Programme

The MPH programme is structured and delivered to meet the public health needs of Uganda and the other countries in the African Great Lakes Region; and to fulfil the quality standards of the Uganda National Council of Higher Education (UNCHE). The programme is aligned to the core competences for public health professionals as suggested by the United States of America (USA) Council on Linkages between Academia and Public Health Practice; and to international public health training standards such as those suggested by the Council on Education for Public Health (CEPH) in the USA. The programme has an academic component largely based at the University; and a field component based in district training sites.  During the academic part of the programme, students are introduced to foundational and specialized public health courses. During the field component of the programme, a range of public health competencies are practised through on-job training within the context of a district health team. All courses in the programme are compulsory. [cm_show_info] The programme vision and mission are aligned to the overall focus of KABSOM; to be a centre of excellence in providing under-graduate and post-graduate health training, research and community service in the Great Lakes Region and beyond.  The MPH programme vision is of public health leaders that are prepared and responsive to the population health and environment needs within and beyond the boundaries of the great lakes region of Africa. The programme mission is to nurture a competent public health workforce through multidisciplinary training, research, service and collaborations to advance public health in and around the great lakes region of Africa. The first goal of the MPH programme is to produce practically oriented-public health specialists who possess the knowledge, skills and professionalism required to lead and manage public health and community health in the great lakes region of Africa and beyond. Kabale University being in Uganda, the health systems of Uganda, current and future challenges of the country’s public health system will highly be utilized for educational, research and promotion.  The programme fosters an appreciation for the role of public health in community, subnational and national development for improving the health. A second goal of the MPH Programme is to develop an innovative model of public health training that emphasises high engagement in communities to assess existing problems and providing relevant solutions. The model is therefore problem-oriented learning (problem-solving and problem-based) to acquire competencies in public health. Approximately sixty percent of the programme is field-based within the district health systems in Uganda, and potentially in other countries in the region. The following are objectives of the MPH Programme:

1. To introduce basic and advanced concepts and principles of public health to the learners
2. To provide knowledge and skills fundamental to public health service and research
3. To increase the learner’s capacity to conduct health research essential to meeting the demands and challenges of the great lakes region of Africa and beyond.
4. To increase the capacity for designing, analysing and implementing of health programmes that are relevant to subnational, national, regional and global health demands.
5. To build the capacity for leadership in health and healthcare services
6. To prepare public health practitioners to work within an integrated, multidisciplinary, and multi-sectoral health system

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