The University of Western Australia, which opened in 1913, is the State's longest established tertiary institution. It is one of the group of eight research-intensive Australian universities. Today the University enrols over 14,000 students in eight faculties.

The Department of Public Health is one of fourteen departments in the Faculty of Medicine and Dentistry. The Faculty's three main undergraduate degrees are the Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS), the Bachelor of Dental Science (BDSc) and the Bachelor of Health Science (BHlthSc). The Faculty's teaching and research covers biological, biomedical, medical and health domains.

The Department of Public Health has a total staff of about 100 highly qualified and dedicated people including about 10 teaching-and-research academic staff, 15 research academic staff, 10 administrative and technical support staff, and the remainder are research staff.

Education and workforce development
• Undergraduate medicine (MBBS)
The Department has teaching responsibilities in four years of the six year course, in the Foundations of Clinical Practice unit that runs through Years 1 to 3 and in the Research Projects in Year 4. Our contributions ensure that future doctors have broad perspective on health issues, appreciate the influence of social, environment and economic factors, have the skills and confidence to engage in illness prevention and health promotion, understand the health system, and support and evidence-based approach to practice.
• Undergraduate health science (BHlthSc)
The Department is responsible for teaching public health and research methods in a sequence of units in Years 2 through 4 that lead to a compulsory major in Public Health. The Department is also involved in the compulsory industry placement units in the course and hosting some of the honours students undertaking a research dissertation. This new degree was recently introduced in response to community and industry needs. It aims to produce graduates with the capacity for critical thinking and a range of skills suitable for working in the health and human services sector.
• Postgraduate coursework program in Public Health
The Department's postgraduate courses consist of a fully articulated set of offerings, ranging from enrolment in individual units through University Extension, Graduate Certificates in Public Health and Clinical Epidemiology (the CertPH and CertCE), Graduate Diplomas in Public Health and Clinical Epidemiology (DPH and DCE) and the Master of Public Health (MPH). The DPH includes a generic diploma and specialised diplomas in research methods, health planning, health promotion and Aboriginal health. Like the Master of Public Health, the diplomas and certificates in public health are open to graduates of any discipline. The Graduate Diploma in Clinical Epidemiology is designed for health professionals wishing to improve their research and planning skills. The diplomas are equivalent to one year's full time study, while the certificates are equivalent to one semester's full time study. Both involve coursework only. The Master of Public Health takes a minimum of two year's full time study and involves coursework and a supervised research component. The funding from the Australian Government Department of Health and Ageing through the WA Centre for Public Health has been essential to the developments in the postgraduate coursework program over the last decade.
• Research training
Research training is a flagship program of the Department. It offers three degrees (PhD, MPH by thesis, and MMedSci) and also actively fosters the training of the large and dynamic group of research staff within the Department. The aim is to develop high quality research students and staff who will become leaders in their fields. It achieves this objective by providing a dynamic and challenging research training program that equips graduates and staff with high level skills in research methods, a critical appreciation of theory and practice, and the experience of multidisciplinary teamwork.
• Continuing education (workforce development)
The Department has an active program in continuing professional education. It runs a weekly seminar program that is well attended by university staff and health professionals in Perth. Through the WA Centre for Public Health it runs a Visiting Scholars program and arranges seminars and workshops by the Scholars. The Department has an annual Summer School program that offers short courses and workshops in areas of need. The summer school also provides an opportunity for enrolled students to attend short courses and earn credits towards their degrees. Most full semester postgraduate units are also available for professional education on a not-for-degree basis through the University Extension 'Access' program. The continuing education program significantly extends the reach of our education efforts and, in addition to providing a valuable professional and community service, also provides excellent publicity for the Department's staff and teaching and research programs.
• New developments in education
We are currently working within the university to provide more options for Public Health graduate study. A professional doctorate (the Doctor of Public Health) has been proposed with a greater coursework component than the PhD and an emphasis on public health practice in the thesis. Currently, UWA regulations prevent us offering such a degree but a university wide committee has been formed to examine the regulations and recommend changes. In addition, we are working towards introducing a combined MBBS/MPH in which medical students undertake further public health study through appropriate choices of electives during their medical degree and complete the dissertation and the rest of the

MPH coursework in one additional year.
The Aboriginal Health Research Award Scheme was introduced in 1998 as a not-for-degree research training experience for Aboriginal people. The principle tenet is skills transfer through supervised research experience and flexible conditions. Initial funding allowed four awards during 1999 and all award recipients successfully completed the program. Due to lack of funding, no awards were made in 2000. The Department is trying to secure additional funds to support further awards.

Research
The Department is research intensive with about 70% of its funding derived from research grants, contracts and consultancies. It has strong research programs in
• health services research
• occupational and environmental epidemiology
• cardiovascular disease epidemiology
• cancer epidemiology
• injury control
• health promotion and health program evaluation.

It also has a reputation for
• the development of population health databases (especially via record linkage)
• the application of epidemiologic methods to health care research.
A major advantage for health planners and reseachers in Western Australia is the existence of a comprehensive state-wide health information data system with linked hospital morbidity, mortality, mental health, perinatal and cancer data. It is one of five such systems in the world and contains more than 8 million records going back to 1980. Department researchers were instrumental in the construction of the system and are major users of the systems for population-based health services research including population health surveillance, health needs analysis, patterns of care, health cares outcomes, quality of care, and mental health research, and for epidemiological research.
The Department is custodian of a number of important research registers and data collections. These include the Wittenoom cohorts of asbestos miners and residents, the WHO MONICA cardiovascular disease database, the Busselton Health Study database, the Western Australian Road Injury Database, and the Aged Care Information system.

University, Professional, Industry and Community Service
Many academic staff actively participate in Faculty and University affairs through membership of major teaching and research committees, equity committees and governing boards and councils. Staff from the Department are very involved in the development and implementation of the new medical curriculum and the new health science curriculum. Professor Holman is very active in developing the University's human genome research agenda including the social, ethical, biomedical and public health implications of human genome research.

Staff of the Department are also actively involved in external developments within the professions, government and the community through a range of activities. These include policy, advisory, and professional committees, ethics committees, research grant reviews, research manuscript reviews, and editorships of journals.

The Department offers a range of research and evaluation support services to the university community and health industry. The overall goal is to provide services that will influence policy and practice in the health system. The objectives are to consolidate expertise within the Department, to strengthen relationships with the health sector, to facilitate knowledge transfer between academia and industry, and to contribute to best practice standards at an industry level. The services include biostatistics, data management, record linkage, survey design, conduct and analysis, health economic evaluation, health promotion evaluation, and health services research.