You are not currently signed in.    Sign in now   or    Don't have a password / Forgotten password?        Contact Us

 
Home > About the Faculty
 

Background

The Faculty developed from groups of physicians practising public health medicine or community medicine in both Australia and New Zealand. The need for professional bodies in Australia and New Zealand to take responsibility for the training of doctors in Public Health and Community Medicine had been discussed in a variety of settings for many years.

The United Kingdom, United States, Canada and New Zealand identified the specialty of Community Medicine as a branch of medical practice with its primary concern being some aspect of the health of populations rather than the clinical care of individual patients. The need for special training for medical graduates working in this field was recognised, and each of these countries devised similar training programs. Each has professional bodies concerned with training and the maintenance of professional standards.

Australia recognised the role of doctors in this field. Postgraduate training in Public Health has been available for many years, and was among the earliest postgraduate qualifications available in Australia. While professional bodies increasingly took on the responsibility for training for other medical specialties, training in Public Health remained the responsibility of universities and, to some extent, governments. There was no organised attempt by the medical profession to take responsibility for recruiting people into Community Medicine, for ensuring that adequate training was available, for developing a satisfactory career path, or for setting standards for those in practice.

The need for training doctors in Community Medicine was formally identified in New Zealand in 1976, when a workshop held by the Medical Council of New Zealand noted Community Medicine as one of three areas of postgraduate education requiring priority attention. In 1978 a recommendation to establish an independent New Zealand College of Community Medicine (NZCCM) was accepted, and the College was formed in 1979.

The first Annual General Meeting of the Australian Association of Community Physicians was held in February 1986, chaired by Dr Sue Morey, who became the Association's first president. It agreed that it was necessary to define the skills, knowledge and attitudes which a community physician should possess, and then develop a training program to acquire these attributes.

The Council of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians accepted a proposal submitted by members of the Executive of the Association to form an Australian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (AFPHM) at its meeting of May 1988 and the Constitutional Committee then proceeded to develop the By-Laws. These were accepted at the Council Meeting of May 1990 and the first Faculty Council was appointed. Sue Morey was the Foundation President of the Faculty.

In November 1993 members of the New Zealand College of Community Medicine (NZCCM) became eligible to become Fellows of what is now an Australasian Faculty following an agreement between the NZCCM and the AFPHM.

 
© 2009 The Royal Australasian College of Physicians.   Login Help   I   Privacy   I   Site Map   I   College Merchandise   I   Careers At RACP