Transdisciplinarity of India’s master’s level public health programmes: evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995
Abstract Introduction In the Indian subcontinent, Master’s-level Public Health (MlPH) programmes attract graduates of diverse academic disciplines from health and non-health sciences alike. Considering the current and futuristic importance of the public health cadre, we described them and reviewed t...
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
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BMC
2022-02-01
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Series: | Human Resources for Health |
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Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-022-00713-4 |
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author | Kumaravel Ilangovan Sendhilkumar Muthappan Keerthiga Govindarajan Vignesh Vairamani Vettrichelvan Venkatasamy Manickam Ponnaiah |
author_facet | Kumaravel Ilangovan Sendhilkumar Muthappan Keerthiga Govindarajan Vignesh Vairamani Vettrichelvan Venkatasamy Manickam Ponnaiah |
author_sort | Kumaravel Ilangovan |
collection | DOAJ |
description | Abstract Introduction In the Indian subcontinent, Master’s-level Public Health (MlPH) programmes attract graduates of diverse academic disciplines from health and non-health sciences alike. Considering the current and futuristic importance of the public health cadre, we described them and reviewed their transdisciplinarity status based on MlPH admissibility criteria 1995 to 2021. Methods Using a search strategy, we abstracted information available in the public domain on MlPH programmes and their admissibility criteria. We categorized the admission criteria based on specified disciplines into Health science, Non-health science and Non-health non-science categories. We described the MlPH programmes by location, type of institution, course duration, curriculum, pedagogical methods, specializations offered, and nature of admission criteria statements. We calculated descriptive statistics for eligible educational qualifications for MlPH admission. Results Overall, 76 Indian institutions (Medical colleges—21 and Non-medical coleges—55) offered 92 MlPH programmes (Private—58 and Public—34). We included 89 for review. These programmes represent a 51% increase (n = 47) from 2016 to 2021. They are mostly concentrated in 21 Indian provinces. These programmes stated that they admit candidates of but not limited to “graduation in any life sciences”, “3-year bachelor’s degree in any discipline”, “graduation from any Indian universities”, and “graduation in any discipline”. Among the health science disciplines, Modern medicine (n = 89; 100%), Occupational therapy (n = 57; 64%) is the least eligible. Among the non-health science disciplines, life sciences and behavioural sciences (n = 53; 59%) and non-health non-science disciplines, humanities and social sciences (n = 62; 72%) are the topmost eligible disciplines for admission in the MPH programmes. Conclusion Our review suggests that India’s MlPH programmes are less transdisciplinary. Relatively, non-medical institutions offer admission to various academic disciplines than the medical institutions in their MlPH programmes. India’s Master’s level public health programmes could be more inclusive by opening to graduates from trans-disciplinary backgrounds. |
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format | Article |
id | doaj.art-ad7015623cd3450a8a6ed586c7a1fd96 |
institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
issn | 1478-4491 |
language | English |
last_indexed | 2024-12-10T20:05:11Z |
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spelling | doaj.art-ad7015623cd3450a8a6ed586c7a1fd962022-12-22T01:35:24ZengBMCHuman Resources for Health1478-44912022-02-0120111110.1186/s12960-022-00713-4Transdisciplinarity of India’s master’s level public health programmes: evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995Kumaravel Ilangovan0Sendhilkumar Muthappan1Keerthiga Govindarajan2Vignesh Vairamani3Vettrichelvan Venkatasamy4Manickam Ponnaiah5ICMR-National Institute of EpidemiologyICMR-National Institute of EpidemiologyICMR-National Institute of EpidemiologyICMR-National Institute of EpidemiologyICMR-National Institute of EpidemiologyICMR-National Institute of EpidemiologyAbstract Introduction In the Indian subcontinent, Master’s-level Public Health (MlPH) programmes attract graduates of diverse academic disciplines from health and non-health sciences alike. Considering the current and futuristic importance of the public health cadre, we described them and reviewed their transdisciplinarity status based on MlPH admissibility criteria 1995 to 2021. Methods Using a search strategy, we abstracted information available in the public domain on MlPH programmes and their admissibility criteria. We categorized the admission criteria based on specified disciplines into Health science, Non-health science and Non-health non-science categories. We described the MlPH programmes by location, type of institution, course duration, curriculum, pedagogical methods, specializations offered, and nature of admission criteria statements. We calculated descriptive statistics for eligible educational qualifications for MlPH admission. Results Overall, 76 Indian institutions (Medical colleges—21 and Non-medical coleges—55) offered 92 MlPH programmes (Private—58 and Public—34). We included 89 for review. These programmes represent a 51% increase (n = 47) from 2016 to 2021. They are mostly concentrated in 21 Indian provinces. These programmes stated that they admit candidates of but not limited to “graduation in any life sciences”, “3-year bachelor’s degree in any discipline”, “graduation from any Indian universities”, and “graduation in any discipline”. Among the health science disciplines, Modern medicine (n = 89; 100%), Occupational therapy (n = 57; 64%) is the least eligible. Among the non-health science disciplines, life sciences and behavioural sciences (n = 53; 59%) and non-health non-science disciplines, humanities and social sciences (n = 62; 72%) are the topmost eligible disciplines for admission in the MPH programmes. Conclusion Our review suggests that India’s MlPH programmes are less transdisciplinary. Relatively, non-medical institutions offer admission to various academic disciplines than the medical institutions in their MlPH programmes. India’s Master’s level public health programmes could be more inclusive by opening to graduates from trans-disciplinary backgrounds.https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-022-00713-4Public healthOne healthEducationPublic health practiceInterdisciplinary placementUniversities |
spellingShingle | Kumaravel Ilangovan Sendhilkumar Muthappan Keerthiga Govindarajan Vignesh Vairamani Vettrichelvan Venkatasamy Manickam Ponnaiah Transdisciplinarity of India’s master’s level public health programmes: evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995 Human Resources for Health Public health One health Education Public health practice Interdisciplinary placement Universities |
title | Transdisciplinarity of India’s master’s level public health programmes: evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995 |
title_full | Transdisciplinarity of India’s master’s level public health programmes: evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995 |
title_fullStr | Transdisciplinarity of India’s master’s level public health programmes: evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995 |
title_full_unstemmed | Transdisciplinarity of India’s master’s level public health programmes: evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995 |
title_short | Transdisciplinarity of India’s master’s level public health programmes: evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995 |
title_sort | transdisciplinarity of india s master s level public health programmes evidence from admission criteria of the programmes offered since 1995 |
topic | Public health One health Education Public health practice Interdisciplinary placement Universities |
url | https://doi.org/10.1186/s12960-022-00713-4 |
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