Public and Occupational Health (social medicine)

About us

Public Health is the link between medicine and society. Public and occupational health professionals focus on interaction with the environment, especially prevention and organization of health care. The focus is more on (groups of) the population rather than the individual. Professional practice in social medicine is divided into two mainstreams:

• Society and Health (Community Medicine)
• Work and Health (Occupational Medicine)

Around 20-25% of all physicians in the Netherlands carry out a profession within Social Medicine. Not all of these physicians, but most of them are also registered with a Social Medicine specialty, such as youth health care physicians, occupational physicians or insurance physicians.

Research

The department consists of six sections conducting research in the following areas:

• Ethnicity, gender & health;
• Child & adolescent public health research;
• Health behavior & prevention;
• Quality & organization of care;
• Social participation & health;
• Clinical occupational medicine & Occupational diseases.

Almost all research is embedded into the Amsterdam Public Health research institute; with a small part into Amsterdam Movement Sciences. The research is aimed at healthy individuals, but can also be patient- or population-oriented.

Education

The department provides education for undergraduate medical students as well as trainings for postgraduate public and occupational health professionals and clinical specialists. The department also provides education for students of Health Sciences and Human Movement Sciences of VU University and the Amsterdam University College.

UPHO

Amsterdam UMC has established the Universitair Public Health Opleidingsinstituut (UPHO) in collaboration with UMC Utrecht. UPHO trains physicians in the second phase of the training program to become a medical specialist in Society and Health (M+G physician). For more information visit: www.upho.nu

Academic workplaces

The department has several academic collaborative centers, so-called academic workplaces. These workplaces form the bridge between research and practice. In very close collaboration with practice, such academic workplaces aim for applied research, professionalization of health care professionals, and evidence-based innovation of care.

Contact

Head of the department
Prof.dr. Allard van der Beek

Secretariat
Phone
Departmental secretariat
+31 (0)6 25716501 or
+31 (0)6 31034258 (available Monday to Thursday)

Education secretariat
+31 (0)6-50194577 (VU) or
+31 (0)6-50062970 (UvA)