LAUNCH OF MASTER IN PUBLIC HEALTH COURSE
21st January 2014
JIPMER (Institution of National Importance, Ministry of Health and family Welfare, Govt. of
India) is committed to prepare a competent workforce of public health specialists who have basic
knowledge of public health principles and methods, familiarity with the aspects of the social and
environmental sciences, and ability to apply this knowledge to effectively meet the public health
needs of the country. In view of the above, MPH course was started in January 2014 to meet the
demand of quality public health leadership in the country. The course will provide competency
in Public Health Management, Teaching, Research, Leadership and effective & efficient health
care delivery to the community.
The Masters in Public Health (MPH) course was formally inaugurated on 21.01.2014 in presence
of Dr David Hunter, Dean, Harvard School of Public Health, Dr TS Ravikumar, Director JIPMER,
Dr Sanjay Mahendale, Director- National Institute of Epidemiology, Chennai; Dr Jambulingam,
Director Vector Control Research Center, Puducherry, Shri Vijay Poddar, Executive member, Sri
Aurobindo Society, Dr SC Parija, Dean (Research) and Dr S. Mahadevan (Academic), JIPMER.
Dr Gautam Roy, Professor, Department of Preventive and Social Medicine welcomed the
gathering. A brief report about the curriculum and scope of the MPH course was presented by
Dr Sitanshu Sekhar Kar, Associate Professor and co-ordinator of MPH course. Department of
Preventive and Social Medicine, JIPMER will the nodal department for running the course and
various departments will also contribute to the development of module and teaching/ training
activities. Out of 30 seats offered, 23 graduates from diverse background (2 MBBS/ 7 AYUSH,
12 Nursing, 3 Laboratory Technicians, 1 Engineering) have joined the course.
The course will
be for a period of 2 years and it covers foundation course with 25 credit points and advanced
course in the field of epidemiology, health management and health promotion with 10 credit
points. In addition, the course module contains research work in the field of public health and
practical exposure for application of various issues in the field of public health in health care
organization with 15 credit points with exposure to high quality facilities.
Dr Mehendale, Director, NIE, Chennai shared his remarks on the need of public health specialist
in our country. He also assured his complete support and co-ordination required for the course
conduction. Dr Jambulingam, Director, VCRC also shared his valuable experience in the field of
public health management to the gathering. Shri Vijya Poddar, Executive member, Sri Aurobindo
Society highlighted the complexity in human behaviour and the need of spiritual component in
the public health from his experience in rural outreach activities.
Dr T.S Ravikumar, Director, JIPMER delivered the inaugural address and declared this first batch
of MPH as “Golden Jubilee Batch of MPH” in this golden jubilee year of establishment of
JIPMER. With the brief introduction of the chief guest by the Director JIPMER, Dr David Hunter,
Dean, Harvard School of Public Health, USA addressed the gathering. Dr KC Premarajan, Prof
of PSM proposed the vote of thanks.
The whole program was shared with AIIMS Raipur and AIIMS Jodhpur through teleconferencing.