Curriculum for School of Public Health

At the

Kathmandu University School of Medical

Sciences

Dhulikhel, Kavre, Nepal

Draft

Version 1

November, 2018
Table of Content

I. Background and Context

A. Existing Health System of Nepal
B. Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS)
C. Rationale behind proposed Masters in Public Health programs in KUSMS
II. Structure, Governance, Accreditations, and Evaluations
A. Mission and Goals of School of Public Health in KUSMS
B. Structure
C. Governance
D. Role of the Faculty
E. Accreditation and Evaluation
III. Curriculum
A. Course Curriculum
B. Curriculum Structure, Credit Hours and Teaching, Practical and Field
Hours Distributions
IV. Students
A. Admission Criteria
B. Admission Procedures
C. Class Size
D. Student Policies
E. Expectations for, and Assessment of, Student Progress
V. Faculty and Other Resources
A. Faculty
B. Facilities and Other Resources

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 I. A. Background and Context

1. Existing Health System of Nepal

Nepal has made major strides in health in the past few decades; however, its health
indicators are still one of the worst in the world. The twenty medical colleges within the
country have significantly changed the level of tertiary level curative health services and
also the availability of medical professionals in urban areas; however, the population
based public health endeavours and rural health care delivery are in a dismal state. The
WHO Global Atlas of the Health Workforce, 2010 shows that Nepal has only about 7
human resources in health (HRH) per 10,000 populations (far below the global
minimal recommendation of 23 per 10,000). This is one of the least in the world and
seriously jeopardizes the equitable access to quality health care. The national road map
for health sector in Nepal is described in the Second Long Term Health Plan of Nepal
(1997-2017) and Nepal Health Sector Program (NHSP)-2 (2010-2015). Both of these
documents highlight the shortage of well-trained, technically competent and socially
responsible health workforce and have prioritized development of health workforce as
the key to sustained strengthening of health system and improving health outcomes.
NHSP-2 also recommends the need of new training curricula and courses in health
sciences education in order to meet the health systems demand in the country. The
Human Resource for Health Strategic Plan (2011-2015) draft published in January
2012, after intensive workshops involving representatives of all stakeholders in the field
of health and development in Nepal is the latest national level documentation on human
resources for health. It has reaffirmed that among different approaches to address the
problem of human resource for health, innovative teaching programs that take into
consideration the newer scope of work in specialty areas is one of the most important.

Shortage of health workforce, including public health professionals is obviously one of

the major reasons for the poor state of health system in Nepal. For a country with a
population of about 29 million, only 53 Masters in Public Health (MPH) graduates are
produced every year in institutions such as Institute of Medicine, B.P. Koirala Institute of
Health Sciences, Purbanchal University and Pokhara. The quality of public health
education in these institutions is also seriously affected by a set of common challenges.

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In a recent study on the status of the graduate training in public health, following six
areas were rightly identified as the major weaknesses such as: i) shortage of trained
faculty; ii) non-conducive system for an open teaching-learning culture; iii) within
institution dominance of clinical medicine over public health; iv) lack of contextually
relevant training opportunities; v) lack of degree options in public health specialties; and
vi) lack of international academic collaborations. This has led to following major
problems:
a) Lack of high-quality research skills among health professionals: Although
health research has evolved rapidly in the past few decades due to the
exponential growth of higher institutions for health sciences education, the quality
of research is still in a stage of infancy because of shortage of trained faculties in
health research. This has also led to the formation of a vicious cycle of poor
emphasis and allocation of resources on health research by the government. It is
also one of the factors leading to within institution dominance of clinical medicine
over public health.
b) Shortage of manpower trained in public health specialties: Except for the
recently launched MPH in nutrition and health promotion at Institute of Medicine,
Nepal doesn‟t have academic program in public health with a focus on a
particular specialty, e.g., global health, epidemiology, biostatistics, health
services and so on. Thus, there is shortage of manpower in these specialties.
c) Lack of expertise to work on global health projects: There is also severe
shortage of training programs/modules on global health in existing public health
training programs. Thus the Nepalese graduates have difficulty in competing with
other graduates in major global health projects. This can also be realized from
the fact that Nepal does not have a single „Centre of Excellence‟ or „Collaborating
Centres‟ on any field of health sciences research although it is a place where
major studies on a range of areas like infectious disease, maternal and child
health are carried out. Another disadvantage of this is that the tremendous
promise of developing Nepalese institutions as international training sites for
global health education are heavily underutilized.

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 d) Low exposure to international academic/research collaborations:
Collaborative opportunities with academicians and researchers from international
institutions provide a unique chance of learning new skills, understanding similar
problems with different perspectives and get a critical outlook to the existing
problems. International collaborations also help build opportunities for advancing
future research possibilities through synergistic relationships. Lack of exposure to
international research collaborations and mobility opportunities have led to a very
narrow focus on public health perspectives among the public health students in
Nepal and have also limited their ability to explore international opportunities to
advance and sustain public health activities in Nepal.
e) Poor knowledge on the concepts of implementation science suitable for
contextual needs: The teaching of public health in Nepal has mostly been very
theoretical. This has not been able to capture the developing trend of focus on
implementation science that helps provide skills for designing and implementing
locally contextual large scale public health projects in Nepal.
f) Further Steps: We propose to initiate a novel MPH program in Kathmandu
University School of Medical Sciences with two specialty tracks (Epidemiology
and Global Health) in academic partnership with international universities to
address some of these aforementioned challenges.

2. Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences

Kathmandu University was established in 1991 with School of Sciences, Arts,

Engineering, Management and Education. Subsequently, the Kathmandu University
School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS) was established and students admitted in 2001.
KUSMS has progressively granted affiliation to and has a co-operative relationship with
other private medical and dental colleges in Nepal. The courses in KUSMS are taught at
the Basic Science Complex at Chaukot and then to transferred to Dhulikhel Hospital
Kathamandu University Hospital.

KUSMS have signed Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with academic

organisations within Nepal and internationally. The exchange of personnel, expertise

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and knowledge through these associations enriches the institutions involved. Post
graduate level training has been organised in association with other medical institutions.
Medical staffs have trained in a wide variety of specialists and have returned to
contribute to the clinical care and teaching responsibilities in Dhulikhel. This is an
ongoing process.

Importantly, it should be noted that degree programs other than MBBS are also a
feature of KUSMS. Bachelor and Masters in Nursing; Dental Surgery; Bachelor in
Physiotherapy is well established. Hence, KUSMS has a central role in undergraduate
and postgraduate training of doctors, nurses and physiotherapists. Cooperation with
other like-minded teaching institutions and a continual striving for improved standards
are significant features and mould plans for yet further development in the future.

