Organisation profile

The Department of Public Health was established in 1983 to train public health professionals in improving population health through teaching, research, and service. In 2000, the department expanded its program to graduate level students, followed by a doctoral program in 2008. The Department of Public Health inaugurated the Master of Public Health degree program in 2015 that prepares healthcare professionals for leadership in addressing public health problems.  The Department of Public Health is currently sub-divided into Health Policy and Epidemiology branches. The diverse course offerings of the Department are currently open to all College of Medicine undergraduate students of medicine, medical technology, occupational therapy, physical therapy, and nursing, as well as graduate-level students of the Department. The Department of Public Health’s faculty consists of eight full-time professors, including three full professors, one associate professor, and four assistant professors who work with sixty-one masters level and twenty doctoral level students to improve public health. Our research focuses on four areas: health policy, community health, epidemiology, and biostatistics. In the area of health policy, our major efforts will be directed to health policies related to the National Health Insurance. We have developed several community health-related research and service projects and will further expand these projects, aiming to address the community health problems unique to southern Taiwan. For the component of public health methodology, we emphasize both quantitative and qualitative research methods. Our endeavor is to develop a strong center of methodology that will not only serve the faculty at the college but also contribute to the advancement of research methodology in the field of public health in Taiwan.