Public Health Program

The Master program in Public Health provides students with advanced theoretical and practical knowledge that allows them the capacity to assess and improve the quality standards and operations of the health sector. It provides candidates with the scientific, management and leadership foundations to help them pursue organisational reforms and alignment with World Health Organisation policy standards. After the completion of their studies graduates will be able to contribute on disease prevention, life prolongation and health promotion through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, public and private organizations, communities and individuals.

General Objectives
The growing importance of Public Health has made it necessary, both for professional healthcare officers and the students of this field to acquire a basic core of knowledge relating to Public Health. This course will constitute this exact core of knowledge in the sense in which the World Health Organisation is facing Public Health today.

The goal of this course is to focus on the major problems of Public Health, on the role of and the guidance provided by international organisations involved in Public Health and on the role and competences of Public Health officers.

This course will also focus on the strategies ? practices for the implementation of action of Public Health and on the current legal framework, due to the fact that today we deal with Public Health problems in a systematic and holistic manner and we involve in problem solving the scientific interest of many different groups of professionals, confirming in this way the interdisciplinary nature of Public Health.

In the separate course units of this programme we will analyse the concepts of health, of public health, disease prevention and health promotion. We will describe the structures of Public Health and the role of international organisations (World Health Organisation, European Union, Council of Europe, etc.). We will approach concepts, such as the estimation of population health by means of health indices. We will analyse communicable and non-communicable diseases, their surveillance, as well as preventive strategies and policies. We will also approach contemporary problems of public health, such as aging population, environmental pollution, mental health, degenerative diseases, chronic diseases, patient?s rights, etc.

Specific Objectives
This programme will provide to students a core of knowledge aligned with the sense the World Health Organisation and the European Union are facing Public Health today and will focus on the major problems of Public Health in the international and local context. It will also develop strategies and practices for the implementation of Public Health actions within the current legal framework of Cyprus, the European Union and the World Health Organisation. The knowledge that students will acquire will allow them to approach all contemporary matters of public health, such as infectious diseases, aging population, environmental pollution, mental health, patient?s rights, etc. Upon their graduation they will have the ability to evaluate and observe the development and implementation of health policies in Cyprus and other countries and they will be able to design and suggest preventive strategies. Finally, they will be able to understand the role, the duties and the contribution they can have as graduates of the programme under discussion in the wider field of public health of the country.

Learning Outcomes
Upon successful completion of this course students should be able to:

Explain the basic principles and also analyse the contemporary problems of Public Health;
Analyse the complex nature of problems occurring in the field of Public Health and at the same time be able to suggest alternative actions for the continuous improvement of the current health system;
Analyse and use the methods of the Public Health Science for the promotion of Public Health;
Evaluate and observe population health indices and draft suitable preventive strategies;
Professionally approach the rules and values that govern Public Health;
Describe theories and models related to the Public Health science in specific specialised fields;
Determine the identity of the Public Health professional;
Describe the main scientific principles that contribute to the contemporary approach to Public Health;
Plan and carry out epidemiologic studies, analyse data and detect determining disease factors.