School of Public Health and Social Medicine, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences, Loni: Admission, Courses, Fees, Placements

The School of Public Health and Social Medicine, Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Loni is one of the constituent college, instituted in the year 2001. This is a co-education college based in Mumbai, India and its main agenda is to promote public health and social medicine. Located in a 125 acre campus, the highlight of the school include outlining 6 courses in 5 degree programmes – Public Health, Social Work , Healthcare Management, etc. The institution takes in a total of 19 students and has a faculty of 5; thus facilitates individual learning and research in the area of public health.Integrated learning environment and facilities defining the academic experience of the School of Public Health and Social Medicine includes: 

Pravara Institute of Medical Sciences provides adequate practical laboratory facilities for training purposes, a library that is suitable for research and other reading activities, and class facilities for the conduct of instructions. For this reason therefore, students can access the sports facilities, gym and swimming pool to improve their fitness. It also offers different hostel facilities for male and female students so that contains all kinds of comfort. Besides, there are services such as a cafeteria service, Internet connection, and transportation services to meet students’ needs on the campus. An auditorium enables the conduct of seminars, conferences, cultural activities thus the quality of the academics is improved. The institution provides a wide programme in Public Health and Social Medicine. The school offers six full time courses which are undergraduate, post graduate and diploma programmes. 

The courses with the highest intakes are the Bachelor of Public Health (Hons) which has 15 intakes followed by other analogous course such as MPH, Master of Social Work, Diploma in Optometry and Ophthalmic Assistant have 10 intakes each. The institution also confesses PG Diploma in Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Hospital and Healers care Management providing diverse sub domains of public health. 

Enrolment to the School of Public Health and Social Medicine differs according to the programme of study. For the Bachelor of Public Health (Hons) programme there exists a fixed quota that is filled through the All India level PIMS-DU Common Entrance Test (PIMS-DU CET). The MPH programme has its admission criteria which includes merit, in the qualifying examination as per the university norms. These fields included the academic credentials, previous academic background and experience, and the candidate family background in social work. The Diploma in Optometry and Ophthalmic Assistant programme by offering admission in the following categories: merit from the qualifying examination according to the first come first served basis and an interview. It is, however, not clear when these exams will be held, but the admission calendars and guidelines for admission to the institute should(Bele et al., 2014). Since the institution offers various study programmes with a focus on public health, its graduates are suitable for practice in the area of public health and social medicine.