School of Public Health, University of Ghana
Background.
The School of Public Health (SPH), which offers a one-year NTH program, was established in 1995 as a semi-autonomous institution within the University of Ghana at Legon. The Mission of the School is "to produce public health practitioners who will be leaders and change agents for health development in Ghana in particular with the district as the focus, and Africa in general." The goal of the School is twofold: (1) to train both medical and non-medical professionals who will make concrete contributions to improve the health status of communities they serve; and (2) to carry out research into identified health problems of the country.
In addition to the NTH degree, the SPH plans to offer a national Diploma in Public Health (NDPH), a Master in Philosophy in Public Health (M. Phil) and a Doctor of Philosophy in Public Health (Ph.D.). Although the program has a small core staff, it can call on existing departments, schools and institutes at the Universities of Ghana, Cape Coast and Science and Technology, as well as other professional organizations. Unlike the other PHSWOW programs, the School has succeeded in mobilizing financial and material support from multiple sources through the Ministry of Health (USAID, UNFPA, YY'HO, UNICEF) and the Clark and Rockefeller Foundations. Funding from the Rockefeller Foundation has been directed primarily at the purchase of computers and facilitating exchanges with the other programs.
Course structure and content:
Relative to the other PHSWOW programs, students entering the Ghana program tend to have more years of field experience under the belt than their Zimbabwe or Uganda counterparts and approximately two-thirds of the course is classroom-based. Core courses include Biostatistics, Epidemiology; Social/Behavioral Science; Population Studies, Environmental Health; Occupational Health; Public Health Nutrition; Health Management; and, Maternal and Child Health/Family Planning (MCH/FP). Other courses include Health & Health Care Delivery; Analysis of Health- Health Problems; Health Intervention: Principles and Practice- Information, Education & Communication; Health Services Management; International/Global Health.
The field component is very compressed and includes (1) two ten-day field visits, the first to Navrongo district, the second to the trainee's own district; (2) a four-month field attachment at a site agreed upon by the District and the Regional Director of Health Services. Field supervision is provided by the Regional Director of Health Services, other qualified field personnel, and academic tutors from the University. During the field attachment, the trainee is expected to acquire and apply the competencies of a district health manager by working as part of the District Health Management team. The trainee is also expected to complete and write-up a dissertation project during his field attachment-
MPH:
In Ghana, students are not required to conduct original research and can use existing data if they wish and study findings do not have to contribute new knowledge to the field of public health. The purpose of the NDH thesis is primarily to give students an opportunity to conduct in-depth research on a specific subject and an extensive critique of the relevant literature while assisting the district health office to address a health problem of import to them.