Аңдатпа
Background Nazarbayev University School of Medicine has launched a Master of Public Health (MPH) program in 2016. A new MPH program is oriented towards competency-based learning and strives to increase the number of skilled public health workforce, trained according to the best international standards. A corporate fund “University Medical Center” provides students, faculty and clinicians a clinic-based setting for conducting research. Within the frame of an MPH course on “Social and Behavioral Sciences in Public Health”, master students have been involved in conducting a real-world survey under the supervision of faculty and involvement of clinical researchers. Objectives The main goals of the course were to (1) understand the relevance of psychological, social and behavioral factors for major public health problems, (2) apply the epidemiological and statistical knowledge through designing and implementing a health survey. This was a semester long course, consisting of a series of lectures and group work. The entire class was divided into 5 groups, each responsible for conduction of the various steps of survey. Results A survey has been conducted on “Awareness, knowledge and attitudes concerning depression among perinatal women attending the University Medical Center’s National Research Center for Maternal and Child Health in Astana”. Preliminary analysis showed that 45% of respondents had low level of knowledge about perinatal depression, however depression was regarded as sign of weakness only by 20% of women. About 40% of participants reported positive attitudes towards universal screening for depression during pregnancy and after childbirth. The study findings will be submitted for publication to a peer-reviewed journal. Conclusions This experience of integration of education with real-world research is important for research capacity strengthening and useful for other universities in the country. Key messages: Integration of education, science and practice is crucial for research capacity strengthening in public health training This integrated teaching and research approach should be further evaluated and refined