Textbook of Community Medicine Preventive and Social Medicine

Textbook of Community Medicine: Preventive and Social Medicine, 8th Edition is the completely rewritten, thoroughly revised and updated edition of the successful textbook, greatly acclaimed for its contents, coverage and treatment of the subject in accordance with the Latest Competency Based Undergraduate Curriculum for the Indian Medical Graduate mandated by National Medical Commission. Integration of attitude, ethics and communication skills into undergraduate competency based curriculum is strongly advocated in this edition.

Unique features: The eighth edition is in conformity with the latest Competency Based Undergraduate Curriculum for the Indian Medical Graduate mandated by MCI (now restructured as National Medical Commission). It presents 20 thoroughly revised and updated chapters and addresses 107 core competencies with special emphasis on 18 skill-based competencies. In addition, the seventh edition incorporates attitude, ethics, and communication (AETCOM) skills (soft skills) to be integrated into undergraduate curriculum. Methods of acquisition of these skills have been indicated. The revised chapters on concept of health and disease, ethics in medicine and doctor-patient relationship, social and behavioural sciences (humanities), principles of health promotion and eduction, counselling and social marketing, healthcare of community and community diagnosis, gender issues and women empowerment, healthcare delivery systems, health planning and management, laws pertaining to practice of medicine, focus on: “real life issues” as illustrated in Problem based Learning, various case studies, building communication skills, eliciting healthcare seeking behaviours, barriers in healthcare, doctor-patient and community relationship, communication needs, assessment of comprehensive community diagnosis, therapy and prognosis, role of physician in healthcare system and responsibility to society and community, working in a healthcare team as leader and member of health team, health legislations pertaining to practice of medicine in outbreak and pandemic situation. All the chapters focus on “Community as Patient”, community diagnosis and commanity therapy. Whole of the government and whole of the society approach, leaving no one behind is the emphasis in all the revised chapters.

Part I
Part I of this comprehensive textbook on community medicine covers basic sciences related to the discipline of community medicine—application of social and behavioural sciences, clinicosocial case review, pedagogy, group dynamics, behaviour change communication, counselling in health and disease, health economics, concept of health and disease, health policy and goals, demography and population problem, applied nutrition, environmental health, epidemiology and its application, and applied biostatistics, medical entomology and medical genetics. The subject of epidemiology is covered in chapters on epidemiology and its application in epidemiology of CCDs and NCDs and research methodology, applied statistics and national health programmes, planning, monitoring and evaluation of health systems, the reproductive and child health, policy and programmes in India has been intentionally linked with demography and population problem and included in this part for the purpose of continuity and sequential learning. Generally, Part I conforms to Paper 1 in theory, excluding maternal and child health. The demarcation of theory papers to Paper 1 and Paper 2 varies from university to university but generally it covers the abovementioned areas.

Part II
Part II of the text covers epidemiology of communicable and non-communicable diseases, national health programmes, health management—healthcare delivery systems, health management functions—planning, monitoring and evaluation of services/programmes, healthcare financing, HMIS and hospital statistics. It also incorporates occupational health, geriatrics, disaster management, mental health, hospital waste management, international health regulations and health agencies, apart from international statistical classification of diseases and related health problems (ICD-11). These areas generally form the contents of theory Paper 2 of community medicine which also includes maternal and child health but may differ from university to university.