Health is a fundamental human right to complete physical, mental, and social well-being, and not merely the absence of disease or disability. Public health constitutes both a science and an art aimed at preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting health through organized societal efforts. These efforts encompass health promotion, individual and community-based preventive medicine, the creation of healthy environments, and the development of health policy. Professionals in the field of public health collaborate with communities, governmental authorities, and private and public organizations to protect, preserve, and improve population health.

The School of Public Health and Community Medicine of the Hebrew University–Hadassah is the first school of public health established in the State of Israel. The Master of Public Health (MPH) in the Israeli program was accredited over six decades ago. Recently, we also marked the fiftieth anniversary of our International MPH Program. Over the years, the School has maintained extensive and successful activity in education and training, preparing future generations of public health professionals. Over a thousand graduates from our various programs are integrated into health and welfare systems and hold key leadership positions in Israel and around the world.

The School’s vision is to educate and train high-level academic experts in public health and community medicine, with the aim of improving the health of the population of Israel and other countries. The School fosters a multidisciplinary environment in both teaching and research. The competencies and tools imparted to students include epidemiology and research methodology; health systems management and health policy; health economics; biostatistics; health promotion and health behavior; nutrition; genomics and epigenetics; sociology; environmental health; and veterinary public health. The training emphasizes skills in health needs assessment, planning, delivery, and management of health services, as well as the advancement of theoretical and applied research. The School promotes excellence, advanced research, policy engagement, and the development of professional and academic leadership.

In recent years, public health in Israel and worldwide has faced significant challenges. Our faculty members have been actively engaged in addressing disease outbreaks and pandemics, wartime events, the climate crisis, shifts in global health policy, and the challenges arising from mismatches between the allocation of health resources and population health needs.

On behalf of the School community, we believe and hope that public health can and must be advanced in the face of the challenges before us. To all our students—past, present, and future—we wish success in your studies and in applying the knowledge, skills, and values acquired at the School for the advancement of public health.

Prof. Chen Stein-Zamir

School Director