A Bangladeshi approach

The base paper by Petrakova and Sadana is a thoughtprovoking call for innovation and action in public health education. The approach used by the BRAC University James P Grant School of Public Health (BSPH) in Bangladesh addresses many of these issues. To be relevant to the needs of society, we envision our graduates to: be committed to the health needs of the global South; • be equipped to deal with problems faced by disadvantaged • sections of the society; be aware of the interplay and importance of factors such • as poverty, education, women’s status, environment and power relations within and beyond family, as they affect health and health care; appreciate that health is “not merely the absence of dis• ease, but a state of complete physical, mental and social well being”; be life-long, problem-based learners and critical interdis• ciplinary thinkers; be promoters and practitioners of both the science and art • of public health; and be future leaders in public health practice, research and • teaching.