We nurture professionals and agents of change able to be active participants globally in the areas of public health and health care
This graduate school was established as Japan's first independent graduate school for public health. We have a Master’s Degree Program which provides students with a practical education aimed at training professionals with advanced professional practical abilities (rather than training researchers). Here, students will find a leading graduate school for public health with a doctoral course aimed at training talent able to play active roles as forces for change in a health care system undergoing drastic changes.
The aim of this graduate school is to train highly specialized professionals who are able to solve problems based on scientific judgments as leaders when it comes to public health issues, and train senior executives and senior leaders in the field of public health who are armed with the kind of advanced practical abilities and leadership which allow them to oversee activities which protect lives.
On the Occasion of the 10th Anniversary of the Graduate School of Public Health at Teikyo University
Challenge and Change for the Next Decades: Looking Ahead Further
In 2009, a new hospital was established on Teikyo University’s Itabashi Campus with the 7th Teikyo Harvard Symposium being held to commemorate it. As a conclusion of the two-day meeting, the establishment of the Graduate School of Public Health at Teikyo University was decided upon, with the graduate school opening for classes in 2011. Up to that point in time, many Japanese public health professionals had studied at what are referred to as graduate schools for public health (SPH) in Europe and the United States (such as Harvard University and Johns Hopkins University). It can be said that it was an earnest wish for the field of Japanese public health that an SPH be set up in Japan to provide education which allows students to acquire an MPH, which is an international standard. Then, professional graduate schools equivalent to SPHs were set up at the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and Kyushu University. Teikyo University made itself known as the fourth to do so.
Thanks to the efforts of Professor Eiji Yano (who was the Dean at the time of establishment), Professor Kazue Yamaoka (the second Dean), the faculty members of the graduate school, and the many people in Japan and overseas, our school has seen success as one of the top SPHs in Japan owing to our educational policy and curriculum. This was also thanks to our nurturing of agents of change able to solve problems, our competency-based education, our providing of fundamental learning in the five basic areas, and the promotion of efforts to become more globalized through collaborations with Harvard University and other institutions. After ten years, we have produced 150 graduates and have 70 students enrolled as of 2020 (including the DrPH program set up in 2014).
The world is constantly changing and we are seeing various public health challenges come about as represented by COVID-19. There is an increased need for securing public health specialists and improving upon their abilities, or more specifically, an increased need for specialized institutions. We are also seeing the number of SPHs and graduate schools offering education that is equivalent to such institutions. However, the existing education systems that have been responsible for public health education up to now, especially when it comes to education on hygiene and public health at university medical departments and medical schools, have seen a reduction in terms of the number of courses provided and personnel on staff. When looking at Japan as a whole, it has not been the case that public health education has been improving.
There will continue to exist various public health problems faced at home and abroad. As an SPH, we are required to continue developing talent with advanced competencies who have received specialized educations allowing them to deal with those problems. This is something we need to be doing for the next 10 years, 20 years, and beyond. We must look at the past ten years as one juncture in that journey and press forward in anticipation of the future.
To remain a top school, we need to take on challenges and keep changing. When it comes to training more specialists who can solve future public health issues, it is necessary for us not to run alone. We need build upon the success we have seen thus far and we cannot stop at just building upon that success at Teikyo’s SPH. Rather, what is required of us now, is also that we play the role of spreading that success broadly elsewhere as well.
It has been about a hundred years since the establishment of Harvard’s SPH in 1913. What will Teikyo’s SPH and public health in Japan look like in a hundred years?
Dean of the Graduate School Graduate School of Public Health at Teikyo University, Yoshiharu Fukuda
<Addition> COVID-19 is spreading further. Amid the state of emergency, I worried about whether we would be able to properly hold classes. The new school year started with the worry that perhaps this was no time to be celebrating our tenth anniversary. “Challenge and Change for the Next Decades” was something I had been thinking about before the pandemic had started. Curiously, in the face of this significant public health crisis, we need to be contemplating what we are able to do and what we should do in the future. Having done that, what is required of us is going about taking on challenges and being forces for change. (April 21, 2020)
Marketing Public Health ~ From now on, as a Front Runner of School of Public Health ~
Teikyo University Graduate School of Public Health (Teikyo SPH) was established as a professional degree course in April 2011. In addition to Master of Public Health (MPH), a doctoral course that can acquire Doctor of Public Health (DrPH) has been offered in April 2014. Our SPH, which was established as one of the first independent graduate schools of public health in Japan, has been a front runner of SPHs in Japan for about 10 years. About one hundred students graduated from Teikyo SPH and succeed in various fields of public health.
