Learning outcomes

Part 1: General Public Health (10 hours; Prof. D. Roberfroid)


At the end of the course, students will be able to:

1. Master the key concepts and methods of public health

2. Have a comprehensive overview of the Belgian healthcare system

3. Prepare to develop a public health strategy for a given health problem


Part 2: Public Health Ethics (10 hours; Prof. L. Ravez)


- Ability to identify and think critically about the ethical challenges specific to the field of public health.

Goals

Part 1: General Public Health (Prof D. Roberfroid)

The objective of this part is to acquire knowledge of the essential concepts and tools in public health, as well as to understand the main features of the structure and operation of the Belgian health system.


Part 2: Public Health Ethics (Prof L. Ravez)

- Develop theoretical tools to identify and critically consider the ethical challenges specific to the field of public health.

Content

The public health course consists of two distinct parts taught by two different instructors. The first part will be specifically devoted to general public health (Prof. D. Roberfroid). The second part will deal with public health ethics (Prof. L. Ravez). The theoretical models generally used today in public health ethics will be discussed. Several practical examples will be used to illustrate the theory.

Table of contents

Part 1: General Public Health




  1. Non-medical Determinants of Health
  2. The Missions and Needs of Public Health
  3. Disease Screening
  4. Prevention of Health Problems and Health Promotion
  5. The Belgian Health System
  • The structure and key players of the health system
  • Health System Performance in 2025: quality, accessibility, efficiency, sustainability, responsiveness, and equity



Part 2: Public Health Ethics


1. What is public health?

–Three important characteristics for ethical reflection

–Two well-known and ethically important definitions

–The Social Determinants of Health

–What exactly is health?


2. The Specificities of Public Health Ethics

–Public health ethics cannot be built on the same foundations as clinical ethics.

–Two examples to be identified.


3. Tools for Building a Public Health Ethics?

–The Utilitarian Approach

–An Ethics of Rights

–An Ethics of Duties (Kant)

–An Ethics of Principles (Principlism)

4. Ethics and Infectious Diseases

5. What About Chronic Diseases?

Teaching methods

The "General Public Health" part will be covered by interactive lectures on public health issues.

The part "Public Health Ethics" will be covered by oral lectures illustrated by a PP montage.

Assessment method

For the "General Public Health" section, the assessment is based on a 20-question multiple-choice exam. Each valid question is scored "+1" and an incomplete or incorrect answer is worth "0"


For the "Public Health Ethics" section, a written assignment will be supervised by the course instructor.


Please note that you must successfully complete both learning activities to pass the teaching unit. If you fail one of the two modules, the grade for the module passed will be carried over to the next exam session.

Sources, references and any support material

Laurent RAVEZ, Introduction to public health ethics, Sauramps Médical, 2020.

Language of instruction

French
Training Study programme Block Credits Mandatory
Bachelor in Medicine Standard 0 2
Bachelor in Medicine Standard 3 2