Unit Code: MED708

Unit Name: Community Medicine

Description: Component 1 Lifestyle diseases and Non Communicable diseases are the commonest causes of morbidity and mortality in most Pacific island countries. There are also many sexual reproductive health and child health issues in the Pacific that needs to be recognised and addressed from the Public Health perspectives. This course is about evidence based prevention, PH management and control of lifestyle diseases & nutrition, occupational medicine & environmental health, sexual reproductive health and child health conditions in the primary care settings. It encompasses the wellness concepts through the womb to tomb approaches, health services management and the PH legislative frameworks. The students will also conduct an OHS audit in a workplace setting with the Environmental health officers . The course has four units. The practical components of the course include clinical attachments to the designated Health centres, Diabetes Hub Centre, Oxfam/Wellness clinic and the HIV Hub Centre in Suva Subdivision where student’s learning and clinical skills will be strengthened and guided by designated clinical supervisors. The students will also conduct an OHS audit in a workplace setting . Component 2 This component is on CDs and Community Health Needs Assessment incorporating the essential components of public health disciplines including epidemiology, critical appraisal, community based research, environmental health and health promotion. The course has three units. The core unit is CDs management in primary care settings. The remaining units cover crosscutting areas with broader scopes on public health surveillance, outbreak management, clinical epidemiology, community health needs identification and community based research projects.

Learning Target Outcomes: Component 1 - Lifestyle Diseases, Child Health and Sexual Reproductive Health Management in Primary Care Setting On successful completion of this course, the students will be able to: 1. Apply the Public Health (PH) concepts in the Alma Atta Declaration, Ottawa Charter, Healthy Islands initiatives, wellness approaches and identify the health systems, ethics, equity practices and communication in the Pacific. 2. Apply the six building blocks in health services management, health planning, team building, clinical governance, basic health economics, health information systems, leadership in health a doctor in primary care settings. 3. Demonstrate the application of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) Act, Child Welfare Act, Crimes Act, Public Health Act, Mental Health Act, Framework Convention on Tobacco Control (FCTC), Tobacco Act, International Health Regulations and other relevant Public Health legislative frameworks in primary care settings. 4. Utilise PH intervention strategies in the management of lifestyle diseases and common Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDS) such as diabetes, hypertension, ischemic heart diseases, coronary artery disease; and secondary prevention using the Package of Essential NCDS (PEN) Model, smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical inactivity (snaps), counselling and motivational interview. 5. Apply PH management and interventions in nutritional deficiencies, anaemia in sexual reproductive health (SRH), children and special population groups, clinical dietetics in health care, food security, climate change and recognising & referring common dental problems. 6. Recognise the burden and apply the epidemiology, clinical assessment with management of occupational diseases, hazards, risk management and control methodologies, Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) legal framework, climate change and to conduct an occupational health audit in work place settings. 7. Distinguish and apply the management and continuum of care of priority diseases in Reproductive Health, Maternal, Neonatal Adolescent & Child Health (RHMNACH) including sexually transmitted illnesses (STI), HIV, family planning counseling and cafeteria approach, adolescent health, antenatal care (ANC), postnatal care (PNC), reproductive tract cancers, elimination of violence against women (VAW) and girls, role of men in SRH and medico-ethical issues. 8. Recognise and interpret SRH epidemiology and priority health indicators including Millennium Development Goals (MDGS) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS), and develop intervention strategies to address them in the Pacific. 9. Recognise the burden and demonstrate the appropriate PH management of common childhood conditions including Expanded Programme on Immunization (EPI), IMCI, Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD), child abuse, child neglect, child protection and child disabilities in primary care settings in the Pacific. Component 2 - Communicable Disease Management in Primary Care and Community Health Needs Assessment On successful completion of this course, the students will be able to: 1. Recognise and correlate the burden, determinants of transmission and disease causation of communicable diseases (CDS). 2. Deliberate and apply management skills in primary care settings to address CDS of public health importance. 3. Demonstrate adaptability in the application of infection prevention and control measures and antimicrobial resistance. 4. Demonstrate and apply the principles of PH surveillance, report the process of investigating an outbreak, critically evaluate an outbreak response including surveillance data analysis, interpretation and presentation. 5. Apply and interpret the principles and concepts of evidence based medicine (EBM) and critical appraisal. 6. Recognise and apply the principles of community health needs assessment and demonstrate partnerships with communities and other relevant stakeholders. 7. Develop and submit a proposal for a community based research project as a leader and a team player. 8. Conduct community data collection, analyze and interpret data, submit a report with recommended intervention strategies and present results and disseminate report to the community, ministry of health (MOH) and other stakeholders.

Prerequisite: MED702, MED705, MED706 & MED707

Prerequisite Sentence: N/A

Credit Point: 60

Offered In: Semester 1,2