Education
In addition to its research activities, the Department of Public Health is one of the major teaching departments within Erasmus MC. We contribute to a wide range of educational programmes across undergraduate, postgraduate, and professional training curricula, including the Erasmus MC medical bachelor’s and master’s programmes, all research master’s programmes, the Clinical Technology and Nanobiology bachelor’s programmes, specialist training programmes, PhD education, and nursing education.
Our teaching addresses the societal dimensions of medicine, health care, and public health, including prevention and health equity; social determinants of health and social medicine; ethics, philosophy, and the history of medicine and health care; scientific literacy and research integrity; patient participation and patient perspectives; value-based health care; and end-of-life questions. Across these domains, we encourage students and professionals to develop as socially and ethically responsible practitioners and to critically reflect on the role of medicine, health care, and science in society.
Aims
Our educational activities aim to equip students, researchers, and health care professionals with the knowledge, skills, and critical perspectives needed to engage with the societal dimensions of medicine, health care, and public health, and to navigate the professional responsibilities associated with these fields. Through our teaching, we aim to contribute to socially responsible care practices, responsible research cultures, and equitable and sustainable health systems.
Main teaching activities
Medical bachelor programme
Within the Erasmus MC medical bachelor’s programme, we coordinate and contribute to multiple educational tracks and modules addressing the societal, ethical, historical, and public health dimensions of medicine. These include the Maatschappelijke Betrokkenheid track, the Metamedica track, the 20-week minor Planetary Health, the 10-week interfaculty minor on sustainable cities, the 5-week course Ageing and the Final Phase of Life, and educational projects on patient participation and patient perspectives, as well as on the societal and ethical implications of the technologization of medicine.
Medical master programme
Within the Erasmus MC medical master’s programme, we coordinate the Maatschappelijke Betrokkenheid track, the Academische Vorming track, and the social medicine clinical rotation (co-schap sociale geneeskunde). Through these activities, students are encouraged to reflect on and engage with ethical questions and responsibilities in clinical care, societal challenges in health care and prevention, scientific literacy and integrity, interprofessional collaboration, and the broader organization of health systems and public health.
Research masters, PhD, and professional education
We coordinate This Thing Called Science across all Erasmus MC research master’s programmes, in which students critically reflect on scientific practice, research integrity, and the role of science in society. In addition, we coordinate research integrity education for PhD candidates and Principal Investigators, and contribute to specialist training programmes, nursing education, and multiple teaching modules within the Erasmus MC NIHES master’s programme.
Clinical Technology and Nanobiology bachelors
We also play a central role in interdisciplinary education within the Clinical Technology and Nanobiology bachelor’s programmes. We coordinate teaching on public health; on the ethical, philosophical, and historical dimensions of technological medicine; and on Science, Technology, and Society (STS) questions concerning the societal implications, governance, and imaginaries associated with emerging biomedical and digital technologies.