The features of Teikyo SPH are: (1) five core areas (Epidemiology, Biostatistics, Environmental and Occupational Health, Health Policy and Management, Social and Behavior Science), which are essential in the international standard of SPH, in collaboration with Harvard University etc. ., (2) problem-based approach to train "Change Agents" who can solve problems in real settings and change the world, society and organization; and (3) competency-based education required for education of health professionals in the 21st century. In addition, we have enhanced spin-off education programs such as Harvard special lectures by overseas lecturers, international summer schools, graduate school programs for occupational health professionals with Teikyo Center for Occupational and Environmental Health (T-COEH), and social medicine specialist programs ..
Although we have many roles, the most important mission of Teikyo SPH is "Marketing Public Health", that means promoting and spreading public health. Specifically, it includes to spread people's knowledges and practices on prevention and hygiene (Marketing Public Health "Behaviors") , to promote public policies to support people's health (Marketing Public Health "Policies"), and to encourage researches of public health and health care (Marketing Public Health "Research"). with advanced competency of public health at not only Teikyo SPH but also other SPHs and related educational institutions (Marketing Public Health "Education"), and to promote public health professionals (MPH, DrPH, etc) into various fields of public health and healthcare and to expand and develop the places where they can play active parts (Marketing Public Health "Professionals").
We, public health professionals in Japan and the world, are facing with loss of troublesome problems. The problems have changed over time, and the solution measures are complicated and not uniform. In order to foster Change Agents who can respond to today's and future challenges and needs in the societies, we will continue to run as a top school with changing ourselves.
If you wish to work in the field of public health and change the society, study at SPH for MPH / DrPH. We give educational programs with the international standard.
We look forward to the enrollment of students with passionate hearts who aim to become practitioners and forces for change in health care
New Doctoral Program Starting in April 2014
In April 2011, the Graduate School of Public Health of Teikyo University was established with a Master’s Degree Program. The third class of students will graduate in March 2014. My name is Kazue Yamaoka. I have been serving as Dean since April 2013.
This graduate school is the first independent graduate school for public health in Japan. We have gone about improving upon our curriculums in the five fields required by international standards, which are epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental and occupational health science, health policy and management, and social and behavioral sciences.
In addition, every January, special lectures (8 classes each) in 5 fields has been held five Visiting Professors from overseas, mainly from Harvard University. Students from countries including the United States, Thailand, the Philippines, China and other Asian countries, participated in this special lecture, making for a global environment. These special lectures allowed participants to get acquainted with the latest overseas circumstances and cutting-edge knowledge in each field, and were held as part of an academic partnership with Harvard University (3rd Teikyo-Harvard Program).
This Master’s Degree Program has students acquiring public health expertise and skills along with a public health mindset. This is a professional graduate school which nurtures professionals able to solve problems occurring in the field of public health from positions of leadership and based on scientific judgment. As such, we place the utmost importance on research projects when it comes to providing instruction to students. The aim of task-oriented research undertaken by students is for such research to serve as a culmination of the knowledge and skills that students have cultivated through lectures and exercises as capabilities which will serve as useful in practice. Our curriculum is also a characterized by a fusion of scientific research, academic research, and practical education.
