Russell Margaret L, McIntyre Lynn
Department of Community Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Dr. NW, Calgary, AB T2N 4N1.
Can J Public Health. 2009 May-Jun;100(3):199-203. doi: 10.1007/BF03405540.
Public health emergency planning includes a consideration of public health human resource requirements. We addressed the hypothetical question: How many public health physicians could Canada mobilize in the event of a public health emergency?
We used the 2004 National Physician Survey (NPS) to estimate the number of public health physicians in Canada. Using weighting to account for non-response, we estimated the numbers and population estimates of public health physicians who were active versus 'in reserve'. We explored the impact of using diverse definitions of public health physician based upon NPS questions on professional activity, self-reported degrees and certifications, and physician database classifications.
Of all Canadian physicians, an estimated 769 (1.3%) are qualified to practice public health by virtue of degrees and certifications relevant to public health, of whom 367 (48%) also report active 'community medicine/public health' practice. Even among Canada's 382 Community Medicine specialists, only 60% report active public health practice.
The estimation of the size of Canada's public health physician workforce is currently limited by the lack of a clear definition and appropriate monitoring. It appears that, even with a reserve public health physician workforce that would almost double its numbers, Canada's available workforce is only 40% of projected requirements. Public health emergency preparedness planning exercises should clearly delineate public health physician roles and needs, and action should be taken accordingly to enhance the numbers of Canadian public health physicians and their capacity to meet these requirements.
公共卫生应急规划包括对公共卫生人力资源需求的考量。我们探讨了一个假设性问题：在公共卫生紧急事件发生时，加拿大能够动员多少公共卫生医师？
我们利用2004年全国医师调查（NPS）来估算加拿大公共卫生医师的数量。通过加权以处理无应答情况，我们估算了在职与“储备”公共卫生医师的数量及人口估计数。我们基于NPS关于专业活动、自我报告的学位和证书以及医师数据库分类的问题，探讨了使用不同公共卫生医师定义的影响。
在所有加拿大医师中，估计有769名（1.3%）凭借与公共卫生相关的学位和证书有资格从事公共卫生工作，其中367名（48%）还报告有活跃的“社区医学/公共卫生”实践。即便在加拿大的382名社区医学专家中，也只有60%报告有活跃的公共卫生实践。
目前，由于缺乏明确的定义和适当的监测，对加拿大公共卫生医师队伍规模的估算受到限制。看起来，即便有一支储备公共卫生医师队伍，其数量几乎能使现有队伍翻倍，但加拿大的可用队伍也仅为预计需求的40%。公共卫生应急准备规划活动应明确界定公共卫生医师的角色和需求，并应据此采取行动，以增加加拿大公共卫生医师的数量及其满足这些需求的能力。
