Bachelor of Public Health | TU

Overview

Public Health is a major discipline essential for establishing any nation and keeping its populace healthy. In recognizing that, Tribhuvan university’s Institute of Medicine offers a 4 year program as Bachelor of Public Health to empower individuals with knowledge in various aspects of maintaining public well being.

The primary objective of the program is to create helthcare specialists within the country that have the skills and the know-how to lead community and mid-level health care workers in Nepal. The graduates of this program are trained more in the realms of preventive and protective healthcare in a more practical and cost effective manner. They form an integral part of the country’s healthcare system.
 

Program Structure

The BPH program at TU follows a more traditional yearly format of instruction. The students enrolled in this program have to take a board exam annually to complete each of the four years of the program.

For the first three years of the program, the students will be lectured on seven courses every year. The courses are designed to educate students on the application of health sciences while being mindful of stratification on the basis of socio-cultural, economic, and other dimensions of health and diseases. At the same time these courses should help the students plan, implement, monitor, and evaluate the efficacy of the health care system.

In the final year, the students are pushed harder to work with real world scenarios with courses like Comprehensive Public Health Practicum, Health System Management and International Health, Individual Health Research, and Public Health Research Methodology and Public Health Project Planning & Development. These courses are more field based and research oriented.
 

Objectives of Bachelor of Public Health

The objectives of studying the Bachelor of Public health program of Tribhuvan University academic program are as follows:

1. To equip the knowledge and skills of public health and its promotions in government, private and international health organizations.
2. To have the knowledge and practice to deliver service to public for maintaining healthy life with disease prevention and cure
3. To be also contribute in socio economic development of our nation
4. Analyze the overall health systems and gauge the effectiveness, efficiency, equitable distribution in communal areas.
5. To conduct health research and report findings for awareness and insights for decision making and policy formulations.
6. To develop leadership qualities for leading and mobilizing healthcare and addressing problems of public health.

Specializations

There is not explicit specialization when it comes to TU’s BPH program. However, a student can still build a specialization in their final year with research reports homing in on the sub-discipline that they would want to specialize in. The paper hence produced can even be a part of the student’s CV going forward.
Still, there are no specialization options within the program.
 

Admission Requirements

The IOM at TU has created certain barriers to entry for the BPH program. This is to ensure that the students who do end up getting enrolled are capable enough to make the full use of the program being offered. Anyways, the first set of barriers are the eligibility criteria, and they are as follows:

• The student must have studied Physics, Chemistry and Biology from a recognized educational institution and passed with a minimum of 50 percent or 2.4 CGPA in the proficiency certificate level or +2 Science group.or
• Students from A-level or other similar programs with different grading systems must have studied physics, chemistry and biology with a minimum of 50 percent or 2.4 CGPA.or
• Students must have obtained at least 50% overall marks in Health Science Proficiency Certificate Level or Diploma (General Medicine or Medical Lab Technology or Ophthalmic Science or Dental Science or Pharmacy or Radiography or Ayurveda or Physiotherapy) and be formally associated with the concerned council.

Should the student meet the eligibility criteria, they would then have to take an entrance exam administered by the IOM at TU. The students should score no less than 50% in the 100-mark exam to compete for admission in one of the 5 colleges offering the BPH program in affiliation to TU. This is especially difficult considering that the exam has negative scoring. Every right answer is awarded a point whereas a wrong answer might cost the student a negative 0.25 points.
That being said, there is an advantage to this test. Students that show a high aptitude in this test would be awarded scholarships by the Government of Nepal.
As per Rule 20 of the National Medical Education Rules, 2077, out of the total scholarship seats to be awarded to the Government of Nepal at the undergraduate level, 55 percent of the seats will be distributed through open competition and 45 percent of the seats will be distributed to people with certain socio-economic handicaps. Out of the 45 percent, the seats would be divided as follows:

Career Prospects

As mentioned above, the primary objective of the program is to create helthcare specialists within the country that have the skills and the know-how to lead community and mid-level health care workers in Nepal. With such skills, graduates of TU’s BPH program can find a fulfilling career in a number of institutions.

However, before getting into a career, it is a good idea for graduates to take the liscencing examination. The students that have completed a 4 year program can apply for a NHPC liscence and would have to revise on the following disciplines for the exam:

After being awarded a liscene, the graduate of BPH can find meaningful positions in different health related institutions like NGOs and INGOs. They could also opt to take the Civil Service (Lok Sewa) exam and apply for a government position. They could also take up an academic position like a lecturer, researcher, etc.
 
 

Apply now!

Get in touch with the expert counselors at Colleges Nepal today to figure out how you can get into a TU BPH program yourself. At the same time, these experts will help you find the right institutions and get acquainted with the right people to help you advance in your academic pursuits!