[Public health courses in higher education in Poland in the European context]

Abstract

One of the most important implication of the Bologna process is the inclusion of the European dimension to diverse areas of study to make them comparable throughout Europe. This is valid for public health education in higher education. In the article the comprehensive structure and content of public health education in 12 fields of study in Poland are presented. Content is analysed in the context of Pan-European topics, important for public health education and training. The inquiry reveals dissimilarities between topics covered by public health courses in diverse fields of study. Other problems are with split on public health and hygiene/epidemiology courses. Educational standards are not outstanding in terms of fitting the European dimension. There is no clear-cut attention on issue of equity and equality as strategy to close the health gap and socioeconomic health determinants are frequently skipped. Structure and functioning of EU is neglected.