History of Department

Ege University was established in 1955 and one of the first faculties was opened in the Faculty of Medicine. One of the first established chairs of the Faculty of Medicine was the Chair of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene due to the fact that Prof.Dr.Muhittin Erel, the founder of the University, was a Public Health Specialist.

In 1978, the Institute of Public Health was established within the Faculty of Medicine. The Institute of Community Health was closed down after the standardization initiative of the Higher Education Council, which was established in 1981, following the military takeover. In this period, the Department of Preventive Medicine and Hygiene and the Institute of Public Health were united and the Department of Public Health became a common name. After this merger, the contracts of the majority of the trained manpower of the two units were not extended and they were removed from the Faculty. In the period following this merger, Hygiene doctrine has been predominantly carried out in the Department until 1990, and the public health teaching which prioritized the holistic approach to health has been dominant since this date.

In addition to the Public Health Course given in the 4th grade in the Faculty of Medicine, Rural Medicine Internship was started in 1988 with a delay compared to some other faculties. Then, Public Health Course was taken to 3rd grade. Parallel to the change in the education of the Faculty of Medicine spread over the years, the Department of Public Health took part in the theoretical education in the 1st, 2nd and 3rd years, and applied in the practical training within the scope of Rural Medicine Internship in the 6th grade. After the curriculum arrangement in 2003, theoretical and intensive practical training is carried out starting from the first grade in the Community Health Area Vertical Corridor integrated with the other course boards.