About the Sydney School of Public Health

Welcome to our web site. It is our intention to ensure that this site provides all the information you need to find out more about the people, the educational opportunities and research programs that make up the School of Public Health at the University of Sydney.

The School's mission is to provide internationally recognised leadership in public health by advancing and disseminating knowledge in the public health disciplines. We do this by providing high quality, accessible education; conducting outstanding, high impact research; and participating effectively in professional, governmental and community activities.

The former Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, the forerunner to the Sydney School of Public Health, was the oldest and largest department of public health in Australia. It was originally established in 1930 as the Commonwealth School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine, and was incorporated into the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Sydney in 1987. Today the School of Public Health is a vibrant organic network of individuals, research groups and centres that offers a wide range of educational and research opportunities for students.

The School has earned an outstanding reputation for the quality of its research work and for the expertise of its academic staff. The core academic staff members of the School are supported by colleagues working in several constituent and affiliated research centres and the health system who are academic title holders within the School. Taken together, such a broadly based critical mass of academics provides a substantial resource for our students, the research community and anyone with an interest in public health issues.

The educational programs include the Graduate Diploma in Public Health, the Master of Public Health degree and research degrees. These programs are designed to allow students maximum flexibility and choice to obtain qualifications to suit their individual need and performance.

The School will also offer students the opportunity to study in a more flexible range of formats, using combinations of face-to-face teaching, student directed learning, and web-based learning.

As well as the core public health teaching, the School also offers opportunities for specialised study in clinical epidemiology, in international public health, in biostatistics, in indigenous health promotion and population health research methods. As a part of the Faculty of Medicine, the School also has a central role in the education of medical students through the University of Sydney Medical Program. Medical students at Sydney have a full introduction to public health by integration of this discipline throughout their four year learning program. If you are not sure which of these options is best suited to you, go to the Studying with Us page.

We hope you enjoy browsing through the biographies, research projects and sites of associated centres. Collectively, we believe we can make a difference to the health and quality of life of people through our scholarship and enterprise. We welcome you to join us in this important work.