3. Rationale behind proposed Masters in Public Health programs in KUSMS

Kathmandu University School of Medical Sciences (KUSMS) is a non-governmental,

not-for-profit institution was founded in Nepal 26 years ago (est. 1991) with the vision of
becoming a world-class university devoted to bringing knowledge and technology to the
service of mankind. Its values are deeply entrenched in the principles of social equity,
involvement of communities and innovations for development. With a modest
community-based initiation, it became one of the fastest growing educational institutions
in the country and very soon transformed the educational landscape in Nepal. In the
last two and half decades, it has produced nearly 30,000 graduates in different fields of
science, arts and management. KUSMS has been the fore runner in advancing the field
of health sciences in Nepal. It currently runs a range of internationally recognized
academic programs through the schools of arts, education, engineering, management,
sciences and medical sciences. It also partners with more than two dozen
internationally acclaimed universities in these academic programs and research
activities. KUSMS has an excellent reputation of developing, running and sustaining
new courses in different disciplines, including in medical and health sciences in Nepal.

The faculty (existing and upcoming) at KUSMS is fully capable of leading and running
MPH program. Existing team at KUSMS is able to conduct all the courses. There are 10
full-time faculties in KUSMS (with PhD and/or MD qualifications in public health or

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relevant research areas) who have been teaching the courses relevant to MPH (social
determinants of health, health system in Nepal, maternal and child health, infectious
disease epidemiology, research methods, epidemiology, biostatistics, thesis writing,
health and ethics, public health nutrition, etc.) for other existing programs (medical and
allied health sciences program). Beside these, there are six other faculties who have
completed Master of Public Health from international institutions. We also have visiting
faculties from other schools within KUSMS in areas of environmental health, leadership
and management etc. For the advanced courses (mainly in advanced epidemiology,
biostatistics, global health), some of the upcoming faculties (who are finishing their PhD)
will play key roles. Hence, it is fully ensured that the KUSMS faculties will ultimately be
able to lead and run this whole MPH program.

KUSMS has also adequate infrastructure to implement MPH project. The MPH project
will be housed at Kathmandu University School of Science (KUSMS) complex in
Dhulikhel. It has 20 fully furnished and equipped classrooms, three libraries with high-
speed internet, housing facilities for students, guest house for visiting faculties,
auditorium for organizing conferences (up to 350 participants), transportation facilities,
etc. Furthermore, KUSMS also runs unique network of 20 rural outreach centres, 8 of
which have full lodging and other infrastructure facilities for hosting up to 25 people at a
time. These sites will be extensively used for field visits and community based health
intervention and research activities.

The Epidemiology is the foundation for conducting public health research, sound
knowledge in epidemiology is also indispensable for conducting large scale clinical
research. Lack of advanced training in epidemiology in Nepal has a whole spectrum of
consequences. Some of these are: serious gaps in understanding and managing
existing (e.g. infectious diseases, maternal and child health) and emerging diseases
(non-communicable diseases); lack of concrete data that can be utilized for advocacy
and policy making; inability to maintain rigorous monitoring and evaluation of public
health programs; gross underutilization of clinical data generated in the rapidly growing
health service sectors; inability to compete for major international funding opportunities
in research and public health programs, etc. By providing an opportunity to get

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specialized training in epidemiology, we will produce a cadre of public health
professionals that can help strengthen and lead research initiatives in different
academic, governmental and other public health organizations, which will also help
advance evidence-based policy formulations, planning and implementation. The
graduates of MPH (epidemiology) will also be the pioneers in transforming the overall
health sciences research in Nepal. We are confident that this will thus be the herald of a
long-run, national level movement for advancing health research in Nepal.

Global Health has been a rapidly expanding discipline worldwide, especially in the last
ten years. Koplan et al. defined GH as „an area for study, research, and practice that
places a priority on improving health and achieving health equity for all people world-
wide. Beaglehole et al. suggested that GH is collaborative trans-national research and
action for promoting health for all. It is an evolving field but its strength lies in the fact
that without contesting the conventional understanding of public health, it rather
complements it by adding more interdisciplinary and transnational dimensions. A sound
global health training program would thus include public health understanding of local
issues as well as the contextualization and broader perspectives in relation to global
issues. Graduates trained in global health will be able to deal with local as well as global
public health scenario in terms of scientific insights, leadership and management
capacity. They will also be perfectly positioned to forge collaborations with international
organizations. They will help change the direction and vision of government entities,
NGOs and INGOs working in the health sector in Nepal and will also be able to
contribute in international health scenarios.

4. Structure, Governance, Accreditations, and Evaluations

4.1. Mission and Goals of School of Public Health

To produce the competent public health graduates with advanced knowledge and
practical skills to deliver quality health care and research activities nationally and
globally. An independent work component is added to sharpen competences for
planning and carrying out research projects independently and for presenting the results
in verbal and written form. After successfully completing Master studies, students will be

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qualified to carry out doctoral level work in the respective fields. The major goals of
School of Public Health Program in KUSMS are; the graduates will be able to:

 Assess community health plan for evidence based problem solving in line
with the situation faced and community contexts;
 Perform evidence based health promotion and disease prevention
projects, management, administration and implementation through team work,
participation and democracy;
 Conduct research for solving local community health problem, having
initiative
thinking and enthusiasm in continuing academic progress;
 Supervise health personnel and assist local development organizations
that are
concerned with global health;
 Analyse important global health problems, inequity, and contribution to
address the challenges including through capacity building of research and
education.
 Conduct research for solving local community health problem, having
initiative
thinking and enthusiasm in continuing academic progress;
 Provide quality technical support concerned with local community health to
population and the organizations;
 Conduct research for solving local community health problem, having
initiative
thinking and enthusiasm in continuing academic progress;
 Serve as responsible public health professionals through attitudes and
performance consistent with legality, moral and respect for human rights;
 The knowledge of epidemiology, biostatistics and public health is
deepened in order to analyse and understand the occurrence and development
of infectious and non-communicable diseases at population level in different
social, cultural, genetic and ecological settings.

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 4.2. Structure

As per the letter and spirit of the KUSMS Act, the School of Public Health is envisioned
as an autonomous school within the Kathmandu University on the same organizational
level as the School of Medicine. It will have a Dean who reports to the Vice Chancellor
and the Director of the Program who reports to the Dean. The current working plan is to
establish following departments over the upcoming years: (i) Epidemiology, (ii)
Biostatistics, (iii) Environmental Health, (iv) Nutrition, (v) Global Health, (vi) Elective
courses, (vii) Specialized subjects and so on. All the departments can be created as the
KUSMS has sufficient faculty with expertise in the respective areas, e.g. at least 14 full-
time faculty at the rank of Lecturer or above.

