Public-Health Inspectors Urged to Engage in Continuous Introspection

Senior Director of Technical Service in the Ministry of Tourism, David Dobson, is urging members of the Jamaica Association of Public Health Inspectors (JAPHI) to engage in continuous introspection, so as to remain relevant and successful at delivering top-quality service.

Addressing the recently held 70th annual JAPHI educational conference at the Grand Palladium Lady Hamilton Resort and Spa in Hanover, Mr. Dobson said important ingredients in the process of introspection include the development of matrices, setting benchmark standards and doing evaluations.

The Senior Director said if those principles are followed, the door to success will be easier to open.

“While we have the understanding that the door to success has keys, they are not three alternate keys. The door simply has three locks and all three have to be opened at the same time for you to enter,” Mr. Dobson said.

Citing the conference theme, ‘Professionalism, Passion and Performance – Keys to the Success of Environmental Health’, Mr. Dobson said teamwork is also an important element of ensuring success at all levels of the health sector in general, and in particular among public health inspectors.

Meanwhile, Associate Director of Healthy Environments at the Toronto Public Health Department, Dr. Sylvanus Thompson, encouraged public health inspectors to look seriously at succession planning.

He said the profession remains very attractive to youth and should be promoted among students in high schools as well as in tertiary institutions.

Mr. Thompson, a Jamaican living in Toronto, Canada, is of the view that there are several worthwhile professions in the public-health sector which should be promoted among science students, to ensure that the field remains sustainable.