Director, Public Health Education, Public Health Foundation of India, New Delhi, India.
Indian J Public Health. 2014 Jan-Mar;58(1):34-9. doi: 10.4103/0019-557X.128163.
A trained and adequate heath workforce forms the crux in designing, implementing and monitoring health programs and delivering quality health services. Education is recognized as a critical instrument for creating such trained health professionals who can effectively address the 21 st century health challenges. At present, the Public Health Education in India is offered through medical colleges and also outside the corridors of medical colleges which was not the scenario earlier. Traditionally, Public Health Education has been a domain of medical colleges and was open for medical graduates only. In order to standardize the Postgraduate Medical Education in India, the National Board of Examinations (NBE) was set up as an independent autonomous body of its kind in the country in the field of medical sciences with the prime objective of improving the quality of the medical education. NBE has also played a significant role in enhancing Public Health Education in India through its Diplomat of National Board (DNB) Programs in Social and Preventive Medicine, Health and Hospital Administration, Maternal and Child Health, Family Medicine and Field Epidemiology. It envisions creating a cadre of skilled and motivated public health professionals and also developing a roadmap for postgraduate career pathways. However, there still exists gamut of opportunities for it to engage in expanding the scope of Public Health Education. It can play a key role in accreditation of public health programs and institutions which can transform the present landscape of education of health professionals. It also needs to revisit and re-initiate programs like DNB in Tropical Medicine and Occupational Health which were discontinued. The time is imperative for NBE to seize these opportunities and take necessary actions in strengthening and expanding the scope of Public Health Education in India.
经过培训且数量充足的卫生人员是设计、实施和监测卫生规划以及提供优质卫生服务的关键。教育被认为是培养能够有效应对 21 世纪卫生挑战的训练有素的卫生专业人员的关键手段。目前，印度的公共卫生教育是通过医学院提供的，也在医学院的走廊之外提供，而这在以前是不存在的。传统上，公共卫生教育一直是医学院的领域，只对医学毕业生开放。为了规范印度的研究生医学教育，国家考试委员会（NBE）作为一个独立的自治机构在该国的医学领域成立，其主要目标是提高医学教育的质量。NBE 通过其在社会和预防医学、卫生和医院管理、母婴健康、家庭医学和现场流行病学方面的国家委员会文凭（DNB）计划，在加强印度的公共卫生教育方面也发挥了重要作用。它设想培养一批熟练和积极主动的公共卫生专业人员，并为研究生职业道路制定路线图。然而，它仍然有广泛的机会参与扩大公共卫生教育的范围。它可以在公共卫生计划和机构的认证中发挥关键作用，从而改变卫生专业人员教育的现状。它还需要重新审视和重新启动像热带医学和职业卫生这样已经停止的 DNB 计划。现在是 NBE 抓住这些机会，采取必要措施加强和扩大印度公共卫生教育范围的紧迫时刻。
