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Doctoring healthcare Are
you a medical graduate or postgraduate in arts or science wanting to take up hospital management jobs? There is an opportunity for those who want to work in various capacities as public health specialists. To tap this growing market for hospital administrators, the PGI, Chandigarh, started a two-year master’s course in public health at the School of Public Health this year. The school also offers MD Community Medicine, Ph.D, a continuing medical education programme and various short-term courses. Twelve premier public health institutes in the country, including the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi; National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi; National Institute of Health and Family Welfare, New Delhi; and the All-India Institute of Hygiene and Public Health, Kolkata, have joined hands to strengthen public health education by exchanging faculty and students. The other institutes offering a master’s in public health are: Sri Chitra Tirunal Institute of Medical Sciences and Technology, Trivandrum; the National Institute of Communicable Diseases, New Delhi; and the School of Health Sciences, Eligibility For admission to the course in the PGI, the candidate must be a graduate in medicine (MBBS), dentistry(BDS), veterinary science (B.VSc), engineering (BE) or any postgraduate degree (MA/M.Sc) with at least 50 per cent marks in the aggregate. The admission is based on an entrance test conducted by the PGI in July every year. The increasing incidence of communicable diseases and the associated problems of healthcare have compelled the government to make and implement stringent rules for hospital management. Robust prospects Hospitals, both government and private, community health centres and NGOs like Sulabh International, the Red Cross and Family Planning Association of India have started employing public health experts, who supervise the entire functioning — from patient care to providing logistical support to the doctors and paramedics. The demand for such experts is more than their availability. This is going to get compounded in the near future. A qualified postgraduate in public health science can also pursue a career in teaching and consultancy. “Today, the demand for public health specialists is more. It is going to increase not only in India but the world over. Mushrooming of NGOs in the field of public health is an indicator of the demand,” says Rajesh Kumar, head, School of Public Health. Role and responsibilities “One can start a career as a public health consultant either in the WHO or Unicef, besides getting a job in government hospitals and hospital consultancy firms. The government has made it mandatory that every community health centre should have at least one health expert. One community centre caters to a population of 1 lakh. In the next five years, the government plans to employ experts at every health centre. You can yourself judge the demand for experts,” he says. A health expert plays a critical role in identifying health problems of the community, especially children, adolescents and senior citizens. He prepares, supervises, implements and evaluates health programmes; develops and manages the health information system and responds appropriately to the information gathered; implements public health laws; anticipates, prepares for and responds to disasters; identifies threats to the environment, etc. Money matters The initial remuneration of junior health specialists is between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000 per month. After a series of promotions, they can earn Rs 50,000 per month. However, the NGOs that are handling community health projects funded by international agencies are paying salaries between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 2 lakh per month. Debashish Gupta, consultant, WHO (NACCO), says a junior public health expert working under a WHO-funded project in India like the malaria eradication programme is initially getting
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