Frequently asked questions
I'm interested in doing an elective in Public
Health in the UK. How can I arrange one?
There is no set answer to this - it depends on whereabouts in the UK you
have in mind and what (if any) particular subspecialty you are interested
in. The local
FPH Programme Director may have some ideas about possible placements, or
you could approach institutions (e.g. a local
PCT or
HPU) directly.
Otherwise, if you know anyone working in Public Health in the UK already
they may be able to act as an intermediary.
How do I train in Public Health in the UK?
See Public Health training
in the UK page.
I'm interested in applying for a Public Health
job. How can I find out more about where jobs are available and when
they are advertised?
Great! Most Specialist Training (ST) and Foundation jobs under the
Modernising Medical Careers (MMC) scheme
will now only be available for application annually. After sustained criticism
and the results of the Tooke Inquiry
into MMC, the
MTAS application system has been
suspended and for
the January 2008 recruitment process, all public health ST (StR) applications
will be handled through the
East Midlands Deanery. The Faculty of Public Health carries a list of the local Deanery
Programme Directors who will have the most up-to-date information on job
prospects in your local area. Job adverts may also be found on the BMJ Careers (search
under General Medical Jobs) and NHS Jobs
websites. Some non-training scheme PH jobs are also likely to be advertised
in the
Health Service Journal (HSJ). If you do
apply, good luck!
I'm an International Medical Graduate (IMG). Can
I apply for a Public Health training post in the UK?
The prospects for IMGs has has become much less certain in the last few
years. Although the Faculty may recognise overseas experience as
counting towards the
standard eligibility criteria for a training scheme, the rules for work
permits in the UK have recently changed (see
GMC page on
IMGs and
FPH
page on IMGs). You are therefore advised to contact your local
Programme Director for the latest information before applying for any
posts.
I've been shortlisted for a Public Health
training post. Do you have any tips for interviews?
Firstly, congratulations on the shortlisting! The following is mostly
just common-sense, but should still hopefully be useful.
- Try to speak to someone currently in the post, to find out what the
interviews are like in your area, and to help with any unanswered
questions you may have about the training programme
- Make sure you've read through your CV carefully, and can answer
anything about it
- Read through the person-specification for the post (which should
have been available at the time you applied) and ensure you fit the
specification, or can justify any gaps in the interview
- Have an idea - even if it's only a nascent one - about what sort of
consultant you would like to be or how you see your career progressing
after your specialist training (academic?
CCDC?
DPH? Department
of Health?)
- Make sure you're up-to-date on recent public health news stories
(see the archive
and news sources
pages) and
major policies
- Be prepared for all the standard, predictable questions (why PH? why
here? why you?) and make sure you've got fluent answers ready - practise
in front of a mirror, or ask a friend/work colleague/partner to
interrogate you if you think this would help
- If you are given the names of the individuals on the interview
panel, do a bit of research about them and their interests - this
needn't be particularly in-depth (I'm not advocating stalking...), but
you don't want to inadvertently bad-mouth one of their pet projects or
not know about their 'famous' achievement
- Don't be afraid to voice an opinion - putting forward a balanced
argument about a topic is much better than trying to follow what you
think is the 'party line' (which your interviewers may not believe in) -
just make sure you do it intelligently, be prepared to justify your
position, and accept that others may have a different opinion
- The oft-repeated advice of recognising that you are not the only one
being interviewed in the room - that you should be interviewing the
panel to see whether you would like to work with them - is very true,
and may help keep things in perspective
- If you are asked at the end of the interview if you have any
questions for the panel, the answer should usually be 'no'. This looks
even better if you can (truthfully) justify it by saying you've spoken
to someone already in post who has answered any questions you had (see
first tip in this list)
- Finally, smile - and try to enjoy it!
There's some more general advice in a
good article in BMJ Careers (Burnett S, BMJ Career Focus, 2002;
324:S69). Good luck!
How much do Public Health doctors and specialists get paid?
See the Salary
section on the training
page.
Do you have any tips on revising for the MFPH
exams?
I've recently taken (and passed!) my MFPH exams and have posted some
tips for people taking the Part A and
Part B (OSPHE). Also see the
MFPH page for more on
exams.
How can I see a full copy of the
Huntercombe HNA?
Please contact me with
details of your involvement in
prison health.
How can I see a full copy of the
smoking
cessation HEA?
Please contact me with
details of your interest in smoking cessation services or equity studies.
I'm confused by all the jargon and acronyms.
What does it all mean?
Too much of public health is unnecessarily shrouded in cryptic language!
See the Glossary for an
explanation of terms (or, if you are specifically interested in prison
health, the separate page on
prison jargon).
There is a link to the Glossary on the top right of every page on the site
We carry no paid advertisements. However, you can
submit a listing for
your course, job or event on our noticeboard at no cost.
Do you have a discussion board, email newsletter
or noticeboard?
We have a free
Noticeboard
which we hope will be useful, and a discussion board is in the pipeline for
launch later in the year. If you would be interested in an email
newsletter please get in
touch.
What's the catch with the Noticeboard?
How come it's free to advertise?
In the grand tradition of such leading questions, there is no catch!
Seriously, hosting a free noticeboard is hopefully not only helpful to
you, the visitor, and people who want to advertise their courses and
seminars, but also brings more traffic to Public Healthy.com, which is good
for us, too. So it's a win-win situation. There are no plans to
charge for course or event listings on the Noticeboard.
Who writes and owns Public Healthy.com?
This website was started and is maintained by me,
Tom Porter. You can read
more about the mission statement
here.
Although I currently write and update all content,
let me know if you
would potentially be interested in contributing articles (on a voluntary
basis) to the website in the future.
Is it part of a project at work?
No. Although it would make an interesting work project, it does not
form part of my day-to-day work. I genuinely felt there was too little
information out there on Public Health before entering the field and have
tried (in a small way) to correct that. There's still a long way to
go, so any suggestions
on improvements or additions would be gladly received.
On a shoestring! We do not carry paid advertisements and I receive no
funding to run the website, but the overheads are tiny.
(n.b. where books are referenced on the site they link to the relevant
Amazon.co.uk page but this is purely for the convenience of the visitor - we
do not receive support from Amazon).
Why isn't the website publicised more widely?
I hope to provide a bit of useful information for people looking into public
health as a career and to keep current practitioners up-to-date. We do
already get quite a lot of visitors, but any help in spreading the word
would be greatly appreciated. If you like the site, why not
tell a friend, or
submit a review of it to a journal (e.g. the
BMJ?) to help raise its profile.
Or, if you know about
del.icio.us, why not save it as one of your favourites on the site?
But I'll be most happy if you simply find the information you're looking
for. If you don't, let me know, and I'll see if I can add it.
Please contact me with your question and I'll try to help.