Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Lethbridge, 4401 University Drive, Lethbridge, AB, T1K 3M4, Canada.
Faculty of Kinesiology and Environmental Design, University of Calgary, 2500 University Dr. NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 1N4, Canada.
Can J Public Health. 2019 Jun;110(3):327-330. doi: 10.17269/s41997-019-00217-0. Epub 2019 Apr 26.
There are widely divergent views as to what constitutes "public health" and "public health research". But regardless of these views, readers of this journal would likely agree that public health matters; we assert that so does the educational programming that prepares its workforce. Our voiced perspectives as authors are influenced by our respective training, occupations, and academic locales, and we believe that undergraduate public and population health education (UGPPHE) across many disciplines is crucial to strengthening public health in Canada. Existing literature and discourse related to UGPPHE in Canada tends to be concentrated around its ancillary positioning within clinical health disciplines such as medicine, nursing, and dentistry, rather than on the evolution of undergraduate degree programs. While UGPPHE programming has the important function of preparing undergraduates to enter into practice as public health professionals, it has added virtue in its capacity to improve public health literacy and produce a more robust body of informed and engaged citizens. The intent of this commentary is to draw increased attention towards the other disciplines less well known for bringing awareness to UGPPHE in Canada and to commence what will hopefully be a cascade of dialogue from stakeholders across the nation.
对于什么是“公共卫生”和“公共卫生研究”，人们的观点存在广泛分歧。但无论这些观点如何，本刊的读者可能都同意公共卫生很重要；我们认为，为其培养人才的教育计划也很重要。我们作为作者的观点受到各自的培训、职业和学术背景的影响，我们相信，许多学科的本科公共和人口健康教育（UGPPHE）对于加强加拿大的公共卫生至关重要。加拿大与 UGPPHE 相关的现有文献和讨论往往集中在医学、护理和牙科等临床健康学科的辅助定位上，而不是本科课程的演变上。虽然 UGPPHE 计划在培养本科生成为公共卫生专业人员方面发挥了重要作用，但它在提高公众健康素养和培养更多知情和参与的公民方面具有额外的价值。本评论的目的是引起更多关注那些不太关注加拿大 UGPPHE 的其他学科，并开始希望这将是全国利益相关者对话的连锁反应。
