Public Health Foundations

Populations, prevention and the determinants behind individual illness.

What the course covers

8 modules, 32 topics. Open any one to see what sits inside it.

1. 1.1 What public health is for
2. 1.2 Thinking in populations
3. 1.3 Prevention: primary, secondary, tertiary
4. 1.4 The core functions of a public health system
1. 2.1 Incidence, prevalence and rates
2. 2.2 Mortality, morbidity and life expectancy
3. 2.3 Data sources and registries
4. 2.4 Comparing populations fairly
1. 3.1 Describing disease in a population
2. 3.2 Study designs in outline
3. 3.3 Association and causation
4. 3.4 Bias, confounding and chance
1. 4.1 Social and economic determinants
2. 4.2 Environment, housing and work
3. 4.3 Behaviour in its context
4. 4.4 Health inequalities and equity
1. 5.1 Transmission and outbreak concepts
2. 5.2 Surveillance and notification
3. 5.3 Investigating an outbreak
4. 5.4 Immunisation programmes
1. 6.1 The major chronic conditions
2. 6.2 Risk factors across a population
3. 6.3 Screening: benefits, harms and criteria
4. 6.4 Managing long-term conditions at scale
1. 7.1 Health promotion approaches
2. 7.2 Behaviour change at population level
3. 7.3 Policy, regulation and taxation
4. 7.4 Evaluating whether an intervention worked
1. 8.1 How health systems are organised and funded
2. 8.2 Emergency preparedness
3. 8.3 Global health challenges
4. 8.4 Ethics in public health decisions

By the end of this course you will be able to explain and apply:

Two hours, not two months Eight short modules. Finish in a day, or do one module a night for a week.

Skills your degree does not cover Employers ask for practical tools alongside the qualification. This fills that gap while you study.

Built for a phone Watch on the bus, pause mid-module, pick up where you stopped. No download, no lab.

A certificate that can be checked Every certificate carries an ID your college or an employer can verify on our site.

About two hours in total — eight modules of roughly fifteen minutes. You can do it in one sitting or spread it across a week. Your place is saved either way.
No. There is no prerequisite course and no software to install. A phone, tablet or computer with an internet connection is enough.
Yes. This course is placed at Bachelor's Degree for India, and the content is written for that level. If you are at a different stage, change your level at the top of the page and the courses will change with it.
A certificate for the course, carrying an ID that your college or an employer can check on our verification page. You keep access to the material afterwards.
Yes — ₹450 for this course on its own, or ₹1,450 for all five in this set, which works out cheaper if you want more than one.
There is a short quiz at the end of each module so you can check what stuck. It is not timed and you can retake it.
Change your country using the picker at the top. Level names, degree names and prices all switch to that country, and the courses adjust to its education system.

Wording shown for India. Pick a different country at the top and the terms, currency and programme names change with it.