4.3. Governance

The Chancellor of the KUSMS is the Prime Minister of Nepal.

The Vice Chancellor is appointed by the Prime Minister (Chancellor) and is the Chief
Executive of KUSMS. He reports to either the Chancellor depending on the issue.
The Vice Chancellor appoints the Dean(s) and the Course Director.
KUSMS has several governing bodies:
 The KUSMS Senate is the highest decision-making body at KUSMS. It
determines the policy framework and direction for the institution. It approves by-
laws, budgets, and programs. It usually meets twice a year but may meet more
frequently, if necessary.
 The KUSMS Executive Council is responsible for operational/implementation
planning and decision-making, It meets weekly.
 The KUSMS Academic Council reviews all proposals and significant policies
related to the academic programs at KUSMS and makes recommendations to
the Executive Council.
 An autonomous Service Commission serves as a standing search committee
and is responsible for the screening and selection of permanent academic
personnel (and other technical and supportive staffs) for appointments. This
Commission also reviews proposals for faculty promotions to the next level
based on KUSMS-generated criteria. The Executive Council then takes the

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 appropriate decision/action based on the recommendation of the Service
Commission. Requests for new faculty positions are made by the Dean(s) in
concert with the respective department chair and with the approval, when
appropriate, of the Vice Chancellor.

4.4. Role of Faculty

Although the KUSMS Academic Council sets academic policy at KUSMS, the faculty of
the School of Public Health should play a central and creative role in formulating
educational policy, especially in the areas of (i) curriculum development, design, and
evaluation; (ii) student assessment and expectations, and (iii) peer review of faculty
members.

4.5. Accreditation and Evaluation

The accreditation of the MPH program will be responsibility of the Nepal Health
Professional Council (http:// www.nhpc.org.np/) depending upon whether the students
are going to be exclusively from the medical or non-medical background. In general,
these requirements fall into the following categories (i) organization and administration
(qualification of the faculty and leaderships; students enrollment and student faculty
ratios; administrative staff); (ii) facilities (iii) curriculum (mission and objectives;
durations; teaching/learning management and evaluation). Many of the requirements of
the Nepal Health Professional Council are addressed in this document. In addition,
WHO SEARO has published guidelines for accreditation of Public Health Programs are
also followed.

Most accrediting bodies emphasize that there be annual internal evaluations of

performance in relation to its stated objectives. In addition, requirement of the periodic
re-accreditation reviews by external reviewers is also focused. At KUSMS, modular and
semester wise evaluations will be preferred.

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 5. Course Curriculum
1. MSc. in Public Health – Epidemiology

S.N. Lecture Credit Points

Year 1, Basic Concept in Public Health I 3 Cr

Semester 1
Basic Concept in Public Health II 3 Cr

Epidemiology I 3 Cr

Biostatistics I 3 Cr

Epidemiology II 3 Cr

Biostatistics II 3 Cr

Health Education and Health Promotion 2 Cr

Recent Advances in Public Health 1 Cr

Data Analysis and Statistical Software Usages -

Year 1, Introduction to Research Methodology 3 Cr

Semester 2
Proposal Writing and Scientific Communications 1 Cr

Social and Behavioral Science; Ethics in Health 2 Cr

Health System and Public Health Planning 2 Cr

(National and International)

Qualitative Research Method 2 Cr

Environmental and Occupational Health 3 Cr

Community Oriented Health Care Practice 2 Cr

Communicable Diseases 2 Cr

Non-communicable diseases 2 Cr

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 Maternal, Child and Geriatric Health 2 Cr

Gender and Equity issues in Public Health 2 Cr

Monitoring and Evaluation in Public Health 2 Cr

Mental Health Issues in Public Health 2 Cr

Literature Search and Management -

Year 2, Advance Epidemiology 4 Cr

Semester 3
Advance Biostatistics 4 Cr

Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses 3 Cr

Epidemiological Seminars 3 Cr

Independent Study 3 Cr

Project Management Practicum 3 Cr

Year 2, Thesis in Epidemiology 12 Cr

Semester 4

2. M.Sc. in Public Health (Global Health)

S.N. Lecture Credit Points

Year 1, Basic Concept in Public Health I 3 Cr

Semester 1
Basic Concept in Public Health II 3 Cr

Epidemiology I 3 Cr

Biostatistics I 3 Cr

Epidemiology II 3 Cr

Biostatistics II 3 Cr

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 Health Education and Health Promotion 2 Cr

Recent Advances in Public Health 1 Cr

Data Analysis and Statistical Software Usages -

Year 1, Intro to Research Methodology 3 Cr

Semester 2 Proposal Writing and Scientific Communications 2 Cr

Social and Behavioral Science and Ethics in Health 2 Cr

Health System and Public Health Planning (National 2 Cr

and International)

Qualitative Research Method 2 Cr

Environmental and Occupational Health 3 Cr

Community Oriented Health Practices 2 Cr

Communicable Diseases 2 Cr

Non-communicable Diseases 2 Cr

Maternal, Child and Geriatric Health 2 Cr

Gender and Equity issues in Public Health 2 Cr

Monitoring and evaluation in Public Health 2 Cr

Mental Health Issues in Public Health 2 Cr

Literature Search and Management -

Year 2, Introduction to Global Health 3 Cr

Semester 3 Implementation Science in Global Health 2 Cr

Leadership and Health Management 2 Cr

Health Policy 2 Cr

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 Health Financing and Economic Evaluations 2 Cr

Global Health Seminar 3 Cr

Independent Study 3 Cr

Project Management Practicum 3 Cr

Year 2, Thesis in Global Health 12 Cr

Semester 4

COURSES DESCRIPTION

YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1

BASIC CONCEPT IN PUBLIC HEALTH I (3 CREDITS)

Objective: To orient on the relevance and scope of public health

Contents

 Overview of public health: history and introduction

 Determinants of Health
 Health disparities and population health
 Public health preparedness
 Interdisciplinary approaches to public health
 Addressing health issues through global consensus
 Brief methods and approaches in public health
 Conventions and treaties in public health
o Conventions on the primary health care and public health
o Millennium development goals and public health
o Sustainable development goals and public health

YEAR 1, SEMESTER 1

BASIC CONCEPT IN PUBLIC HEALTH II (3 CREDITS)

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EPIDEMIOLOGY I (3 CREDITS)

Objective: To train on the basics of epidemiology to prepare to conduct actual research

using epidemiologic study.

