Competency based public health training in undergraduate medical education – much needed paradigm shift in India

Although medical colleges are the traditional hub for creating public health professionals within India, several gaps exist in the public health training across undergraduate medical programs. The development of a competency framework for public health professionals was undertaken as part of an activity of the Indian Public Health Association. The activities included a secondary review of literature, and iterative discussions across two rounds of workshops. We identified the list of functions and topic areas for MBBS graduates in the public health domain which will need to be incorporated in MBBS syllabi. State medical councils will have to take the leadership to identify and modify public health functions and initiate work on development of competency frameworks under the guidance of a central expert committee at the national level.