F. Hernandeztorres et al., CURRICULUM DESIGN FOR THE MASTER OF PUBLI C-HEALTH USING AN IN-SERVICE EDUCATIONAL-MODEL, Salud publica de Mexico, 37(1), 1995, pp. 63-74
This article presents the curriculum design process experience of the
School of Public Health of Mexico's In-Service Master of Public Health
Program, offered through the distance education model. The Program wa
s created as a response to the Mexican health system's human resources
training needs, with the purpose of contributing to the health servic
es decentralization process, the strengthening of managerial skills of
local health district managers, and to the profesionalization of publ
ic health. The Program's design and development are based on a distanc
e education system as an alternative to the traditional training model
s. The distance education model offers the possibility to train human
resources on their job, to link permanently theory and practice, and t
o improve, in the short-term, the professional performance of students
. The curriculum design process included the analysis of the student's
training needs based on their professional profile, the type of plan
of study that could take into account those training needs, and of the
advisers and tutor's required profile, educational background, and jo
b experience. The different disciplines were grouped around the knowle
dge objects, and not around independent courses. The health planning p
rocess was taken as a central axis and conductive line for integrating
the thematic contents. The Master's plan of study was conformed by fo
ur stages: health diagnosis, formulation of the organized social respo
nse, implementation, and evaluation.