Public health and health promotion in Germany. State of development of bachelor's and master's courses

Aim. Since the beginning of the 1990s, a number of study courses in Health Science, Public Health and Health Promotion have been implemented in German universities. Taking into account the health policy development and the introduction of the bachelor/master system an overview of accredited study courses in this area is given. Methods. To identify all German bachelor and master study courses a database search was performed using the database www.gesundheit-studieren. de and all internet presences of the corresponding universities. In addition, this search was complemented by contacting those responsible for the study programme. Primary inclusion criteria were (1) a clear study course title with relation to Health Sciences, Public Health and Health Promotion and (2) a subject orientation in the aforementioned areas. Results. In total, 43 study courses with clear focus on Health Sciences, Public Health and Health Promotion could be identified. Of these, 13 courses provide a bachelor's and 30 courses a master's degree. Study courses in this field are provided by universities and universities of applied sciences. Most study courses can be found in the area of Health Sciences/Public Health (bachelor = 8/master = 17) followed by Health Promotion study courses (bachelor = 5/master = 8) and five master courses in Epidemiology. Conclusions. Based on the Bologna process a number and wide range of bachelor and master courses in the area of Health Sciences, Public Health and Health Promotion are provided by German universities. Due to existing heterogeneity among the study courses greater efforts are required to synchronize the curriculum content. Through the implementation of a common qualification framework further requirements of the Bologna process can be fulfilled.