Multidisciplinary integration to public health training: Moving towards undergraduate public health education

SARS acted as a wake up call for the need for a greater focus on public health not only in Hong Kong but across the world. In response there has been an international strengthening of public health systems and a plethora of initiatives and reviews of the current situation -but have we gone far enough? One of the stumbling blocks would appear to be lack of capacity, in part due to outdated modes of education, training and career development – particularly reliance on the medical model. An additional constraint is the lack of clarity between public health and primary care. The World Health Organization (WHO), under Margaret Chan’s leadership has reaffirmed its commitment to primary healthcare. Globally, there is a renewed interest from both developed and developing countries in strengthening community base primary healthcare, particularly realigning the interrelationship between public health and primary care. In developed countries such as the UK the need for  multidisciplinary integration to public health training and practice has been recognized, not least by the Faculty of Public Health when it introduced a competency based approach to specialist post graduate training .Meanwhile have placed greater emphasis on  promoting greater engagement through undergraduate programmes.
In Hong Kong over 70% of primary care is in the private sector and public health has traditionally been the domain of the medically qualified. This presentation will reflect on the introduction of the first BSc in public health in Hong Kong, the rationale in the context of global and regional need for public health skills and the potential for future changes in the community based workforce which will not only increase multidisciplinarity but strengthen the interface and understanding between public health and primary health care.