Public Health & Preventive Medicine: the Practice Eligibility Route

How training is structured

The Royal College sets out the training for Public Health & Preventive Medicine in the blocks below. An internationally trained specialist is assessed on whether their own training and practice record is comparable in structure and content.

Required experiences

Specific experiences the Royal College names for this discipline.

• 1. One (1) year of basic clinical training selected from at least three of: 1.1 Obstetrics and Gynecology; 1.2 Pediatrics or its subspecialties; 1.3 Emergency Medicine; 1.4 Geriatric medicine/care of the elderly; 1.5 Family Medicine; 1.6 Internal Medicine or its subspecialties
• 2.1 A minimum of two (2) semesters of academic work in Public Health and Preventive Medicine which must include epidemiology and biostatistics, and may include research methods (qualitative/quantitative), public health system/policy, program evaluation or management/leadership
• 2.2 A minimum of eighteen (18) months of field placements selected from at least one of the following settings: 2.2.1 national, provincial, territorial, regional, or local public health agencies; 2.2.2 health planning authority; 2.2.3 environmental health setting; 2.2.4 occupational health department in government and/or industry

Flexible or selective components

Where the requirements allow a choice.

• 2.3 Up to twelve (12) months of other field placements relevant to the candidate's future career goals: 2.3.1 clinical pharmacology and toxicology; 2.3.2 aerospace medicine; 2.3.3 Occupational Medicine; 2.3.4 other as approved by the program director
• 2.4 Up to eighteen (18) months of research relevant to Public Health and Preventive Medicine
• 2.5 Up to twelve (12) months of College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC) accredited training, or Royal College clinical specialty relevant to the practice of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, or selective clinical experiences related to disease prevention and health promotion for specific populations or groups

Common questions

What is the Practice Eligibility Route in Public Health & Preventive Medicine?

The Practice Eligibility Route (PER) is the Royal College process by which an internationally trained specialist can be assessed for eligibility to sit the certification examination in Public Health & Preventive Medicine without repeating a Canadian residency. The Royal College reads your postgraduate training and practice record against the published Specialty Training Requirements for the discipline.

What training does the Royal College expect in Public Health & Preventive Medicine?

The Specialty Training Requirements describe five years of approved residency training, within or under the aegis of a Royal College accredited residency program. The full block-by-block structure is set out on this page, taken from the Royal College document for this discipline.

Does meeting the training requirements guarantee eligibility?

No. Eligibility is a committee decision made on your individual file, and other factors are considered. This page reproduces the published requirements so you can see how your own training compares before you apply; it is not an eligibility ruling.

Where do I start?

Read the six steps in the PER guide, then have your training mapped against the Specialty Training Requirements before you pay any fees. The free PDF for this specialty carries the steps, the document checklist, and the Public Health & Preventive Medicine requirements in one file.

More on the route itself: the full PER guide covers the six steps and the document checklist. Royal College examination dates for every discipline are on the Deadline Radar, and Canadian clinical fellowships in Public Health & Preventive Medicine are in the Fellowship Finder.