Introduction
The School offers taught course and research placements as part of the UK Faculty of Public Health (FPH) Specialty training scheme, where we have national treasure status. During a placement, Public Health trainees will be supported to gain public health competencies and develop skills in areas such as literature review, critical appraisal, quantitative and qualitative data analysis, writing for publication and teaching. Post Part B trainees are expected to teach on MSc courses or lead Part A preparation sessions. There are also opportunities for trainees to develop seminars and presentations, organise conferences and access a wide range of in-house staff development courses.
Types of placement
MSc courses
Most London, Kent, Surrey and Sussex (LKSS) public health trainees complete an MSc in Public Health at the School. Many trainees also take Part A of the FPH exams during or directly after the MSc. A Part A revision course is organised and run by LKSS trainees with the support of School staff.
Post Part B Public Health training placements
After completing part B of the FPH exams, public health trainees may apply for an academic placement to gain specific research skills or experience and fulfil key learning outcomes. Some registrars also carry out pilot work and prepare for research fellowship applications during an academic placement. Placements are typically 6 to 12 months.
Academic training pathway
In alternate years, the School welcomes an Academic Clinical Fellow (ACF) in Public Health. These posts last up to three years and allow 25% of a trainee’s time to be spent at the School, with the remaining 75% spent in local service public health and health protection training placements. As well as completing an MSc and FPH exams, ACFs are expected to identify an area of research interest to develop into an application for PhD fellowship funding from funders such as MRC, Wellome or NIHR.
Studying for a PhD as a trainee
Public health trainees interested in exploring a research area in depth can take time out of specialty training (OOPR – out of programme research) to complete a PhD if they obtain additional funding. Fellowships for PhDs are usually funded from organisations such as MRC, Wellcome or NIHR. Some PhD time may be counted towards specialist training, with prior approval.
- Training pathway diagram (pdf)
Educational supervision
Professor Karen Lock and Dr Helen Hogan are the School’s two highly experienced educational supervisors and are the main point of contact for public health training.
Training locations and potential project supervisors
Placements are available in all three Faculties, tailored to individuals’ needs and interests. There are a number of qualified public health trained staff across all three faculties who can act as project supervisors. However, all staff are potentially eligible for this role and non FPH accredited staff will work closely with the Educational Supervisors to provide a suitable placement.
Example previous projects
|
Dates |
Project |
Specialty registrar |
|---|---|---|
|
2014-2015 |
|
Greg Hartwell |
|
2015 |
|
Esther Kwong |
|
2016-2017 |
|
Anna Seale |
| 2019-2020 | Discourse analysis of food, alcohol and health outcomes and industry representation | Anna Ramsbottom |
| 2019-2020 | How the meat industry portrays the health and environmental harms of red and processed meat consumption | Katie Clare |
| 2019-2020 | Development of a community testing pilot study of Chagas disease in Latin American migrants in London | Natalie Elkheir |
| 2019-2020 | Enablers and challenges to implementation of the national learning from deaths programme in acute Trusts | Sarah Morgan and Anamika Basu |
| 2019-2020 | To examine COVID-19 policies for care homes in England and to describe providers’ experiences of those policies | Selena Rajan |
| 2019-2020 | Comparison of COVID-19 pandemic response across Europe | Selena Rajan |
| 2019-2020 | Design and completion of a scabies prevalence survey in a peri-urban community in Monrovia, Liberia | Shelui Collinson |
Contacts
If you would like to discuss a Public Health training placement at the School, please get in touch first with either of the Educational Supervisors, Karen Lock or Helen Hogan. If you have a specific research area in mind, you can contact one of the FPH contacts in the Faculty you are interested in (listed below) who can help direct you to potential project supervisors. Arrangements will need to be formalised through your Training Programme Director and the educational supervisors.