Contents

 Introduction to epidemiology
 Disease and Population
 State-transition models
 Measure of occurrence
 Data sources
 Overview of study designs
 Excess risk measures
 Interaction
 Causal inference
 Measurement error
 Misclassification
 Confounding
 Causal diagrams
 Mediation

BIOSTATISTICS I (3 CREDITS)

Objective: To understand and apply basic statistical concepts and methods; to be able
to identify appropriate statistical methods for basic analytic problems and to interpret the
results of such analyses; to gain insight into statistical thinking; and to apply the
statistical software for data analysis.

Contents

 Description of Samples and Populations

 Measures of Central Tendency

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  Measures of Spread
 Probability and the Binomial Distribution
 The Normal Distribution
 Sampling Distributions
 Confidence Intervals
 Comparison of two independent samples
 Comparison of paired samples
 Categorical Data: One sample distributions
 Categorical Data: relationships
 Comparing the Means of Many Independent Samples
 Linear Regression and Correlation

EPIDEMIOLOGY II (3 CREDITS)

Objective: To train on the critical issues in epidemiology

Contents

 Measurement errors I: Bias and the effects of misclassification

 Measurement errors II: Confounding and interaction
 Diagnostic performance
 Efficacy versus effectiveness; monitoring and evaluations

BIOSTATISTICS II (3 CREDITS)

Objective: To learn concepts and statistical techniques on logistic regression, and

survival analysis, with an emphasis on topics relevant to epidemiology, public health
and medicine. A substantial portion of the course is devoted to the multivariable
analysis, where multiplicative models are emphasized.

Contents

1. Linear Regression
a. Regression Model
b. Categorical Predictors

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 c. Confounding
d. Mediation
e. Interaction
f. Checking Model Assumption and Fit
2. Logistic Regression
a. Single Predictor Models
b. Multi-predictor Models
c. Conditional logistic regression
d. Checking Model Assumptions and Fit
3. Survival Analysis
a. Basic Methods for Survival Analysis
b. Survival data
c. Cox Proportional Hazard Model
d. Extension to Cox Model
e. Checking Model Assumption and Fit
f. Competing Risks Data
g. Some Details
4. Sample Size, Power and Detectable Effects with Regression Models

HEALTH EDUCATION AND HEALTH PROMOTION (3 CREDITS)

Objectives: To be able to plan, implement and evaluate health promotion and

educational activities for the promotion of health, prevention of diseases from the
appropriate application of theories and principles of health promotion and education.

Contents

 Foundation of Health Promotion Programs

o Introduction to health education, health Promotion, and Theory
o Planning Models in Health Education and Health Promotion
o Ethics and health Education and Promotion
 Planning Health Promotion program
o Assessing the Needs of Program Participants
o Making Decisions to Create and Support a program
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 Implementing Health Promotion Programs
o Implementation tools, program staff, and budget
o Advocacy
o Communicating health information effectively
o Developing and Increasing Program Funding
 Evaluating and Sustaining Health Promotion Programs
o Evaluating Health Promotion Programs
o Big Data and Health Promotion Programs
o Leadership for Change and Sustainability
o Promoting Health in Schools and Universities
o Patient-Centered Health Promotion Programs in Health Care Organization
o Health Promotion programs in workplace settings
o Promoting Community Health – local health departments and community
health organization
 Foundation of Health Education through skilled based approach
o Health literacy
o Skilled-based approach
o Motivation
 Teaching Health Education
o Assessing valid and reliable information, products, and services
o Analyzing influences
o Interpersonal communication
o Decision Making
o Goal Setting
o Self-Management
o Advocacy
 Developing Curricula and Assessment
o Steps for curriculum development
o Designing Meaningful assessment
 Strategies for Effective Instruction
o Creating a positive Learning Environment

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 o Implementing Skilled-based approach

RECENT ADVANCES IN PUBLIC HEALTH (2 CREDITS)

Objective: To explore recent advances in public health practice and research

Contents:

 Current development in public health practice and research

 Health informatics
 Mobile health technologies
 Entrepreneurship in health
 Geospatial analyses in public health

DATA ANALYSIS AND STATISTICAL SOFTWARE USAGES (NC)

Objective: Students will gain experience in conducting a research project from start to
finish, by carrying out necessary development, writing, and analysis tasks related to
their projects.

Contents:

1. Introduction
o Write background
o Write study design
o Calculate sample size and power calculations
2. Introduction to software
o SAS
o R
o STATA
SPSS
3. Cleaning data and identifying outliers
o Look for rationality in data
o Cross check
4. Practical issues of using existing data

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 o Missing data
o Outliers
o Implausible data
5. Handling missing data, outliers and implausible data
6. Conduct descriptive analysis
7. Conduct Stratified analysis
o Identify confounding
o Identify effect modification
8. Conduct inferential analysis
9. Writing up
o Methods
o Results
o Discussion
10. Writing abstract
11. Prepare posters
12. Poster presentation

YEAR 1 SEMESTER 2

INTRODUCTION TO RESEARCH METHODOLOGY (3 CREDITS)

Objective: To understand and apply the concepts of research in planning,

implementation and evaluation of public health and epidemiological studies

Contents:

 Research approach and methods

 Research processes
 Tool development
 Data collection and management
 Dissemination of research findings
 Ethical issues in health research
 Evaluation and critique in health research

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PROPOSAL WRITING AND SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATIONS (1 CREDITS)

Objectives: To provide theoretical and hands-on training on proposal writing and

scientific communications

Contents:

 Components of scientific proposal

 Various models of scientific proposal writing
 Research manuscript writing
 Approaches to scientific publications
 Basics of scientific communications: publication and presentation skills

SOCIAL AND BEHAVIORAL SCIENCE; ETHICS IN HEALTH (2 CREDITS)

Objectives: To identify and the social determinants and behavioral risk factors
associated with any number of public health issues. Then, use this information to better
understand how to promote and achieve healthy behaviors within certain communities
and

Contents:

1. Introduction and overview

a. Rationale of social and behavioral factors in public health
b. Historical perspective on population and disease
c. Social epidemiology
2. Theoretical foundation
a. Behavioral and Social Science theory
b. Health and illness behavior
c. The social environment and health
3. Individual models
a. Health Belief model
b. Theory of planned behaviour
c. Trans theoretical model
4. Interpersonal models

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 a. Social cognitive theory
b. Social network and social support
c. Stress and coping
5. Community level and group models
a. Social ecological model
6. Social context of health
a. Social reactions to disease
b. Comparative health cultures
c. Health disparity, diversity and cultural competence
7. Intervention, Methods and Practice
a. Planning health promotion and disease prevention programs
b. Social marketing in health
c. Diffusions of innovation
d. Approaches to policy and advocacy
8. Design and implementation of health education campaigns
9. Community based participatory research
10. Cultural tailoring

HEALTH SYSTEM AND PUBLIC HEALTH PLANNING (NATIONAL AND

INTERNATIONAL) (2 CREDITS)

Objective: To understand the basics of health system and public health planning

Contents

 An introduction to Nepalese health system

 Types of health systems and public health programs
 Governance and health
 Planning of resources, funding allocation and decentralization
 Human resource for health
 Universal health coverage

QUALITATIVE RESEARCH METHODS (2 CREDITS)

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Objective: To understand the principles of qualitative research methods and gain basic
skills to conduct qualitative research.

