公共衛生旨在透過社會集體力量，以預防疾病、延長壽命及促進人口健康，而政府政策的介入與民間組織的在地實踐，是展現社會集體性力量的重要機制。公衛議題面向多元，舉凡醫療與健康照顧服務體系、疾病防治、食品藥物管理、國民健康促進、環境保護、職業安全健康保護等議題，均牽涉政策制訂、行政運作與組織管理，也因此，對於行政學與管理學的基本認識，乃是公衛領域不可或缺的核心知識。本課程前半部份課程旨在介紹公衛行政學基本概念，包括公衛政策的定位與類型、政策分析、行政學原理、行政計畫評估、立法監督機制等；後半部份針對健康照顧服務機構，介紹管理學基本原理與應用。
Public health aims to prevent disease, to prolong life and promote health through collective social actions. To achieve these goals, the administration of governmental policies and the practices of civil organizations are considered as major mechanisms of collective social actions. While the spectrum of public health is wide, covering health care services, disease prevention, food and drug and administration, health promotion, environmental protection and occupational safety and health, all public health actions involve policy development, administration and management. Therefore, knowledge about public health administration and management is essential. The first half of this course focuses on core concepts of public health administration. Topics to be covered include: role and typology of public health policies, policy analyses, administration, program evaluation, legislative branch of government and mechanisms to ensure government accountability, etc. The second half of this course introduces the principles and applications of health care management.