Master of Public Health Education in Russia: A Long Story with a Happy End?

Background: Although Russia signed the Bologna declaration in 2003; no Master level programs in health sciences were introduced. Nevertheless, several international actors tried to organize public health education in several Russian cities since late 1990s, but the programs varied in their contents and were not formally recognized jeopardizing employment opportunities for the graduates. Finally, The Ministry of Education officially introduced an MPH degree – the first Master degree in health sciences.  The objective is to present the main features of the new official MPH education in Russia.

 

Results: The program is a 2-years full time program and accounts for 120 credits. One credit equals 36 hours. Fluency in English is among the core competencies. Education consists of general courses (30-34 credits) and specialized courses (22-26 credits). Among both general and specialized courses there are obligatory courses (10 credits) and elective courses. Practice (internship) and research (including writing of a thesis) accounts for 56-58 credits. Final attestation accounts for the remaining credits. A considerable freedom is given to universities in selecting specialized and elective courses, although obligatory general courses are universal and include introduction to public health, epidemiology, biostatistics, bioethics, health administration and health management. Minimal course duration is 2 credits. Lectures account for ≤40% of in-class sessions. E-learning is greatly encouraged. All Russian universities could apply for a license already in 2010, although very few are fully accredited by the Russian Ministry of Education at present.

 

 

Conclusions: The new official Russian MPH program is generally comparable with international programs simplifying international cooperation and exchange of students and professionals across borders. Peculiarities of the curriculum of the Russian MPH program and its differences from the international MPH as well as the main obstacles and experience of the introduction of the MPH programs in Russian universities will be discussed.