MPH in One Health and Planetary Health
Key Facts
Overview
One Health is one of the most emerging disciplines in the realm of public health. The One Health paradigm focuses on the holistic and interconnectedness of animals, humans, plants, and their shared environments to acknowledge and solve complex public health problems. The discipline integrates a multidisciplinary approach towards animal-human relationships and the resultant zoonosis, cross-species spillover events, and epidemics or pandemics.
Planetary health is considered a part of One Health and is defined as “the health of human civilization and the natural systems on which it depends”. It is an emerging interdisciplinary specialty primarily focused towards characterization and quantification of the human health impacts of manmade disruptions of Earth’s natural ecosystems.
The One Health approach is based on the principle that the health of a community is heavily dependent on its environment and its interactions with other species. The COVID-19 outbreak has demonstrated the capacity of a zoonosis event to transform into a world-changing pandemic. This has put emerging diseases at a research priority, highlighting the role of expert professionals with a multisectoral perspective. Professionals from varied backgrounds like veterinary medicine, public health, health policy, ecology, clinical medicine, microbiology collaborate at local, regional, national, and global levels to optimize health outcomes.
The MPH One Health/Planetary Health program provides a thorough understanding of underlying mechanisms for the transmission of diseases between species and the facilitating environments. The program matrix will help you to develop a constructionist approach toward emerging one-health issues of the world.
The program is comprised of 138 ECTS credits and can be completed in about 18 months. For a detailed list of courses taught in this program, please refer to the curriculum.
After completion of 42 credits, an interim qualification of Advanced Diploma in Public Health Management is awarded. This part of your studies only includes coursework. This is followed by the completion of additional 72 credits via coursework and 24 credits via dissertation under the guidance of a mentor.
Curriculum
Introduction To Public Health and Healthcare
This course introduces the principles, history, and practice of public health and healthcare. It covers preventive medicine, healthcare systems across developed, developing, and transition countries, and key global health challenges including disease control and health inequalities. Learners explore the role of public health in health promotion, disease prevention, and improving population health through lectures, case studies, videos, and supplementary resources.
Community Medicine
This course introduces the fundamental concepts of health, disease, and disease prevention, covering the natural history of diseases, levels of prevention, globalization and health, and the determinants and indicators of health. It also explores health assessment methods, the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10 and ICD-11), healthcare strategies, and evidence-based public health. Through lectures, presentations, videos, and supplementary reading materials, learners develop an understanding of public health challenges and strategies for improving population health and health equity.
Epidemiology
This course introduces the fundamentals of epidemiology, covering the concepts of disease occurrence, causation, epidemiological study designs, and statistical analysis. It also explores evidence-based medicine, disease patterns, and the application of epidemiological methods in public health research. Through lectures, presentations, videos, and supplementary reading materials, learners develop a foundational understanding of epidemiology and its role in disease prevention and population health.
Health Planning and Hospital Management
This course explores the principles of health planning, management, and hospital administration, covering managerial planning and forecasting, planning tools, staffing and selection processes, organizational structures, delegation, time management, and control techniques. It also examines hospital planning and design, linen and laundry services, hospital waste disposal, medical records, quality assurance, medical audits, marketing of health services, and evaluation of hospital services. Learners develop an understanding of effective healthcare management and strategies for improving hospital operations and service quality.
Health Economics
This course introduces the fundamental principles of health economics, covering economic concepts, health economics, demand and supply in healthcare, healthcare markets, and externalities. It explores the role of competition, regulation, and government intervention in healthcare, along with healthcare financing and affordability. Through lectures, presentations, and supplementary readings, learners develop an understanding of how economic principles influence healthcare resource allocation, service delivery, and decision-making.
Biostatistics
This course introduces the fundamental principles of biostatistics, covering data handling, data presentation, tests of significance, categorical data analysis, and non-parametric methods. It also explores statistical applications in clinical trials, sample size estimation, metabolomics, and public health research. Through lectures, presentations, and assignments, learners develop the skills to interpret data, apply statistical methods, and support evidence-based decision-making in healthcare and research.
Nutrition
This course explores the fundamental principles of nutrition, covering nutritional screening and assessment, nutritional counselling, micronutrient and macronutrient deficiencies, metabolic disorders, and medical nutrition therapy (MNT). It also examines nutrition in non-communicable and infectious diseases, food hygiene and safety, pregnancy and lactation, nutrition policies and programs, and food processing. Learners develop an understanding of the role of nutrition in disease prevention, health promotion, and improving health outcomes across different stages of life.
Specialization Courses:
Concept of One Health/Planetary Health
Environmental Health & Climate change
Human Exposure Science
Surveillance of Human and Animal Diseases
Outbreak Investigations
Emerging Zoonotic diseases
Agriculture/Livestock/Animal shelters management
Disease Modelling
Introduction to GIS and Spatial Data Analysis
Wildlife Disease Management
Environmental Law and Policy
Electives (Any two)
One Health Epidemiology
One Health: Situation Analysis and Systems Thinking
Environmental Epidemiology
Vector-Parasite Interactions
Dissertation
This program is conducted fully online in an asyncronous format.
Once you are enrolled you will be provided a username and password to login to our e-Campus. All the courses that you are supposed to study will be available in your account. You can log in and complete your courses at any time of your convenience. Study materials are provided in the form of lectures, reading materials, additional videos, research papers, and so on. The faculty can be contacted for any assistance when required. All tests and assignment submissions also take place via the e-Campus. For more information please refer to the online learning section of the website.