History

The roots of the current New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine stretch back to the New Zealand College of Community Medicine (NZCCM), formed in the 1970s. The NZCCM was the first training provider for public health medicine in New Zealand.

Between 1992 and mid-2008, the specialty of public health medicine was represented in New Zealand by the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine (AFPHM), a faculty of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP).  The New Zealand Population Health Charitable Trust (NZPHCT) was established in 1999 as a legal entity to administer and provide vocational training and professional development programmes in public health medicine for New Zealand.

In 2008, the New Zealand College of Public Health Medicine (NZCPHM) was established to represent the specialty of public health medicine in New Zealand. Initially, the NZPHCT retained responsibility for delivering the vocational training and professional development programmes, with the NZCPHM providing public health medicine leadership, advocacy and member support. However, in November 2010 the decision was made to dissolve the NZPHCT and incorporate its functions into the NZCPHM. This process was completed in December 2011. This history is documented in Guardians of the Nation's Health and Well-being (2018).

The College Logo 

The logo made its first appearance in the September 2011 newsletter. It incorporated elements of the old College of Community Health’s medallion, with a snake coiled around a Māori taiaha, resting on two fern leaves. Julia Peters’ “Letter from the President” in the February 2012 newsletter described the logo as symbolising where we had come from, what the College represented, and the significance of Māori and Pacific influences.

The President's Medallion

Dr Francis de Hamel volunteered to design and make the ceremonial medal. The design incorporated three important symbols: a snake coiled around a Māori taiaha similar to the staff of Aesculapius and representing the Hippocratic oath, surrounded by leaves of a korimako tree that Māori have used medicinally for generations and at the bottom of the medallion, the four stars of the Southern Cross.

Doug Short and Norman Greenslade, chair of the Medical Council, with the College Medallion

Guardians of the Nation's Health and Well-being

The History of Public Health Medicine Colleges in New Zealand, 1977-2018

This publication documents the history of the College in its different guises over the past 40 years and is available for purchase by completing an order form.

Email the completed form to the College Office

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