Preventive & Social Medicine

Registration of Interest Email: functions.alumni@otago.ac.nz More information is available at: http://ouhistory.otago.ac.nz/projects.php

Welcome to the Web page for the Department of Preventive and Social Medicine. This Department is one of the oldest of its kind in the world. The first Lecturer in Medical Jurisprudence and Public Health took up his post in 1886. The Department has expanded greatly over the last 20 years, and now contains over 100 staff.

Many of these people are full time research workers, and the Department constitutes one of the strongest centres for public health research in Australasia. Major research groups within the Department include:

• AIDS Epidemiology Group
• Biostatistical Group
• Cancer Society Social & Behavioural Research Unit
• Centre for International Health
• Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health & Development Research Unit
• Hugh Adam Cancer Epidemiology Unit
• Injury Prevention Research Unit
• Centre for Hauora Māori, Dunedin, and the Ngāi Tahu Māori Health Research Unit

The Department also contains two groups whose main role is a service one, and these two groups are:

• National Poisons Centre
• New Zealand Pharmacovigilance Centre

The Department teaches medical students, and also offers undergraduate papers in Epidemiology and Health Promotion for students in other faculties. There is a major postgraduate teaching programme involving candidates for the following qualifications:

• Postgraduate Certificate / Diploma in Public Health (DPH)
• Master of Public Health (MPH)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Health Sciences (PGDHealSc)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Health Sciences (PGDHealSc - endorsed in Occupational Health)
• Master of Health Sciences (MHealSc)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Health Management (PGDipHealMgt)
• Postgraduate Diploma in Industrial Health (DIH)
• Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.)

The Department teaches many postgraduate papers in public health, occupational health, and research methods. More than 20 postgraduate students are involved in research for Master's or Ph.D. degrees. 

Mission

The declared mission of the Department is to advance knowledge in public health,
through teaching, research and advisory work,
in order to assist health development in New Zealand and globally

Many staff in the Department have a significant advisory role with bodies such as the New Zealand Ministries of Health and of Research, Science and Technology - as well as international bodies such as the World Health Organization and the International Agency for Research on Cancer.