Contents

1. Introduction to qualitative research

a. What is qualitative research?
b. The role of theory
c. Epistemological approaches: theories of knowledge
d. Participatory research
e. Criticisms and limitations of qualitative research
2. Developing Qualitative Research Design
a. Research question
b. Appropriate designs for different questions
c. Problems with design typologies
d. Pragmatic influence on research design
e. Selecting appropriate data collection/generation and analysis methods
3. Responsibilities, Ethics and values
a. Ethical review and codes of practice
b. Informed consent and Confidentiality
c. Responsibilities to research participants
d. Responsibilities to yourself and co-workers
e. Ethical dilemmas and conflicts
4. Generating data
a. In-depth interview
b. Focus Groups
c. Observational methods (participant and non-participant observation)
d. Physical and virtual documentary sources
5. Managing and analyzing data
a. Data preparation: transcribing
b. Thematic content analysis
c. Framework analysis

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 d. Using computer software
e. Improving rigor in analysis
6. Developing Qualitative Analysis
a. Grounded theory
b. Narrative analysis
c. Generalizability and transferability
7. Qualitative Research in Practice
a. Reading, appraising and integrating qualitative research
b. Mixing methods and designs

Writing up and disseminating

ENVIRONMENTAL AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH (3 CREDITS)

Objective: To train practitioners to investigate, mitigate, and prevent environmentally

and/or occupationally produced illnesses, injury, and disability, and to study and
implement best practices in these and related areas, including ergonomics and safety
and occupational hygiene

Contents:

1. Occupational and environmental health: 21st century challenges and

opportunities
2. Recognizing and preventing occupational and environmental disease and injury
o Cleaner production and pollution prevention
o Effectively educating workers and communities
o Labor management safety
3. Occupational and environmental health surveillance
o Occupational health reporting and requirements
o Environmental public health tracking network
o infectious disease surveillance and occupation
4. Occupational and environmental health equity and social justice
o Child labor
o Women in work

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 5. Global environmental hazards
o Climate change
o Health risks from global trade process
6. Hazardous exposure
o Water, air, noise and soil pollution
o Food safety
o Hazardous waste, Biological hazards
o Chemical hazards, Physical hazards
o Vibration, Extremes of temperature, Radiation
o Occupational stress
7. Adverse health effects
o Injuries, Musculoskeletal disorders
o Cancer, Respiratory disorders, Neurologic and psychiatric disorders,
Reproductive and developmental disorders, Skin disorders,
Cardiovascular disorders
8. Recognition, assessment and prevention
o Guide for evaluating epidemiologic studies
o Occupational and environmental hygiene
o Occupational ergonomics – promoting safety and environmental
exposures
o Risk communication and information dissemination
9. Government regulations of environmental and occupational health and safety in
Nepal
10. Legal remedies
11. An integrated approach to prevention
o Role of labor unions
o Role of environmental non-governmental organizations
o Implementing programs and policies for healthy workforce
o Addressing built environment and health

COMMUNITY-ORIENTED HEALTH PRACTICE (2 CREDITS)

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Objective: To train students to implement and evaluate evidence-based
interventions to improve community health, clinical care outcomes, and patient
experience, while lowering health care costs and decreasing health disparities.

Content:

1. Foundation of community orientated health care

a. History, framework, nature and significance
b. Health policy analysis
c. Economics of community oriented health care
d. Ethics and equity in community oriented health care
2. Procedures in community oriented health care
a. Role of community health workers
b. Monitoring and evaluating community oriented health care
c. Environmental metrics for community health
d. Quality of community life indicators
e. Community oriented health care in low resource setting
3. Evidence based practice and policies in community oriented health care
a. Disability social inclusion and community health
b. Community health in disaster recovery
c. International immigrant and refugee health issues
d. Community health interventions for people with developmental disabilities
e. International trends in community oriented mental health services
4. Community health programs in low resource setting
5. Recent advances in community oriented health care

COMMUNICABLE DISEASES (2 CREDITS)

Objectives: To use epidemiological techniques to understand infectious disease

surveillance data, disease transmission, outbreak investigation and the epidemiology of
vaccine preventable diseases. The course has a focus on how these methods are used
in contemporary public health practice and applied in population-based prevention and

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control of diseases such as sexually transmissible infections, blood borne viruses and
enteric infections.

Contents:

1. Elements of communicable diseases

· Agent, Host, Environment
· Transmission and vectors
2. Communicable disease theory
· Force of infection
· Epidemic theory
· Endemicity
· Quantitative dynamics
3. Control Principles and methods
· Control principles
· Control methods
· Environmental control methods
· Vector control
· Treatment and mass drug administration
4. Control Strategy and organization
· Investigation of an Outbreak
· Surveillance
· Control and eradication
· Campaigns and integrated health care
· Control organization
· Social factors in control programs
5. Notification and health regulations
· International Health regulations
· National health regulations
· Special surveillance
· Vaccine requirements
6. Classification of communicable disease

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 7. Communicable disease epidemiology
· Fecal-oral diseases
· Food born disease
· Diseases of soil contact
· Disease of water contact
· Skin infections
· Respiratory and other airborne diseases
· Diseases transmitted via body fluids
· Insect borne diseases
· Ectoparasitic Zoonosis
8. Pregnancy and infection
9. New and emerging infectious diseases

NON-COMMUNICABLE DISEASES (2 CREDITS)

Objectives:

 Identify and describe the rising burden of the main non-communicable diseases
(NCDs) and their risk factors responsible globally and in Nepal.
 Learn and describe the status of Non-Communicable Diseases in the National
Health System of Nepal
 Learn the evidence for causation of NCDs and understand the interaction
between associated risk factors.
 Apply the evidence based approaches to prevention and control of NCDs and its
challenges

Contents:

