Public Health Physician & Associate Medical Director,
Environmental Health Services, Population and Environmental Health, BC Centre for Disease Control
The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) provides provincial and national leadership in public health through surveillance, detection, prevention and consultation and provides both direct diagnostic and treatment services to people with diseases of public health importance. Come join one of Canada’s best Public Health facilities in one of the world’s most beautiful cities!
BCCDC, in collaboration with public health partners, has a responsibility to identify and respond to provincial population and public health priorities in BC, which may shift over time. Environmental Health Services (EHS) provides provincial leadership, expertise, consultation, surveillance, research, policy support, and knowledge translation to uphold and advance evidence-based environmental public health policy and practice in BC. This work addresses a broad range of environmental public health issues, including exposure to environmental hazards, climate-related health risks and adaptation, food safety, poison information, and emergency preparedness and response.
The BCCDC is currently seeking to hire a Public Health Physician & Associate Medical Director, working with EHS. This is a leadership role within EHS that supports provincial environmental public health programs and services and contributes to the broader Population and Environmental Health Unit. The Public Health Physician position is a permanent position, and the Associate Medical Director role is a five-year, renewable term appointment.
Reporting to the Medical Director, Population and Environmental Health, the Associate Medical Director provides medical and public health leadership to EHS and oversight of medical staff, and, in close collaboration with Scientific and Operations leadership, supports the development and implementation of strategic directions, priorities, policies, clinical administration, program management, and quality improvement for EHS services. The Public Health Physician & Associate Medical Director consults, partners, and collaborates with communities, Regional Health Authorities, First Nations Health Authority, Métis Nation British Columbia, the Office of the Provincial Health Officer, the Ministry of Health and other provincial ministries, academic partners, non-governmental organizations, and provincial, federal, and international public health partners to identify and address emerging environmental public health issues.
The Public Health Physician & Associate Medical Director supports EHS and BCCDC in developing, monitoring, evaluating, and disseminating provincial public health policies, guidelines, and standards of practice that promote quality service delivery. Working in partnership with medical, scientific, operational, and public health leaders, the Public Health Physician & Associate Medical Director provides expert medical advice, contributes to evidence reviews, briefing notes, and policy recommendations, and helps strengthen provincial environmental public health practice through surveillance, evaluation, research, knowledge translation, and quality improvement.
The Public Health Physician & Associate Medical Director also supports training, mentorship, and collaboration with key internal and external partners. This includes helping integrate environmental public health and poison control through collaboration with the Drug and Poison Information Centre and providing medical input to the National Collaborating Centre for Environmental Health, hosted by BCCDC.
Key activities of the Associate Medical Director include providing medical leadership and mentorship to EHS personnel; providing medical oversight for EHS medical staff, including for the medical leads of the Drug and Poison Information Centre; supporting strategic planning and priority setting for EHS programs and services; advising on operational and program decisions that affect strategic outcomes; providing medical support to delegated regulatory responsibilities; identifying and addressing capacity gaps; contributing to budget and resource recommendations as appropriate; monitoring and interpreting provincial evidence and data to recommend action where needed; and adjusting priorities as required to respond to changing population health needs.
The Public Health Physician & Associate Medical Director supports the Medical Director with medical leadership for the Population and Environmental Health Unit, which may include administrative and strategic responsibilities. They are also part of the senior leadership team at the BCCDC and a key contributor to charting the direction of the BCCDC while supporting the leadership in creating a collaborative and creative environment.
Qualifications
Applicants must be eligible for licensure as a specialist in British Columbia and hold RCPSC certification or equivalent qualifications in a specialty related to public health, such as Public Health and Preventive Medicine, occupational medicine, internal medicine, or another relevant specialty. Training or experience in environmental health, toxicology, epidemiology, occupational health, risk assessment, or the assessment and control of environmental hazards is an asset.
Along with at least 5 years of experience in fields related to public health, such as toxicology, epidemiology, occupational health, risk assessment, and control of environmental hazards, applicants should have extensive practical experience responding to environmental health issues and the development of policy to mitigate risks. Applicants should also have comprehensive and in-depth knowledge of regulatory agencies, policies, legislation, and processes that govern and are relevant to public health. This role requires sound medical judgment on a wide range of public health issues, and an understanding of the structure and mandates of Health Authorities in the province is an asset. Exceptional communication and cross-functional collaboration skills are required together with knowledge of budget preparation and control, and quality control practices in a public health setting.
The successful candidate will embed reconciliation and partnership with First Nations, Inuit, and Métis Peoples as a core principle of their work and will contribute to a culturally safe, inclusive, and collaborative environment.
The successful candidate will be recommended for a faculty appointment at the University of British Columbia. The academic rank, based on qualifications, will be recommended by the Faculty of Medicine at the University of British Columbia.
Contact
To apply for this rewarding career development opportunity, please forward a letter of application outlining your areas of interest, a copy of your current CV, and the names and contact information of three references, to:
Heather Finn
Talent Acquisition Advisor, PHSA
physicianrecruitment@phsa.ca
Exciting news from CPSBC for International Medical Graduates: https://www.cpsbc.ca/news/cpsbc-eligibility-bylaws-updated
About Provincial Health Services Authority
The BC Centre for Disease Control (BCCDC) is dedicated to preventing and controlling communicable diseases and promoting environmental health for the province of BC.
BCCDC program is part of the Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA).
PHSA plans, manages and evaluates specialized health services with the BC health authorities to provide equitable and cost-effective health care for people throughout the province. Our values reflect our commitment to excellence and include: Respect people – Be compassionate – Dare to innovate – Create equity – Be courageous.
Learn more about PHSA and our programs: jobs.phsa.ca/programs-and-services
PHSA and BCCDC committed to anti-racism and equity in our hiring and employment practices. With learning and compassion, we are addressing existing inequities and barriers throughout our systems. PHSA is seeking to create a diverse workforce and to establish an inclusive and culturally safe environment. We invite applications and enquiries from all people, particularly those belonging to the historically, systemically, and/or persistently excluded groups identified under the B.C. Human Rights Code.
One of PHSA’s North Star priorities is to eradicate Indigenous-specific racism, which includes ongoing commitments to Indigenous recruitment and employee experience as well as dismantling barriers to health care employment at every level. We welcome Indigenous individuals to apply and/or contact the Sanya’k̓ula Team (Indigenous Recruitment & Employee Experience) for support at indigenous.employment@phsa.ca.
Indigenous-specific anti-racism initiatives are rooted in addressing the unique forms of discrimination, historical and ongoing injustices, and exclusion faced by Indigenous peoples. These initiatives align with an Indigenous rights-based approach, recognizing the inherent rights and title of BC First Nations and self-determination of all First Nations, Inuit and Métis communities. PHSA is mandated to uphold legislative obligations and provincial commitments found in the foundational documents including the Truth & Reconciliation Commission’s Calls to Action (2015), In Plain Sight (2020), BC's Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Act (2019), United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), Reclaiming Power and Place Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women & Girls Calls for Justice (2019), the Declaration Act Action Plan and Remembering Keegan: A First Nations Case Study.
