Public Health Education for
Physicians (PHEP)
Public Health Education for Physicians (PHEP) in the
Los Angeles County (LAC)
Department of Public Health (DPH) provides education about public health to
physicians-in-training who are in approved graduate
medical education (GME) residency programs. The
principal target groups are primary care resident-physicians from
the LAC Health Services Department (DHS);
however, other levels of physician training from DHS as
well as other institutions will be considered. The LAC
DPH itself has no physician residency programs.
For information on GME residency programs in LAC DHS, see websites for
LAC+USC;
Olive View-UCLA;
Harbor-UCLA;
and Rancho Los Amigos.
Not Eligible for PHEP?
Explore non-PHEP opportunities to experience DPH:
Individuals not eligible for PHEP -- like college or
medical school students, physicians not in residency
programs, and interested others -- still might find
experiences in DPH to intern (for academic credit) or to
volunteer (not for credit) through
other DPH programs. Volunteers can include community
members, students, or any qualified individual
interested in serving LA County. See
DPH
Internship & Volunteer page to explore
opportunities, and be sure to also review LA County-wide requirements and options for internships
on the County's Department of Human Resources (DHR)
LAC Internship Overview page.
Important: Note that, in order to apply for
academic credit internship,
students first must confirm their school has a written
partnership agreement with LA County, so see
DHR Academic Internship Program webpage to check the Partnering Universities List
and to find out how DHR can help your school partner
with the County.
Public Health vs. Personal Health
-- What's the Difference?
Unlike personal health, which serves individual patients one
by one, public health
seeks to assure health for entire populations. For
LAC DPH this means targeting optimal health for all 10
million county residents through collective social
actions to prevent disease, prolong life and promote
health.
While functionally independent, as
one of LAC's three separate health
departments, DPH works also with
Health Services Department (DHS) and Mental Health Department
(DMH)
to streamline access for those who need services from
more than one department or specialty area, and
through coordinated efforts to address the County's most
pressing health issues.
PHEP Educational Approaches
PHEP uses three approaches to provide public health
education: (1) website-based resources; (2) didactic through public health talks, and
(3) experiential through public health elective rotations for
resident-physicians.
Website-based Learning Resources:
Please explore the easy-to-access learning resources found on this page
and links to related websites.
Public Health Talks:
PHEP has a list of
public health topics previously available but
paused due to DPH COVID-19
emergency response. Please contact PHEP to check
availability of these talks or others.
Public Health
Elective Rotations for Resident-Physicians
Public Health elective rotations for resident-physicians are offered on
an individual basis by contacting PHEP. The standard duration for a public health rotation is one month.
The experience can be individualized to fit the physician-in-training’s needs.
Please contact PHEP at least 2 months prior to the desired start of a rotation so that appropriate arrangements can be made.
Important: Please note that significantly more than 2
months might be necessary if your residency program
needs to initiate or confirm completion of any required
pre-arrangements, like assuring they have identified any
written agreement documents required between themselves
and County of Los Angeles, and confirmed all
have been approved and signed
originals received by both entities well in advance of
an applicant's hoped-for start date. Just in case such
documents might not get timely completed,
resident-physicians should have back-up plans for
non-DPH alternatives.
For further PHEP information please contact the PHEP/Medical Affairs office at medicalaffairs@ph.lacounty.gov and include PHEP in subject line.
PHEP Resources
Resources by and about other DPH Programs:
Other Resources:
