Development of a Master of Public Health programme in Tirana, Albania

In 2001, two Albanian institutions, the Department of Public Health, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tirana and the National Institute of Public Health obtained membership to the Association of Schools of Public Health for the European Region (ASPHER). Since 2000, these two institutions have been members of the Public Health for South Eastern Europe (PH-SEE) network. Furthermore, in the fall of 2001, the Open Society Institute (OSI) and ASPHER launched a project that culminated in the establishment of a School of Public Health (SPH) and the commencement of the first Master of Public Health (MPH) programme in Tirana. The MPH programme began in December 2005 and enrolled 32 students from different backgrounds. A suitable start for the development of the MPH programme was the implementation of key modules developed by the European MPH programme. In addition, specific modules reflecting the needs of Albania were designed according to the preferences and the heterogeneous lecturing faculty involved in public health training. International guest lecturers delivered other modules, with ASPHER and the PH-SEE network offering an excellent solution for complementary modules in different public health disciplines. However, the newly established SPH in Albania should now strive for other postgraduate teaching programmes, undergraduate programmes, and especially service training and continuing education.