Welcome on the webpage of the Department of Public Health!

This department of the Semmelweis University is responsible for 1) education of Public Health, a mandatory subject at the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmaceutical Sciences, 2) supervising thesises written in the topic of public health and 3) consultation on scientific work pursued our the field by members of the Students’ Scientific Association.

Public health deals with human health issues at a population level. As an applied science, its basic goal is to preserve and improve health and to prevent diseases.

To achieve these goals public health covers several areas of health. Epidemiology (of communicable diseases) deals with infectious diseases, with a special focus on infection control. Traditional public health describes the role of environmental factors in the development of diseases. Occupational medicine aims to maintain the health of employees through the prevention of occupational diseases. Epidemiology as a methodology in public health is essential for all these activities.

Healthcare providers of the 21st century should be able to perform individual health promotion techniques and also should be aware of the concept of community health promotion. In our education we aim to provide knowledge, enhance skill-building and shape attitudes in order the assure purposeful training in public health.