IIHMR University virtually inaugurates the 8th Cohort of Master of Public Health Program

IIHMR University virtually inaugurated its 8th Cohort of the prestigious international postgraduate degree program, Master of Public Health (MPH), in cooperation with Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH), Baltimore, USA, on 12 October 2020, for the session 2020-22. During the inaugural, Dr. Ashok Agarwal, Founder trustee, IIHMR, congratulated the people behind establishing the prestigious collaborative program between the JHSPH, USA, and IIHMR University. He said that this prestigious program took around five years to develop and design, and today, it has come out to be a successful program. We get many applications indicating their interest and preference for this program, but we can select a very few for this unique course. 

During the launch, Dr. SD Gupta, Chairperson, IIHMR University, also the Chief Guest of the program, said that it is the people's farsightedness from JHSPH and IIHMR University to develop such a program. He said," JSPH is the no. 1 in Public Health globally, and IIHMR is the top institute in health management. It is the union of the two institutions that resulted in bringing out a new MPH program and public health core competencies focused on management. This program was started to help the students of the Southeast Asian region, as the students of this part of the world should also get an opportunity for a quality public health program. The need for public health is never so much needed as now. The public health competencies are required, and it's high time to realize that public health as a discipline has a significant role to play during the pandemic in improving health standards."

The MPH program is designed to provide students with critical multidisciplinary training to help solve global public health problems. The original Johns Hopkins curriculum is delivered jointly by distinguished faculties of Johns Hopkins University and IIHMR University. A degree is awarded by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA. The students also get an opportunity to get connected with the Network of 20000 plus Alumni around the world. Students are awarded the degree by Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, Baltimore, USA.

Professor Maire Diener-West Chair, Master of Public Health Program, Johns Hopkins, Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA, conveyed her wishes to the student of Cohort 8. She said, “ I am proud of this program as this represents the best of both the universities in terms of partnerships to empower graduates, for the necessary skills and competencies in public health but also special expertise and knowledge in health management.” She further said that she is glad that the people behind IIHMR could have the vision to anticipate the need for such a program.

Dr. P. R.  Sodani. President (Officiating), IIHMR University, welcomed the students of the cohort program. He said, "Apart from teaching, we are engaged with JHSPH in various research, training, and capacity building programs as well. IIHMR is also collaboratively working with JHSPH on TVV-Teaching Vaccine Economics globally. IIHMR University has already initiated a course in Vaccine economics this year."

Dr. Felicity Turner, Director, International and Continuing Education, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, USA, said that this is an incredibly exciting time in public health students globally and the interest of the current students in public health is more necessary.

Earlier, in the program, Dr. Seema Mehta, Chairperson, MPH Program, Associate Professor (IIHMR University, Jaipur), Adjunct Professor (JHSPH, USA), welcomed the dignitaries and the student. She said that since 2013, almost 58 students of countries including India, Nepal, Bangladesh, and the Maldives have passed out from this program and are working in the field of public health. Later, the faculty were introduced to the new students and alumni an opportunity to interact. The session was moderated by Sidharth Srivastava, Student, MPH Cohort 7. 

The 2-year full-time MPH program aims to develop students' competencies in core areas of public health and management besides developing multi-disciplinary skills among them. The collaboration between the JHSPH and IIHMR University empowers the students to benefit from Johns Hopkins' track record of excellence in teaching public health and IIHMR's health management expertise.