About Us

The Graduate Program in Public Health offered by the School of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto at the University of São Paulo (FMRP – USP) was founded in 1971, with the former name of “Graduate Program in Preventive Medicine”. In 2000, the Program underwent a reformulation, changing its name and since its establishment, it has shown straight a connection with the Family Health Strategy.

Goals

The Graduate Program in Public Health aims to train researchers and professors in the field of public health to generate knowledge and train professionals committed to contributing to the improvement of health and population living conditions, at the local, national, and global levels, in an environmentally sustainable perspective.

Professionals

The program covers a multiprofessional team including doctors, dentists, nurses, pharmacists, psychologists, nutritionists, speech therapists, biologists, biomedical scientists, biostatisticians, physiotherapists, social workers, and other professionals connected to the health area.

Alumni

The Program alumni are expected to have a broad view of the concept of health as the most complete physical, mental, and social well-being, according to the Declaration of Alma-Ata. The professionals shall understand that illness is not only the result of its biological determinants but is also influenced by economic, social, and environmental aspects, which are globally interconnected. The professionals are supposed to know different models of health care organizations and understand universal access to health as a right of every human being. These professionals shall also recognize the role of the health system organizations played by Primary Health Care and can work in an interprofessional team, following the Family Health Strategy. Moreover, they have experience in the ethics of the scientific method, using tools from epidemiology, statistics, implementation research, and information technology. They can write a research project to request funding from national and international development agencies and produce high-quality scientific papers for the dissemination of the findings in international journals. They have refined communication skills and can promote health education for the population level and train other health professionals.