Since the founding of Army Medical College in 1977, public health has been a top priority for the Department of Community Medicine. The Department has been recognized as a leader in its field, responsibly achieving its goal of excellence in public health service over the past four decades. Consequently, community health and development are perfectly aligned with the department’s mission and in line with the wisdom of Army Medical College’s founding fathers. The Department of Community Medicine has also achieved significant success in developing training programs, conducting research, and establishing itself as a national academic leader in public health in Pakistan.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Community Medicine has been undergoing a reformative process to better respond to the shifting global and national public health priorities and to continue to maintain the high standard of curriculum delivery for all its students as its top priority. The department currently undertakes undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate educational responsibilities, focusing on, but not restricted to: 

1. Epidemiology and Biostatistics; 
2. Health Policy and Management; 
3. Population and Reproductive Health; 
4. Environmental and Occupational Health; and 
5. Non-Communicable Diseases and Mental Health.  

The Department’s aim is to guarantee that these various activities are concentrated, and that over time, it develops competence among students in specific areas to respond and engage critically to global and local public health challenges. There is increasing national and global recognition that without achieving public health goals, a country cannot attain long-term prosperity. The level of excellence that is reflected in the Departmental vision is currently actively being translated into a strategic roadmap that would guide the work of Department of Community Medicine over the coming years.

Unswerving leadership and the spirit of selfless collaboration, essential for enhanced effectiveness, problem solving, innovation and life-long learning, will continue to be the foundation of Department of Community Medicine, whose future trajectory will be exemplified in this quote – your attitude determines your altitude. 

The Department of Community Medicine has an energetic faculty of 12 members, both nationally and internationally qualified, supported by 7 administrative staff, all engaged in various research activities committed to realizing the vision of the Department of Community Medicine, which is to improve local community health by creating and disseminating new knowledge and practices through community engagement; translating current knowledge to inform policies and mentoring future academics and practitioners in public health. 

To this end, the faculty is deeply engaged in undergraduate, graduate and postgraduate research, not just to generate, synthesize and disseminate evidence-based knowledge but also to translate its public health work into applied policies.

Public health practice will continue to receive cumulative attention in the post-pandemic world and Department of Community Medicine is committed to strengthening its military and civilian field sites to support undergraduate, graduate and post- graduate training programs, faculty research, service delivery and community engagement programs. The Department of Community Medicine has been engaging in policy formulation and dialogue with federal and provincial governments to aid the national healthcare system response to COVID-19. This is being given greater impetus in light of the dynamic and fluid situation of the emerging COVID-19 variants of concern. The Department of Community Medicine will aim to engage further with its national peers while also working actively to develop partnerships at the international level, under the umbrella of National University of Medical Sciences.

The Department of Community Medicine is committed to collaborate with departments within Army Medical College, institutions within the National University of Medical Sciences and with other academic institutions locally and globally.