Public health medicine
Public health medicine is the epidemiological analysis of medicine concerned with the health and care of populations and population groups. It involves the assessment of health and health care needs, the development of policy and strategy, the promotion of health, the control and prevention of disease, and the organisation of services.
Vocational training in public health medicine is undertaken through two different Colleges:
- The New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine (NZCPHM); or
- The Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (AFPHM) of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
Am I able to apply to work as a recognised specialist in New Zealand?
To apply for vocational registration in public health medicine, you would need to hold:
- the FNZCPHM qualification; or
- the FAFPHM qualification; or
- an international postgraduate medical qualification in public health medicine, where your combination of qualifications, training and experience is assessed against the standard of the FNZCPHM or FAFPHM.
What standard will I be compared against?
There are two colleges that can assess your qualifications, training and experience. A summary of each college’s training programme is described below:
The New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine
To obtain Fellowship of the NZCPHM, the trainee is required to complete 45 months of training:
- 16 months of basic training requiring completion of a Masters in public health prescribed by the NZCPHM
- 29 months of advanced training to be undertaken at a variety of sites to achieve defined core skills and competence
- registrars are required to achieve the NZ public health medicine competencies by completion of training, with a variety of assessments undertaken throughout the training programme
- FNZCPHM awarded on satisfactory upon successful completion of training requirements
- participation required in the NZCPHM Tracking of Professional Standards (TOPS) programme
The Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (AFPHM) of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
To obtain the Fellowship of the AFPHM, the trainee completes 5 years of training:
- 2 years of general medical experience
- 3 years of advanced training:
- completion of 36 units of advanced training, confirmed by supervisor’s reports
- satisfactory completion of 3 workplace reports
- completion of an oral presentation
- submission of a training summary
- satisfactory completion of an oral examination
- FAFPHM awarded on satisfactory completion of examination and training requirements
- participation required in the AFPHM recertification programme
I want to make a vocational registration application
If you wish to make a vocational registration application, please refer to the Vocational Registration Homepage and select the Option appropriate for you.
Am I able to apply for other types of registration?
You may be able to apply for more than one type of registration. To find out which is the best fit for you, please use our self assessment tool