The Master of Public Health (MPH) program at National Medical College, Birgunj is a master’s-level course affiliated with Tribhuvan University. The program has an approved intake of 3 seats at the college and follows the MECEE-PG entrance framework. It is intended for health professionals seeking advanced academic preparation in public health, with focus areas that include health leadership, health services, research, planning, and public health management.
National Medical College was established in 2001 and operates from a single-campus setting in Birgunj, Parsa. The campus brings together academic departments, a teaching hospital, hostels, staff quarters, and a central library within one institutional environment. At this college, the MPH program is situated within a broader health science setting that supports academic study, professional development, and health-related learning across medical and allied disciplines.
Course: Master of Public Health (MPH)
Institution: National Medical College
Location: Birgunj, Parsa, Nepal
Affiliation: Tribhuvan University
Level: Masters
Duration: 2 years
Seat Capacity: 3
Entrance Exam: MECEE-PG
Email: info@nmcbir.edu.np
Phone: +977-51-591014, +977-591320
Address: Post Box No. 78, Birgunj, Parsa, Nepal
The MPH program is designed to prepare public health professionals who can understand existing and emerging public health issues and contribute to health education, service delivery, research, and program leadership. The course is meant for multidisciplinary health professionals who want to strengthen their competency in public health and take on broader responsibility in preventive, promotive, curative, rehabilitative, and management-oriented work.
At National Medical College, the program is offered within a college environment that already supports undergraduate and postgraduate study in health sciences. This larger institutional setting supports advanced public health learning through academic resources, hospital-linked exposure, library access, and a campus structure built around health education and professional training.
The MPH course is intended to develop public health specialists who can respond to health needs at community, institutional, and systems levels. The academic direction of the program includes understanding public health problems, planning solutions, improving service delivery, strengthening primary health care, and supporting health-related research and leadership.
The course is also shaped around the need for trained professionals who can work across education, management, health promotion, disease prevention, coordination, and program implementation. Its broader scope goes beyond classroom instruction and supports the development of public health judgment, analytical ability, and professional responsibility.
The program supports the development of professionals who can contribute in areas such as:
public health problem analysis
planning and management of health services
health education and health promotion
disease prevention activities
leadership in health-related fields
inter-sectoral and intra-sectoral coordination
community health development
training and development of health workers and volunteers
monitoring, supervision, and evaluation of health programs
epidemiological, clinical, biomedical, social, behavioural, and educational research
advisory and counseling roles in health services and education
planning and management of health aspects of disasters
The course also supports continued academic growth and further advanced study in public health and related fields.
Applicants must hold one of the following qualifications, or an equivalent qualification recognized by the Government of Nepal:
MBBS
BDS
BPH
BN, BNS, or BSc Nursing
BSc MLT or BMLT
BAMS
B.Pharmacy
B.Optometry
B.V.Sc.
BASLP
Applicants must also be registered with the relevant professional council, including one of the following where applicable:
Nepal Medical Council
Nepal Nursing Council
Nepal Health Professional Council
Nepal Pharmacy Council
Nepal Ayurveda Council
Nepal Veterinary Council
To be eligible for merit listing, candidates must secure at least 50 percent marks in the entrance examination conducted by the Medical Education Commission.
Entrance Exam: MECEE-PG
Admission to the MPH program follows the common entrance system under MECEE-PG. Nepalese and foreign applicants are required to appear in the common entrance examination. Merit lists for Nepalese and foreign students are published separately, and admission is made on a merit basis in open house counseling where applicable.
Candidates must secure at least 50 percent marks in the entrance examination to qualify for admission consideration.
The entrance examination follows a multiple-choice format with single best response questions. The structure includes:
Question Type: Single best response multiple-choice questions
Options: Four options
Number of Questions: 200
Full Marks: 200
Duration: 3 hours
Cognitive Distribution: Recall, understanding, and application in a 30:50:20 ratio
This format reflects both knowledge-based and applied public health reasoning.
