The recognition that the discipline of Preventive and Social Medicine needed to be strengthened was the major impetus for establishing the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health (CSMCH) in the University. The Centre was set up outside the confines of a medical college so that it could enrich itself through wider interaction with the various disciplines of natural and social sciences.

Over the past 30 years, the Centre has acquired the rich experience of evolving problem-oriented interdisciplinary academic programmes in addition to building an active research base. At the same time, efforts have also been made at establishing institutional links with various academic, research and non-governmental organizations.

Under the overall objective of creating academic programmes for making health services meaningful to the people of the country, the CSMCH set out its objective to understand the health problems and health needs of the Indian people with a view to find workable solutions for them in the existing social structure and to examine the social structure itself to delineate the structural constraints which limit the scope of health interventions. The task obviously requires an inter-disciplinary approach involving disciplines such as sociology, anthropology, psychology, economics, history, politics, demography, statistics and public administration, apart from the disciplines that are traditionally included in public health. It was for this reason that the Centre was located in the School of Social Sciences.

The Centre provides facilities for the following academic programmes:

1. M.Phil / Ph.D. in Social Sciences in Health
2. Master of Community Health (M.C.H.) / Ph.D. in Community Health

In M.Phil, students are required to undergo two semesters of course work followed by a dissertation. Master of Community Health consists of three semesters of course work and an intensive field work during the inter-semester breaks. The successful completion of the prescribed course work and dissertation/field work will lead to the award of M.Phil or M.C.H. degree. The candidates who have secured the prescribed grades will be eligible for registration to the Ph.D. programme.

The courses offered by the centre cover the following three major areas:

a) Public Health
b) Social Sciences relevant to Public Health
c) Community Health Nursing

Courses in public health are in areas such as organization of health services, national health programmes, epidemiology, nutrition, maternal and child health, communicable diseases, operations research, community health nursing etc. Courses in social sciences are organized with an interdisciplinary approach covering various concepts and methods in social sciences relevant for public health. Students in M.Phil / Ph.D and M.C.H. / Ph.D programmes are also offered a number of optional courses covering the various issues in public health. Students get an opportunity to familiarize themselves with the current issues through an intensive journal club in the second semester.