Department of Community and Family Medicine – History, Mission, and Achievements
Establishment and Evolution
Founded in 1975 as the Department of Health within the Faculty of Medicine, the unit began delivering public health education. Following the 1988 integration of medical education into the national health ministry, it was renamed the Department of Health and Community Medicine. Its core mission became Community-Oriented Medical Education (COME). The curriculum expanded beyond classical public health to include epidemiology, biostatistics, research methods, family health, and field training in both urban and rural healthcare settings—enabling students to assess community needs, prioritize problems, and implement solutions firsthand.
Educational Reforms
From 2004, under Shahid Beheshti University of Medical Sciences’ reform program, community‑based learning was strengthened. Courses such as “Early Patient Contact” and “Community Contact” (levels 1–3) were introduced, allowing students to engage with clinical environments, health systems, risk assessment, and intervention strategies from the basic sciences through clinical phases. Consequently, the department became the only academic unit continuously involved with medical students from entry to graduation.
Following the 2019 national curriculum revision, current courses include Medical Ethics, Health Service Principles, Epidemiology (principals and of communicable/non‑communicable diseases), Demography and Family Health, Research Methodology, Community and Preventive Medicine clerkship/internship, and Family Medicine.
Community and Preventive Medicine Residency
The department is one of only seven national centers training Community and Preventive Medicine residents. Its graduates frequently excel in board examinations and hold key positions in national health authorities, scientific associations, and the specialty board secretariat. The department’s faculty includes the secretary of the National Board of Preventive and Social Medicine.
Innovations in Service and Training
- Prevention and Health Promotion Clinic (2008): The first clinic of its kind, offering preventive services while serving as a training site for residents and students.
- Five Educational Comprehensive Health Centers: Established with the Deputy for Health as field training venues. They will be increased to 10 centers in future.
- Research & Methodology Support: The department runs statistics and research method courses for all undergraduate and postgraduate students, advises theses, and its members contribute to most research projects within the faculty, often as principal investigators, consultants, or reviewers.
Mission and Vision
The department strives to advance the “healthy individual” and holistic health approach, institutionalize primary healthcare at community, family, and individual levels, and promote family medicine, referral systems, and social determinants of health.
Vision (5‑year goals):
- Education: Achieve top national educational management indicators and introduce innovative, needs‑based community‑oriented content.
- Research: Become the university’s leading department by designing and applying priority population-based health research.
- Services: Act as a competent advisory body for prevention and health promotion at university, provincial, and national levels.
Core Activities
Education
- Community‑oriented medical education development.
- Training future family physicians for the referral system.
- Empowering Community and Preventive Medicine residents for equitable health promotion.
- Workshops in statistics, epidemiology, evidence‑based medicine.
Research
- Research Center for Social Determinants of Health and two related journals.
- International research services (e.g., burden of disease).
- Faculty among world’s top 2% of scientists.
- Methodological and statistical consultation.
Service & Management
- Prevention and health promotion at outpatient, hospital, and community levels.
- Participation in university leadership (e.g., Deputy for Health, ministry advisory roles).
- Policy‑making and consultancy for national and provincial health authorities.
- Continuing education for graduates and professionals.
Core Values
Effective teamwork, constructive criticism, mutual respect, client satisfaction, priority‑driven research, participatory management, commitment to equitable community health, primacy of prevention, continuous engagement with community and decision‑makers, scientific self‑updating, collective interest above individual interest, and adherence to medical and professional ethics.