Relevance of Public Health BSc Curriculum to Job Requirements and Health System Expectations: Views of Graduates on Courses Syllabi and Content

Introduction: Public health experts play an important role in implementation of health centers’ programs. The comments and suggestions of graduate employees of this field about the level of functionality of the curriculum to professional requirements needed by graduates could help determine the shortcomings. This study aimed to investigate the level of coordination of curriculum and syllabus of public health BS with job requirements and health systems’ expectations of this field from the viewpoints of graduates employed in district health centers. Methods: This descriptive cross-sectional study was performed on 95 graduates of public health employed in Tabriz University of Medical Sciences. The sample was selected using multistage sampling. Data collection instruments was a valid and reliable researcher-made questionnaire, including questions about applicability of educational contents of basic, specialty, and major courses of this discipline in their job responsibilities. Data was analyzed using descriptive statistics. Results: The results showed that the application of courses and lessons in public health discipline was in an average level (40%-59.9%) and basic courses had the lowermost application in job activities (lower than 20%). The existing curriculum had different application level based on the job definition. It was most applicable for “disease control staff”, while to be very low applicable for “network development experts”. The content of 71.79% of courses was represented just in cognitive area. In conclusion, the graduates of this discipline had a relative and average satisfaction with contents of their academic experience. Conclusion: The study showed that the educational content of public health discipline is not fully coordinated with job requirements of this field. Therefore it is highly recommended to modify this curriculum in order to improve its applicability for future employees.