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Community Medicine: Course Outline

Library Resources

Course Outline

1.Concept of Health and Disease

  1. Concept of health, Definition of health. Dimensions, physical, mental, social and spiritual. Spectrum of health, Determinants of health.
  2. Responsibility for health. Indicators of health. Health promotion.
  3. Concept of disease, concept of causation (all theories including ecological triad, agent, host and environmental factors), spectrum of disease.
  4. Natural history of disease. Levels of prevention.
  5. Disease elimination and eradication. Disease surveillance and disease prevention.

2. Introduction to Public Health

  1. Historical background. Evolution of Public health. Definition of Public health. Branches of Public health. Preventive medicine, social medicine, population medicine, community medicine. International

3. Health Systems in Pakistan

  1. Development of Public Health in Pakistan.
  2. Economics and Health.
  3. Health Policy and planning in Pakistan. “Health for all”, background, concepts and progress. “Primary Health Care”: Concepts and progress.
  4. The National Disease Control programmes; policies, strategies and operations.
  5. Health System in Pakistan: The role of Federal and Provincial
  6. Governments in Health Care. The District Health System, in the context of devolution. The Physician as a manager: Functions of manager, management of material, human and financial resources.
  7. Leadership and motivation.
  8. Partners in Health: The public and private sector. 
  9. Non-governmental Organizations and International Agencies.
  10. Resources for health.
  11. Community Mobilizati​ General Epidemiology and Research Methodology
  12. Background and concepts, uses, basic measurements in epidemiology (morbidity, mortality, disability and fatality)
  13. Epidemiological methods 
  14. Epidemiological transition. Association and causation. Investigation of an outbreak or an epidemic. Screening for disease.
  15. Community diagnosis.
  16. Research and survey methodology. Introduction to qualitative research methodology.

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