role and potential of publichealth medicine within the faculty, with theprofession generally, and with the wider healthconstituency; and

a stronger advocacy role for the health needs ofidentified sub-groups within the population such asAustralian Aboriginals, and an acknowledgementof the opportunities and responsibilities inneighbouring South-East Asian countries.

There is little doubt that the development andimplementation of such concepts will enhance not only thepractice of public health medicine, but will also strengthenthe evolving public health network within NSW

David JeffsHonorary SecretaryThe Australian Faculty of Public Health MedicineThe Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Vol.3/No. 4