台灣公共衛生教育之發展與挑戰

Development and challenge of public health education in Taiwan

台灣的公共衛生（以下簡稱公衛）教育與國家整體的公衛發展有密切的關係。本文旨在整理並回顧台灣公衛教育的發展與演進，作為進一步改革台灣公衛教育的參考。我們先依歷史資料及教育部1998至2015年之統計資料，將台灣公衛教育的發展歷史分成四個時期：草創期（1939到1970年），茁壯期（1971到1990年），擴充期（1991到2007年），及重整期（2007年之後），詳細回顧有關公衛系所之設立、教師結構、與學生人數等實證資料。其次，我們探討這些結果與趨勢所顯示的議題與挑戰，包括核心課程、能力測驗、系所評鑑、及人力需求。最後，我們提出對於未來的一些展望，像是建立專業組織以進行機構評鑑、通過公衛師法以推動專業認證、以及開發新興公衛人力巿場。（台灣衛誌2018；37（5）：481-498）。 Public health education in Taiwan has been parallel with the nation’s public health development, reflecting the health demands in the society. This study aimed to empirically review the evolution of public health education in Taiwan, and discuss the future direction of education reform in public health. First, after reviewing the historical documents and the statistical databases created by the Ministry of Education from 1998 to 2015, we divided the nation’s development of public health education into four stages: founding stage (1993-1970), thriving stage (1971-1990), rapid-expansion stage (1991-2007), and reorganization stage (after 2007). We then reviewed the trend of the establishment of public health-related departments or institutions, the composition of faculty, and the number of enrolled students in the higher education. Second, we discussed critical issues revealed by these empirical data, including core courses, competence examination, the evaluation of departments/institutions, and job markets. Lastly, we suggested some directions for future reforms, such as establishing professional organization to conduct accreditation for departments/institutions, advocating Public Health Specialist Act to certify professionals, and fostering emerging human resources market for public health professionals. (Taiwan J Public Health. 2018;37(5):481-498).