In April 2014, we decided to establish a new doctoral program with the aim of enhancing this Master’s Degree Program and nurturing talent serving to function as senior managers and senior leaders who oversee and supervise the activities of the professionals trained at their work sites. This doctoral program differs from conventional graduate school doctoral programs such as that found at the Graduate School of Medicine (Division of Medicine & Society), which requires of students specialized aptitudes when it comes to the search for truth and the deepening of academics. In a sense, this is the first doctoral program of its kind in Japan and one of the most advanced in the world. This program not only produces researchers with excellent research capabilities, but also practical managers and leaders with the ability to transform the field of health care. Even in the field of health care as it exists today, it is said that there is an urgent need to train people to serve as agents for change who can lead and manage changes when it comes to responding to both our rapidly changing and developing global society and the rapidly changing and developing states of science and technology. In addition to the ability to scientifically analyze new problems and present and evaluate those problems based on scientific evidence, professionals in the field are required to have practical competencies such as leadership, management, and communication skills, which are indispensable when it comes to problem solving. In this doctoral program, students are provided with guidance aimed at fostering talent able to acquire these abilities and contribute to the reform of our health and medical care systems. We also accept a broad range of students other than those who hold a Master of Public Health degree. To ensure continuance with Master’s Degree Programs, we have established common courses in the five fields mentioned in the above as well as specialized subjects for each field (epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental and occupational health science, health policy and management, and social and behavioral sciences).
Since the Great East Japan Earthquake in March 2011, the importance of support from a public health standpoint, as well as research and education undertaken in relation thereto, has been increasingly recognized when it comes to countermeasures against disasters and building resilience. At this graduate school, we also cooperated with practitioners and researchers in the areas affected by the earthquake. We had many graduate school students participate in practical activities there and work on comprehensive problem solving to protect people's lives and their health. We hope to continue serving as a pioneer in the reform and development of public health education that will lead to the transformation of our health care systems. We look forward to the enrollment of many students with passionate hearts who are aiming to become practitioners and agents for change when it comes to health care.
Second Dean of the Graduate School of Public Health Kazue Yamaoka
Our aim is to train professionals who can solve comprehensive problems when it comes to our basic objective as people, to live in good health.
Teikyo University has been promoting academic exchanges with Harvard University since 1993, and has held a joint international symposium every two to three years as its most important activity.
In particular, the seventh symposium held in 2009 was based on the theme of a Healthy Hospital. This involved discussions on the health of patients, medical professionals, and surrounding local communities. As the culmination of these activities, Teikyo University decided to aim at the establishment of a new graduate school of public health to lead an era on a joint basis with Harvard University. In the spring of 2010, President Faust of Harvard University visited Japan. In front of very important people from various fields, President Faust announced the plan for Harvard University to collaborate with Teikyo University to establish a graduate school of public health.
For this reason, the Teikyo University Graduate School of Public Health, which was established in April 2011, boasts unique qualities that are not found at other graduate schools of public health. First off, this was the first instance in Japan where curriculums were prepared for the five fields required by international standards for graduate schools of public health (epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental and occupational health science, health policy and management, and social and behavioral sciences). In addition, world authorities from Harvard University and others will visit Japan to give eight special lectures on these five fields. These special lectures are scheduled to be attended by students from overseas, including those from Harvard University. Students taking these lectures will be able to earn credits that will also be recognized overseas.
In addition, this graduate school was established not as a part of other faculties or as a part of another graduate school, but rather as Japan's first independent graduate school for public health, with the aim of training professionals with highly specialized practical abilities as opposed to training researchers. It is a professional graduate school providing practical education. In particular, our curriculums have been formed with the areas of focus being as follow: (1) training of managers for each department of a hospital and for the overall management of hospitals, (2) training of various specialists who design clinical trials and engage in the development of new drugs and new treatment methods, (3) training of specialized occupational health workers in positions of guidance, such as occupational health consultants, and (4) training of leaders in international health practices who work at international organizations and NGOs. There has also been a strong social requirement for the training of this kind of talent, but many educational organizations aim to train researchers centered on academic research. As such, there had not been adequate provision of education taking place when it comes to nurturing the ability to raise issues with problems in the field and subsequently contribute to practice in the field.
Although various experts have spoken through the media regarding future earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear accidents, not many experts can apply systematic knowledge in a comprehensive manner in accordance with the actual situation. Working in public health, in the first place, means to work on comprehensive problem solving for the basic purpose of people’s lives and health. Our Graduate School aims to educate people about what public health means in this sense in a systematic and practical manner, and aims to nurture as much talent as possible. We are looking forward to the enrollment of many students who want to be useful to people and society in a true sense.
First Dean of the Graduate School of Public Health Eiji Yano
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