1. Introduction to NCDs
a. NCDs: Risk and determinants
b. The socio-political landscape of NCDs
c. Public health advocacy for the prevention of NCDs
d. Screening and surveillance

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 2. The impact of NCDs on global burden of diseases
a. Mortality rates
b. Life lost due to non-communicable disease
c. Disability adjusted life years attributable to non-communicable disease
3. Status of NCDs in Nepal: Policy and Program challenges at national level
4. Epidemiology and control of:
a. Cardiovascular diseases
b. Chronic respiratory diseases
c. Diabetes
d. Cancer Mental health
e. Accidents and injuries
5. Control of Non- communicable disease
a. Evidence for population-level approaches to the prevention of NCDs –
evaluating Effectiveness and modelling
b. Developing prevention strategy
c. Resource mobilization and implementation
d. Monitoring progress
6. Communicability of Non-communicable diseases
a. Infection originated NCDs
b. Transmission of behaviour
c. Role Social network in NCD transmission and control

MATERNAL, CHILD AND GERIATRIC HEALTH (2 CREDITS)

Objectives: To analyze the causes and effects of the major health problems that are
present in pregnancy, infancy, childhood and adolescence. The course will build skills to
prioritize factors that need to be considered when developing public health programs for
maternal and child health.

Contents

 Introduction to Maternal and child health and the life course approach
 Prenatal and Infant health

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  Child Health
 Adolescent Health
 Girls and Adolescent health
 Environmental issues in pregnancy and childbirth
 Nutrition of children and mother
 Reproductive health and contraception
 Safe motherhood
 Sexually transmitted infections
 Abortion
 Quality of care in reproductive health
 Reproductive health ethics
 The family as a unit of intervention
 MCH program planning, monitoring and evaluation
 Women‟s health: issues, programs and policies
 Significant past and current national legislative mandates relative to MCH,
including the structure and roles of legislative and administrative bodies at the
national, state, and local levels

GENDER AND EQUITY ISSUES IN PUBLIC HEALTH (2 CREDITS)

MONITORING AND EVALUATION IN PUBLIC HEALTH (2 CREDITS)

MENTAL HEALTH ISSUES IIN PUBLIC HEALTH (2 CREDITS)

LITERATURE SEARCH AND PUBLIC HEALTH (NC)

YEAR 2

ADVANCED EPIDEMIOLOGY (4 CREDITS)

Objective: To gain conceptual understanding and skills in advanced epidemiology

Contents:

 Epidemiological approach in implementation science

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  Disease screening and biases
 Measurement errors
 Causal inference
 Survey methodology
 Novel study designs
 Propensity scores
 Bayesian and frequents inference
 Risk prediction model

ADVANCED BIOSTATISTICS (4 CREDITS)

Objectives: This course introduces statistical methods for analyzing longitudinal data
and repeated measures. We will go in-depth into generalized estimating equations and
generalized linear models. It will build competency in the statistical approaches to
strengthen causal inferences, predictor selection, missing data analysis. Further, it will
enhance the skills in the analysis of data generated from complex surveys.

Contents:

1. Repeated Measures and Longitudinal Data Analysis

a. A simple Repeated Measures
b. Hierarchical Data and Longitudinal Data
c. Generalized Estimating Equations
d. Random Effects Models
e. Marginal Versus Conditional Models
f. Power and Sample Size for Repeated Measures Designs
2. Generalized Linear Models
a. Generalized Linear Models
b. Sample Size for the Poisson Model
3. Strengthening Causal Inference
a. Potential Outcomes and Causal Effects
b. Regression as a Basis for Causal Inference
c. Marginal Effects and Potential Outcomes Estimation

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 d. Propensity Scores
e. Time-Dependent Treatments
f. Mediation, Instrumental Variables
g. Trials with Incomplete Adherence to Treatment
4. Predictor Selection
a. Prediction
b. Evaluating a Predictor of Primary Interest
c. Identifying Multiple Important Predictors
5. Missing Data
a. Classifications of Missing Data
b. Simple Approaches to Handling Missing Data
c. Methods for Handling Missing Data
d. Missing Data in the Predictors and Multiple Imputation
e. Missing data mechanism
f. Technical Details About Maximum Likelihood and Data Which are Missing
at Random
g. Methods for Data that are Missing Not at Random
6. Complex Surveys
a. Overview of Complex Survey Designs
b. Inverse Probability Weighting
c. Clustering and Stratification
d. Some Details

SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS (3 CREDITS)

Objectives: Provide core knowledge and skills on systematic review and meta-analysis

Contents:

 Introduction to systematic review

 Presenting systematic reviews
 Introduction to meta-analysis
 Sources of bias

33
  Measures of associations, fixed and random-effects model
 Explaining heterogeneity and detecting bias
 Critical appraisals of published meta-analyses
 Dose-response meta-analysis
 Network meta-analysis

EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SEMINARS (3 CREDITS)

INDEPENDENT STUDY (3 CREDITS)

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICUM (3 CREDITS)

INTRODUCTION TO GLOBAL HEALTH (3 CREDITS)

Objectives:

To explore relationship between political, socioeconomic, cultural and demographic

conditions of developing countries and their impact in health and health services.

To understand critical issues in the history and contemporary context in global health.

Contents:

 Introduction to global health

 Influential entities in global health
 Major historical and current challenges in global health
 Social justice and global health
 Global health policies
 Global health research

IMPLEMENTATION SCIENCE IN GLOBAL HEALTH (2 CREDITS)

Objectives: To gain insights on the implementation of health programs in global health

context. A new field of study, implementation science works by addressing bottlenecks,
testing interventions, and evaluating the real impact of programs to help inform global
health practice. This approach focuses on on-the-ground personnel, making it

34
particularly relevant to global health, a field that relies on the sustainability of health
interventions in challenging environments.

