Introduction to Public Health
Public Health promotes and protects the health of people and the communities they live, learn, work and play. While the doctors treat the patients, the public health professionals are seen working in public health and try to prevent people from getting sick or injured in the first place. The public health professionals also promote wellness by encouraging healthy behaviours.
From conducting scientific research to educating about health, people in the field of public health work to assure the condition in which people can be healthy. That can mean vaccinating children and adults to prevent the spread of diseases. Or educating people about the risks of alcohol and tobacco. Public health sets safety standards to protect workers and develops school nutrition programmes to ensure kids have access to healthy food.
Brief about Master of Public Health (MPH)
Master of Public Health (MPH) is a 2-year full time post graduate degree that is divided into 4- semesters. The course curriculum is structured to build knowledge, develop skills and provide exposure to real-world situations in public health. The course aims to develop student’s competency in the many core areas that are related to public health.
The public health is multidisciplinary in nature, incorporating components of study from disciplines such as Medicine, Engineering, Information Technology, Social Science, Management, etc. The course for public health is designed for health promotion, health economics and policy, public health management epidemiology and biostatistics, demography, social sciences and many others. The course ensures to cultivate student’s health management skills to prepare them to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of public health programmes and services.
Eligibility for Master of Public Health (MPH)
The students who have completed their graduation degree from any stream from recognised university with minimum 50% aggregate marks are eligible to apply for Master of Public Health. The dental graduates should have permanent registration with the State Dental Council in order to apply for MPH course.
Admission Procedures
The eligible students can take admission to a master of public health (MPH) course by two modes of admission. The first one is merit based and second one is direct admission. Let’s discuss in detail both of them
1. Merit Based Admission
There are many reputed colleges and universities that conduct institution-based entrance exams for the admission to MPH courses, this mode of admission is called merit-based admission. The entrance exams are conducted for the limited number of seats available in merit quota in all the colleges. The main motto to conduct the entrance exam is to select the hardworking and serious students from the group of non-serious ones. The qualified students are allotted merit seats and the fee structure is also nominal for merit admissions.
2. Direct Admission
The students can also take admission to MPH course by another mode of admission called direct admission. Under this mode the students are given direct admission to the course in their desired colleges under management quota. The main benefit of this mode is that the students enjoy special privileges, where they are not required to apply for any institution-based entrance exams for admissions. Another advantage is that the students can choose their desired colleges and book their seats even before the staring of the academic year. The interested students who want to take direct admission are required to contact Galaxy Educational Services for more details.
Syllabus
The students of Master of Public health will study the following subjects in their post- graduation
| Sl. No. | Subjects of Study |
|---|---|
| 1 | Concept of Primary Health Care, Community |
| 2 | Ecology of Health |
| 3 | Public Health Biology- Introduction |
| 4 | Sampling Methods and Techniques |
| 5 | Statistical Methods and Techniques |
| 6 | Human Psychology |
| 7 | Introduction to Epidemiology |
| 8 | Demographic Transition |
| 9 | Introduction to Project Planning and Management in Health Care & Public Health |
| 10 | General Overview of Communicable Diseases |
| 11 | Mental Health: Classification |
| 12 | Definition and Concept of Vulnerable Populations |
| 13 | Health inequality and Health Care Disparities among Vulnerable Populations |
| 14 | Environment: Definition, Concept and Components |
| 15 | Fundamentals of Occupational Health |
| 16 | Healthcare Legislation in India |
| 17 | Health Planning- History, Concept, Models |
| 18 | Principles of Human Nutrition |
| 19 | Digestive Absorption Metabolism of Carbohydrates, Proteins and Lipids |
| 20 | Introduction to various health systems |
| 21 | Socio Cultural Perspectives of International Health |
| 22 | Public Health in Developing & Developed Countries |
| 23 | Ethical Issues in international health research |
Career and Scope
The MPH graduates can find various jobs in the health sector. They can find ample job opportunities in both private and government hospitals, NGOs and other healthcare units. They can take up research by joining a PhD programme and engage in research activities. The students who are interested in in-depth study of the subject can join the M.Phil programme. The MPH students can join as lecturers in various colleges and earn a decent salary. They can also join to research institutes as research associates.
Job Roles available for MPH students
Some of the important job roles are:
- Public Health Management Analyst
- Health Communication Specialist
- Research Scientist
- Health Advisor
- Epidemiologist
- Public Relations Officer
How much do an MPH student earn?
The fresh MPH graduates will be earning around 5 lakhs to 8 lakhs per annum. The experienced professionals will be earning around 6 lakhs to 9 lakhs per annum. The salary varies according to the location and recruiter.
Top Companies hiring MPH students
Some of the important and top companies hiring MPH students are:
- HelpAge India
- CRY
- UNICEF
- Tata Foundation
- Reliance Foundation
- Adani Foundation
- Infosys Foundation
- Wipro Foundation
Conclusion
The increased awareness about health among the people of the society, has created huge demand for the MPH Professionals. Many private organisations under their corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiative conduct various health related initiatives in the surrounding communities. The activities include health camps, eye check-up camps, vaccination, etc. The MPH Professionals are responsible to execute these health initiatives and ensure that it reaches to the deprived people of the community.
Today the government is also taking measures in communities to improve public health. The MPH students are responsible to execute all these measures like vaccination, health camps, etc, such that the public health is maintained. The MPH students are also paid decent salaries and also are given opportunities to grow in their careers. The students who wish to work towards improvement of public health in communities can join the MPH programme and serve the society.