Department of Social and Preventive Medicine

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The Department of Social and Preventive Medicine (popularly known as SPM) is one of 22 teaching departments in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya. It was formed in 1964, one year after the founding of the Faculty of Medicine in the University of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. The department are involved in both Undergraduate and Postgraduate teachings.

The Master of Public Health program was started in 1973 in response to an acute need of the Ministry of Health Malaysia for Medical Offices of Health to serve in the then fast expanding rural health services. Thus the program during the first decade of its existence was aimed at producing competent public health specialist to serve the rural areas

By 1987, the environment have so changed that at a meeting between the Director General of Health Services of Malaysia and senior staff of the Department of SPM, a new kind of public health officer was required by the Ministry of Health, namely "a multipurpose public health doctor equipped with the managerial skills and able to work in the general public health as well as hospital setting". By 1989, after a review of the curriculum, a new set of objectives were established for MPH programme.

The MPH Graduate should be

Technically competent in the board field of Public Health;
Equipped with managerial skills;
Able to function as a leader in public services;
Able to work in the Public Health as well as the hospital setting; and
Able to work in the district, state as well as the national levels of the health services.

By 1992, many changes had already taken place in the country as well as in the national health services and it was felt that all these changes had an influence on the practice of public health. It was with this in ming that a concept paper to propose "a system of education or training at the postgraduate level and a career development channel in the field of Public Health in Malaysia" was produced by the Department of Social and Preventive Medicine. This culminated in the initiation of a 4-years training program, the program has further evolve with the addition of the Doctor of Public Health program.

The graduates originate from the following countries,

They now serve with distinction in the Ministry of Health, universities and various National and International bodies (e.g. Malaysian Armed Forces, WHO (World Health Organization), Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), and in town and city councils) in Malaysia and around the world.