Contents:

 Introduction to implementation science

 Case studies on successful and failed global health projects
 Research methods in implementation science

LEADERSHIP AND HEALTH MANAGEMENT (2 CREDITS)

Objective: To learn leadership and management skills in public health

Contents:

 Principles of leadership and management

 Fundamental leadership and management skills
 Leadership and management roles as public health professional
 Case studies in public health leadership and management

HEALTH POLICY (2 CREDITS)

Objective: To understand basic principles of health policy

Content:

 Introduction to health policy

 Health policy analysis
 Critical analyses of national and international health policies
 Health policy research

HEALTH FINANCING AND ECONOMIC EVALUATIONS (2 CREDITS)

Objective: To train on the basic concepts and skills on health financing and economic
evaluations

Contents:

1. Introduction to health economics

35
 o Health Care Spending and sources of Finances
o Economic principles as conceptual tools (
o Health Disparities
o Personal, Group and Public Choices
2. Demand and supply in health care
o Demand and Supply Curves
o Price sensitivity and elasticity
o Inputs and Production functions
o Need versus demand
o Determinants of health
3. Cost-benefit and Cost-effectiveness analysis
o Cost benefit analysis in market choices
o Maximization and finding the optimum
o The value of life and Quality-adjusted life years
o Perspectives – Patient, Provider, Payer, Government, Society
4. Health Insurance – Financing medical Care
o Methods for covering risks
o Insurance – third party payment
o Risk aversion, Adverse selection, Moral Hazard
5. Medical education, organization and business practices
o Management and regulation of health service providers
o Long term care market
o Pharmaceuticals
o Financing and ownership of health care providers
6. Macroeconomics of health care
o Consumption function
o Forecasting future health expenditure
o Cost controls and spending gaps
7. The role of government and public goods
o Government health financing
o Public goods and externalities

36
 o Monopoly and market failure
o Politics, regulation and competition
8. International comparison of health and health expenditures
o Wide differences among nations
o Low income countries
o Middle income countries
o High income countries
o International trade in health care
9. Economic Evaluation of Health Policy
o Affordability
o Using existing planned and models

GLOBAL HEALTH SEMINARS (3 CREDITS)

Seminars will be led by students and facilitated by faculty. Relevant seminar topics will
be identified by the students and the faculty members jointly. The presentations in the
seminars will be done by students with or without faculty mentors or external speakers.
Students will need to submit a critical analysis paper for each seminar.

INDEPENDENT STUDY (3 CREDITS)

Students will have opportunity to pursue any topic of their interest related to their
chosen track under the supervision of a faculty. Where necessary and/or possible, the
student might study under supervision of faculty members, researchers of others
beyond KUSMS. Each student should submit a final review paper at the end of
independent study.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT PRACTICUM (3 CREDITS)

The practicum is aimed at providing students with a real-life learning experience

whereby they link and apply the theoretical knowledge into practical implementation.
Epidemiology students will conduct practicum in any project with epidemiological
research. Global health students will participate in public health programs and projects.
They may also work in various settings including ministries, NGOs, INGOs, local health
providers, industries, etc. Every effort will be made to work with the practicum students

37
to focus the experience through specially assigned mentors and directed observations.
There will be a presentation and review paper for each practicum.

THESIS

Thesis will be a proper research work on relevant areas which will demonstrate the core
skills learnt in the MPH program. This will thus be a culmination of academic and
practical knowledge gained during the course. All thesis should be a work that is
publishable in a reputed scientific journal.

EVALUATION SYSTEM

1 credit will be equivalent to 40 academic hours and 50 marks for exam.

Internal Evaluation: Internal Evaluation will be done by the responsible course

instructor. It will be divided into continuous assessment and end-semester assessment.
Continuous assessment (25% of the total evaluation of the subject) will include
classroom participation, homework and other class assignments. End-semester
evaluation (25% of the total evaluation of the subject) will include written/oral
examination.

University Evaluation: University-level evaluation (50% of the total evaluation of the

subject) will be done at the end of the academic year. It will comprise of written/oral
examination.

Evaluation of Independent Study: This will be done entirely by the faculty mentor(s).

Evaluation of Practicum: This will be done entirely by the faculty mentor(s).

Evaluation of Thesis: This will be done by the faculty mentor(s) and at least one
external supervisor. Students need to pass a thesis defense exam as well which will be
conducted by the supervisory team.

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 A. Curriculum Structure, Credit Hours and Teaching, Practical and Field Hours Distributions

Table 1: Semester wise tentative plan for academic activities of MSc PH

SN Activities Weeks

2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 22 24 26

1 Study Block

2 Preparation and University Exam

3 Saturdays and other public

holidays

4 Other holidays

5 Other (Error)
Note: one room is equal to two weeks

39
Table 2: Principles for allocation of hours for subjects according to credits hours in MSc Public Health

Subjects Types Credit Theory Practical Field Total

Teaching Homework/
hour Assignments

Subject I Theory 1 16 32 - - 48

Subject II Practical 1 - - 48 - 48

Subject III Field work 1 - - - 48 48

Table 3: Descriptions of Code numbers of subjects

S.N. Subject description Code Number

1 Core subjects 500-539

3 Elective subjects* 540-559

2 Specialization subjects 560-579

*Among six elective subjects, three can be selected (please see the course description below). Based on availability of
exports, others courses also can be provided.

40
Table 4: Subjects, credits hours and hour distribution MSc PH (Epidemiology)

Code No Subjects Types Credit Teaching Field Practical Total

hours hours hours hours

First semester (First half of the first year)

PH 500 Basic Concept in Public Health I Theory 3 48 - - -

PH 501 Basic Concept in Public Health II Theory 3 48 - - -

PH 502 Epidemiology I Theory 3 48 - 48 -

PH 503 Biostatistics I Theory 3 48 - 48 -

PH 504 Epidemiology II Theory 3 48 - 48 -

PH 505 Biostatistics II Theory 3 48 - 48 -

PH 506 Health Education and Health Promotion Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 507 Recent Advances in Public Health Theory 1 16 - - -

PH 519 Data Analysis and Statistical Software Practical NC - - 48 -

(NC) Usages

Total 21 336 - 240 576

Second semester (Second half of the first year)

PH 509 Introduction to Research Methodology Theory 3 48 - - -

PH 510 Proposal Writing and Scientific Theory 1 16 - - -

41
 Communication Practical 1 - - 48 -

PH 511 Social, Behavior, Population Science Theory 2 32 - - -

and Ethics in Health

PH 512 Health System and Public Health Theory 2 32 - - -

Planning (National and International)

PH 513 Qualitative Research Method Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 514 Environmental and Occupational Health Theory 2 32 - - -

Practical 1 - - 48 -

PH 515 Community Orientate Health Practice Practical 2 - 96 -

PH 540 *Communicable Diseases Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 541 *Non-communicable Diseases Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 542 *Maternal, Child and Geriatric Health Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 543 *Gender and equity issues in public Theory 2 32 - - -

health

PH 544 *Monitoring and evaluation in Public Theory 2 32 - - -

health

PH 545 *Mental health issues in Public health Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 520 Literature search and management Practical NC - - 96

42
 NC

Total 22 288 96 192 576

Third semester (first half of the second year)

PHE 560 Advance Epidemiology Theory 3 48 - - -

Practical 1 - - 48 -

PHE 561 Advance Biostatistics Theory 3 48 - - -

Practical 1 - - 48 -

PHE 562 Systematic Review and Meta Analyses Theory 3 48 - - -

PHE 563 Epidemiological Seminars Theory 3 48 - - -

PHE 564 Independent Study Practical 3 - - 144 -

PHE 565 Project Management Practicum Practical 3 - 144 - -

Total 20 192 144 240 576

Forth semester (Second half of the second year)

PHE 508 Thesis Thesis 12 - - 576 -

Total 12 - - 576 576

Note: NC: Non-credit subject, among six elective subjects, three can be selected. Based on availability of exports, others
courses also can be provided.