The entrance examination covers a range of public health and related subjects. The stated subject areas and marks distribution include:
Biostatistics: 30
Epidemiology: 30
Health Promotion and Education: 20
Food and Nutrition: 20
Research Methodology: 12
Basic Medical Science: 8
Demography and Health Informatics: 8
Public Health and Primary Health: 8
Environmental Health and Occupational Health: 8
Family Health and Reproductive Health: 8
Global Health and International Health: 8
Sociology and Anthropology: 8
Public Health Administration and Management: 8
Health System Management: 8
Project Planning, Development, Implementation and Evaluation: 8
Health Economics and Health Financing: 8
The MPH curriculum is organized into 10 papers, each carrying 100 marks. The course includes taught components as well as research and dissertation work. Teaching and learning activities include lectures, seminars, proposal development, field research, data analysis, and report writing.
The course structure includes the following papers:
Paper I: Epidemiology
Paper II: Biostatistics and Computer Application
Paper III: Environmental Health and Disease Control
Paper IV: Medical Sociology, Anthropology and Population Studies
Paper V: Family Health
Paper VI: Health Promotion and Health Education
Paper VII: International Health and Primary Health Care
Paper VIII: Research Methods in Health Sciences
Paper IX: Health Systems Management
Paper X: Dissertation
This structure combines public health theory, analytical subjects, health systems learning, and research-based work.
The course includes continuous assessment as part of student evaluation. It also includes a comprehensive examination and dissertation requirement. Dissertation work is carried out under supervision and must be completed according to the prescribed academic format.
The program also includes attendance expectations and theory-based assessment requirements across the course. Students are required to complete the academic and research components successfully in order to receive the MPH degree.
Scholarship provisions for MPH admission follow the applicable framework of the Medical Education Commission and the National Medical Education Act, 2018 and National Medical Education Regulations, 2020.
National Medical College provides a single-campus setting of about 40 acres where major academic and institutional facilities are located together. The campus includes pre-clinical and clinical departments, a teaching hospital, a nursing school, student hostels, staff quarters, and a central library.
For MPH students, this setting supports access to a structured health science environment that combines academic learning with institutional resources. The central library is housed in a separate double-storied building and has seating capacity for 250 readers. Its collection includes textbooks, reference books, print and electronic journals, WHO publications, research reports, theses, Nepalese health literature, Ministry of Health publications, and related academic materials. HINARI journal access is also available, along with photocopy and audiovisual learning support.
Hostel accommodation is available separately for boys and girls. Internet access is available through Fiber Optic LAN and WiFi in hostels and residential quarters. The campus also includes an auditorium, canteens, sports facilities, a gymnasium, an aerobic exercise hall, and banking services including ATM support.
The MPH program at National Medical College benefits from being placed within an established health science institution rather than a standalone academic setup. The presence of academic departments, a teaching hospital, library resources, and student facilities within one campus supports a wider learning environment for public health education.
The location in Birgunj also places the college in a major urban and commercial center near the Indo-Nepal border. Within the college environment, the academic structure supports professional learning in medicine, nursing, allied health sciences, and public health, which adds depth to the institutional setting of the MPH course.
National Medical College
Post Box No. 78, Birgunj, Parsa, Nepal
Email: info@nmcbir.edu.np
Phone: +977-51-591014, +977-591320
The Master of Public Health is a master’s-level program.
The program is affiliated with Tribhuvan University.
The approved seat capacity for MPH at the college is 3.
Admission follows the MECEE-PG entrance examination framework.
The program is open to eligible health professionals from backgrounds such as MBBS, BDS, BPH, nursing, medical laboratory technology, pharmacy, optometry, veterinary science, Ayurveda, and related fields, subject to the stated eligibility and council registration requirements.
The curriculum includes epidemiology, biostatistics, environmental health, family health, health promotion, international health, research methods, health systems management, and dissertation work.
Yes. The course includes research proposal development, supervised dissertation work, data collection, analysis, and report writing.
Students have access to the central library, academic departments, teaching hospital environment, hostels, internet services, auditorium, canteens, sports facilities, and banking support within one campus.
