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Editorial
. 2017 Oct 24:38:24.
doi: 10.1186/s40985-017-0069-0. eCollection 2017.

Post-graduate medical education in public health: the case of Italy and a call for action

Anna Odone  1   2 , Gaetano Pierpaolo Privitera  3 , Carlo Signorelli  1   2 ; Board of Directors of the Italian Postgraduate Schools of Hygiene and Public Health
Collaborators, Affiliations
Editorial

Post-graduate medical education in public health: the case of Italy and a call for action

Anna Odone et al. Public Health Rev. .

Abstract

Public health technical expertise is of crucial importance to inform decision makers' action in the field of health and its broader determinants. Improving education and training of public health professionals for both practice and research is the starting point to strengthen the role of public health so that current health challenges can be efficiently tackled. At the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) Deans' & Directors' 2017 Annual Retreat, we presented the structure and management of public health training system in Italy, and we reported recent data on Italian public health specialists' educational experience, employment opportunities and job satisfaction. Public health training in Italy is implemented in the context of the post-graduate medical education residency programme in Hygiene and Preventive Medicine, delivered by 34 University-based Schools of Public Health. We report relatively high employment rates across the county and wide spectrum of career opportunities for young public health specialists. However, job security is low and training expectations only partially met. We call upon other Schools of Public Health to scale up the survey within the broad ASPHER community in a shared and coordinated action of systematically collecting useful data that can inform the development of public health education and training models, their implementation and fruitful interaction with population health, health systems and services.

Keywords: Education; Hygiene and preventive medicine; Public health; Survey; Training.

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Conflict of interest statement

Anna Odone, MD MSc MPH is a Research Associate in Public Health at the University of Parma, Italy. She presented the findings of this study at the Association of Schools of Public Health in the European Region (ASPHER) Deans' & Directors' 2017 Annual Retreat, in the context of the 9th Young Researchers Forum. Gaetano Privitera, MD PhD is Full Professor of Public Health and Director of the School of Public Health at the University of Pisa (Italy) and is the Coordinator of the Board of Directors of the Italian Public Health Schools. Carlo Signorelli, MD MSc PhD is Full Professor of Public Health and Director of the Schools of Public Health at the University of Parma and University Vita-Salute San Raffaele, Milan (Italy). Professor Signorelli is Past President of the Italian Society of Hygiene, Preventive Medicine and Public Health (SItI), Member of the Board of Directors of the Italian Public Health Schools and Treasurer of the European Public Health Association (EUPHA).Not applicable.Not applicable.The authors declare that they have no competing interests.Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Hygiene and Preventive Medicine residency programme available contracts, by School of Public Health and by region, 2016
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Survey results: career opportunities, job security, satisfaction and training experience in young Italian public health specialists, 2016
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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