Breaking Into Public Health

 

Throughout secondary and undergraduate studies, the role of public health in Canada is not explicitly taught to students, nor are the potential career paths in this field identified. This may be a biased assessment, but in my experience, this was the case. Having completed my honours thesis at the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC), and subsequently working there on a part-time basis following graduation, I have been exposed to a diverse, dynamic and fast-paced field. I secured my position with PHAC after being accepted to the Federal Public Service Leadership Internship program – a pilot program that began in 2009 at McMaster University and University of Waterloo to foster leadership development among students in the Federal Public Service (FPS). The setup of the program involves students registering for a university credit course to learn about the FPS in Canada, followed by the opportunity to apply for an internship within the FPS. Some of the job opportunities for students were located at the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA), Health Canada (HC) and PHAC. I was positioned with the Outbreak Management Division (OMD) of PHAC in Guelph, Ontario.

The OMD is responsible for carrying out epidemiological investigations into outbreaks of food-borne illness across Canada. OMD’s mandate is to respond to multi-jurisdictional food-borne outbreaks, or outbreaks in more than one province and/or territory. The environment is fast-paced and always changing, as there are thousands of food-borne infections across Canada every year. Many of these infections are domestically acquired, while some cases involve individuals falling ill to a pathogen acquired during international travel.

I worked on an undergraduate thesis with the OMD at PHAC in 2010, exploring the international interventions that have been implemented to mitigate the incidence of Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) infections. SE is a pathogen commonly associated with poultry products. In the summer of 2010, the United States experienced hundreds of SE infections linked to contaminated eggs from national suppliers. This SE outbreak led to the recall of hundreds of millions of eggs, FDA/CDC investigations, and court hearings for the owners of the farms implicated in the outbreak. Salmonella, along with such other food-borne pathogens as E.coli, Listeria and Shigella, to name a few, are a major public health concern for Canadians. These pathogens are life-threatening to the young, elderly, and immuno-compromised, and are becoming increasingly dangerous to the average healthy individual. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant strains is increasing the burden that these infections place on the public health system.

Food-borne pathogens are not a novel concern for Canadians. While their prevalence may be increasing, possibly due to a combination of population and climate changes, we need to remember that the tried and tested practices of handwashing, avoiding cross-contamination, and proper cooking techniques, continue to be the best methods of protecting against infection. A major role of the public health system is to identify current and emerging threats, and identify the best practices or novel means of disease prevention for Canadians.