43
Table 5: Subjects, credits hours and hour distribution in MSc PH (Global Health)

Code No Subjects Types Credit Teaching Field Practical Total

hours hours hours hours

First semester (First half of the first year)

PH 500 Basic Concept in Public Health I Theory 3 48 - - -

PH 501 Basic Concept in Public Health II Theory 3 48 - - -

PH 502 Epidemiology I Theory 3 48 - 48 -

PH 503 Biostatistics I Theory 3 48 - 48 -

PH 504 Epidemiology II Theory 3 48 - 48 -

PH 505 Biostatistics II Theory 3 48 - 48 -

PH 506 Health Education and Health Promotion Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 507 Recent Advances in Public Health Theory 1 16 - - -

PH 519 Data Analysis and Statistical Software Practical NC - - 48 -

(NC) Usages

Total 21 336 - 240 576

Second semester (Second half of the first year)

PH 509 Introduction to Research Methodology Theory 3 48 - - -

PH 510 Proposal Writing and Scientific Theory 1 16 - - -

44
 Communication Practical 1 - - 48 -

PH 511 Social, Behavior, Population Science Theory 2 32 - - -

and Ethics in Health

PH 512 Health System and Public Health Theory 2 32 - - -

Planning (National and International)

PH 513 Qualitative Research Method Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 514 Environmental and Occupational Health Theory 2 32 - - -

Practical 1 - - 48 -

PH 515 Community Orientate Health Practice Practical 2 - 96 -

PH 540 *Communicable Diseases Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 541 *Non-communicable Diseases Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 542 *Maternal, Child and Geriatric Health Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 543 *Gender and equity issues in public Theory 2 32 - - -

health

PH 544 *Monitoring and evaluation in Public Theory 2 32 - - -

health

PH 545 *Mental health issues in Public health Theory 2 32 - - -

PH 520 Literature search and management Practical - - 96

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NC

Total 22 288 96 192 576

Third semester (First half of the second year)

PHG 560 Introduction to Global Health Theory 3 48 - - -

PHG 561 Implementation Science in Global Theory 1 16 - - -

Health Practical 1 48

PHG 562 Leadership and Health Management Theory 1 16 - - -

Practical 1 48

PHG 563 Health Policy Theory 2 32 - - -

PHG 564 Health Financing and Economic Theory 2 32 - - -

Evaluation

PHG 565 Global Health Seminar Theory 3 48 - - -

PHG 566 Independent Study Practical 3 - - 144 -

PHG 567 Project Management Practicum Field 3 - 144 - -

work

Total 20 192 144 240 576

Forth semester (Second half of the second year)

PHG 508 Thesis Practical 12 - - 576 -

46
 Total 12 - 576 576
Note: NC: Non-credit subject, *among six elective subjects, three can be selected. Based on availability of subject
exports, others courses also can be provided.

Table 6: Summary of credits hours’ distribution by semesters

S.N. Semester Credit hours

1 First Semester 21
2 Second Semester 22
3 Third Semester 20
4 Forth Semester 12

Total 75

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 6. Students
A. Admissions Criteria

The School of Public Health planning meeting concluded that clinicians, graduates of
any allied health sciences, and persons in strategic positions in the health care system
should be given priority for enrollment into the program. The selection of students will be
based on the academic ability, leadership potential, and commitment to service and
work experiences.

B. Admission Procedure

KUSMS, through its experiences with different academic, public health and community
development projects, has substantial experiences in applying the kinds of criteria
listed above. Multiple mini interviews and personal quality assessment will be used to
measure applicant‟s cognitive ability and qualities such as communication and
presentation skills, empathy, ethical orientation and commitment to serve rural and
poor populations and compassions. KUSMS intends to enroll those students who have
already have a reasonable level of practical work experiences in the field of public
health system, exploration of the quality of their experiences might also provide
valuable insights about their aptitude and ability to study and cope with MPH course.

C. Class Size
The discussion with the School of Public Health Meeting Committee concluded that a
MSc. Public Health class size of no more than 20 in each track would be feasible. In
the future, this target can be reassessed.

D. Students Policies
KUSMS has developed student policies and procedures for the School of Public Health
that will serve as a solid basis for the program. These will be need to be adapted and
modified by the leadership and faculty for the students in the School of Public Health.
These policies should cover (i) tuition and scholarships; (ii) student conduct policies
including code of conduct; (iii) services for students; (iv) students participation in the life
of the school.

48
E. Expectations for, and Assessment of, Student Progress

KUSMS already has a broad guidelines and a well-developed set of procedures for
student assessment for different programs. These will need to be adapted and modified
by the leadership and faculty for the students in the public health programs.

7. Faculty and Other Resources

A. Faculty

The current complement of faculty in the Community Medicine, the Department of

Community Programs, Nursing, Medicines, Pathology and Immunology etc. will be
qualified to teach in the public health programs. It is important to point out that these
existing faculties are currently highly engaged with the substantial community-based
curriculum and other activities both in the academics and the outreaches. It is apparent
that the inadequate faculty members will be recruited in the future and guest lectures
(both from national and international speakers) will be provided. Some of the individual
from national and international organizations will be given “visiting” or “adjunct” faculty
titles commensurate with their expertise and experiences.

Having sufficient numbers of faculty members, however, will not be enough to ensure a
quality education and thriving school; efforts will be undertaken to invest in its faculty
and promote the professional development in the areas of subject knowledge, teaching
skills, and research skills. Faculty exchange with other schools of public health
nationally and internationally, in-service program on teaching, collaboration on research
will be focused. Furthermore, timely promotion of the faculty for cohesion and esprit and
provision of appropriate guidance and promotion will be provided.

B. Facilities and Other Resources

KUSMS presumably has the classroom space, audio-visual aids, field areas for practical
and research necessary to accommodate two cohorts of MPH students. The KUSMS
has support staff; computer hardware and software for faculty, classroom, and for
student learning laboratories including printers, scanners, projectors; internet facility;
library with books, journals, technical reports and manuals; photocopying and office

49
equipment; furniture for office and classrooms; vehicles for college and for field
assignments; field placements sites for students.

50