Departments of Public Health

Founded in 1926, renamed in 2013.

The department was established in 1926 under the name of the Department of Social Hygiene as a part of Yerevan Medical Institute and was ultimately renamed in 2013 as the Department of Public Health and Healthcare Organization. The first head of the chair was S.Kh. Baghdasaryan.

The department provides professional education to third- and fourth-year students of the Faculty of Medicine, third-year students of the Faculty of Dentistry, for residents of YSMU who trained in any medical specialties, as well as master’s degree students of the Public Health program.

Programs developed in the department include the following modules:

“Public Health”

“Biomedical Statistics”
“Healthcare Organization”

“Dental Service Organization”
“Hospital Management”
“Public Health Problem Solving Paradigm”
“Database Management”
“Basics of Health Care Management”
“Marketing in Health Care”
“Health Economics”

“Quality of Healthcare”

“Qualitative research”

 “Public Health”

The curriculum encompasses the examination of research methods and the evaluation of population health issues, including morbidity, disability, mortality, reproduction, and diseases of significant medical and societal concern. It also delves into the study of risk factors contributing to these health problems and the development of strategies for effectively organizing medical institutions’ operations. Additionally, the department offers accredited medical education programs and training sessions for healthcare professionals, including doctors and medical staff.

“Biomedical Statistics”

The module studies the basic principles and methods of statistical research, as well as the methods of statistical analysis used in medical and biological research.

“Healthcare Organization”

The module includes the study of the basics of health care management, economics, financing, assessment of the quality of medical care and its effectiveness, as well as the organization and delivery of medical care to various groups of the population.

” Hospital Management”

The module presents the main management technologies used in medical institutions and discusses the features, methods and functions of management used to organize clinical activities in a market economy.

“Public Health Problems Solving Paradigm”

The module is designed for graduate students. The purpose of the program is to teach master’s students to assess public health problems, determine the degree of their importance, properly prioritize and find the most effective ways of solving the problem. For effective problem solving, the master’s student is presented with a “problem-solving model” and a sequence of steps for its implementation.

“Database Management”

The module is designed for students in the master’s program. The aim of the program is to teach undergraduates, using modern computer programs, to collect and store statistical data related to public health and medicine, indicators of environmental pollution, physical development of population, morbidity, disability, mortality, activities of medical institutions and effectiveness of health programs, as well as, using modern statistical methods, to process data and prepare them for analysis and evaluation.

“Basics of Health Care Management”

This module is designed for Master’s program students. The program’s purpose is to teach students to analyze human resources in institutions and regions, provide ways of disciplining personnel management, and assess the efficiency of its use. Students will also learn about the efficiency of the use of material resources in specific healthcare institutions and how to analyze and evaluate the quality of medical care using situational tasks as examples.

“Marketing in Health Care”

The module is designed for students of master’s program. The aim of the program is to teach master’s students the theoretical foundations of marketing, peculiarities of health care activities in market relations, methods of economic evaluation of alternative health care, analysis of marketing activities of medical organizations, determine marketing strategy, make marketing research plans, assess the competitive environment in the target market segment and the content of the financial section of the business plan, as well as the essence of methodology of pricing medical services.

“Health Economics”

 This module is designed for students in the Master’s program. The aim of the program is to teach students to analyze economic reforms in the field of healthcare in the Republic of Armenia, sources of healthcare financing, payment methods for outpatient and inpatient medical care, various legal statuses of medical institutions, the experiences of other countries in healthcare financing, financing and management of fund circulation in healthcare organizations, and the study of economic characteristics of the state healthcare system in the country.

“Quality of Medical Care”.

This module explores the concept of quality, its characteristics in medicine and health care, approaches to its assessment, and principles of assurance.

“Qualitative Research”.

The module is devoted to qualitative research, the study of its characteristics and the peculiarities of its application techniques, widely used in sociology and Public Health.

Duration of PhD study in public health is 3 year for full-time students and 4 year for part-time.

Clinical residents in the specialty of Medicine are also trained in the following related modules:
1. Public Health
2. Hospital management

The Department of Public Health and Health Care Organization offers Continuing Professional Development credited courses in the following modules:

1. “Quality of Care. System of medical care quality management”
2. “Basics of Statistics in Health Care”
3. “Medical and Social Basics, organization”

The scientific activity of the chair is mainly devoted to the study of health of different age and gender groups of the RA population. The chair has made a number of scientific and practical recommendations, aimed to the improv the medical-preventive care of the studied groups in the new socio-economic conditions of the country. The thematic financing from the State Scientific Committee of RA enables the staff of the chair to implement research programs on important health care problems in the RA, including the impact of COVID-19 on the health of the population and the whole health care system of the RA.
Within the framework of international cooperation, programs are being implemented to study the epidemiology of injuries, traumatic brain injury and violence. Chair offer number of small experiential learning grants on the competitive base to Masters of Public Health students as well as 4th and 5th year students of the Faculty of General Medicine to own research projects.

The Department continues active scientific collaboration with a number of European (University of Gothenburg (Sweden), University Babes Bolyai  (Romania),  Nicolae Testemițanu State University of Medicine and Pharmacy (Republic of Moldova), Slovak Medical University
in Bratislava), CIS (West Kazakhstan Marat Ospanov Medical University, Asfendiyarov Kazakh National Medical University, Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (Georgia)) and USA (University of Iowa, University of California, San Diego, Colorado State University, Fort Collins) universities.

A number of grant programs are being implemented funded by the European Union and the USA National Institute of Health.

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