Landscaping Teaching and Training of Urban Health as a Part of Health Professional Education in India

摘要

Introduction: India's urban population will be doubled from 377 million in 2011 to 915 million in 2050. Such rapid urban growth may lead to several problems by affecting the economy, environment and the society at large. These problems further affect the health vulnerability in urban areas. Thus, there exists a need for health workforce equipped with the knowledge and skills to meet the urban health challenges. Objectives: To undertake the landscaping of teaching and training of urban health as a part of health professional courses and to undertake mapping of specific training programmes related to urban health in India. Methodology: A curriculum scan of various health professional courses in India ranging from medicine, dentistry, allied health, Ayurveda, Yoga and Naturopathy, Unani, Siddha and Homoeopathy (AYUSH), nursing to public health was undertaken related to teaching and training of urban health. An exclusive search was also carried out for identifying urban health-specific training programmes being offered in India. Results: As per the curriculum scan, current health professional courses being offered in India have a very little focus on urban health. It was observed that various cross-cutting issues related to urban health are not adequately addressed in the current curricula. Also the curricula of these health professional courses have not clearly spelt out the desired urban health competencies. Few institutions in India offer short-term training programmes specific to urban health issues. Conclusion: Considering the growing urban health population, it is critical that the curricula of health professional courses comprehensively incorporate adequate content regarding urban health and related issues. Curricula should be designed on the basis of clearly spelt out urban health competencies. There is a need to design specific short-term training programmes covering various aspects of urban health. Some of the institutions offering public health programmes, especially Masters in Public Health (MPH) programme, should dwell on developing urban health track as a specialization of MPH programmes.