Reframing Public Health Education: From metrics to meaning
Ramya Pinnamaneni & Nithya Ramesh
THE number of public health schools and programmes in India is at an all-time high and continues to grow annually. As of 2016, only 44 institutions in India offered Masters of Public Health (MPH) degrees. Over the last decade, this number of public health programmes has risen significantly to 129 across India’s 28 States and eight Union Territories. Increased visibility of public health during the COVID-19 pandemic drove a renewed focus on essential functions, including epidemiology, health communication and emergency response.
The pandemic redefined public perception, elevating public health from a misunderstood field to a critical pillar of national preparedness and systemic resilience. This change increased both student interest and institutional willingness to offer formal public health hearing. Significant national R&D funding represents a more recent lever that could further accelerate this expansion.
The Indian government recently launched a ₹1 lakh crore Research, Development, and Innovation (RDI) Fund to boost private sector-led innovation, with an initial outlay of ₹20,000 crore for FY 2025-26. As public health capacity-building initiatives grow and research avenues expand, it is an opportune time to ask: What is the true purpose of an education in public health?
Beyond degrees: The purpose of Public Health Education
As we reflect on the purpose of public health education as educators and practitioners in the field, we ask ourselves and fellow colleagues and stakeholders, is it appropriate to judge a scholar’s success by the citation counts of their published work or by the impact they’ve made on the communities they serve? Is our goal to produce more publications in journals or to impact our communities? Or does it even have to be one over the other?As India builds its public health workforce, the answers to these questions will define the leaders we develop and the health systems we strengthen.
Education beyond the classroom
A persistent challenge is that many students enter public health programmes without clearly understanding what the field entails. This is understandable, given the vast applications for an MPH degree. Students come from various academic backgrounds such as dentistry, medicine, life sciences, economics and are often guided by parental advice or the prospect of employment. Career mentorship is often inconsistent, funneling individuals into community-facing roles despite a lack of genuine passion or interest.
A shift towards competency-based education
When we pursued our MPH degrees a decade ago, public health education was largely project-driven and mostly undertaken by MBBS and BDS graduates. Curriculum design often prioritised faculty interests and current projects over a shared understanding of core competencies for graduates. Today, despite the increasing number of MPH programmes and graduates, India still does not have a national framework that defines what a public health graduate education should entail.
This is where competency-based education becomes important.
