SWOT ANALYSIS OF

COMMUNITY MEDICINE

Diksha Pokhrel
Prasanna Lama
Sabita Jyoti
Tara Baniya
 SWOT
• A structured planning method used to evaluate the project /
program in order to make improvements.

• It can be apply in project ,program or business venture .

 AIM

• To identify the key internal and external factors

• To turn weakness into strengths

• Threats into opportunities to achieve objective

• To bring an organization into balance with the external

environment and to maintain that balance over time (Sackett,

Jones, and Erdley 2005)

 SWOT ANALYSIS

Internal • Strength
Factors • Weakness

External • Opportunities
Factors • Threat
 STEPS:

• There are four steps ,

• Step 1 of SWOT analysis involves the collection and

evaluation of key data.

• In Step 2 of SWOT analysis, data on the organization are

collected and sorted into four categories: strengths,
weaknesses, opportunities, and threats.
• Step 3 involves the development of a SWOT matrix for each
business alternative under consideration.

• Step 4 involves incorporating the SWOT analysis into the

decision-making process to determine which business
alternative best meets the organization’s overall strategic plan.
 Community Medicine
• Bridges the gap between traditional fields of public health and
clinical medicine and brings community perspective into
health.

• All of the medical students experience their first contact to

family medicine and primary health care through community
Medicine department.

• Community-based education has been considered as a suitable

approach for health promotion
• Departments of community medicine should have a fully
functional rural or urban field practice area used for training at
primary level care which can serve as an excellent platform for
training in secondary level care required for family medicine.

• It has huge dimension and not limited to only one field of

interest.
• In 1923- Dr. Francis Peabody, Professor of medicine at
Harvard stated specialization in medicine had already
reached apex and that modern medicine had fragmented the
health care delivery system too great a degree

• 1971, American Academy of General Practice (began in

1947) changed name to American Academy of Family
Physician to increase emphasis upon family oriented health
care and to gain academic acceptance for the new specialty
• Specialization in Family and Community Medicine is neither
an organ nor a disease syndrome but a designation of social
categories namely family and community
•Community Medicine is often considered synonymous with

Preventive and Social Medicine(PSM), Public Health, and

Community Health which share common ground, i.e.,
prevention of disease and promotion of health.

•Community Medicine provides comprehensive health services

ranging from preventive, promotive, curative to rehabilitative
services.
•Community Medicine developed as a branch of medicine
distinct from Public Health.

•By definition, Community medicine is applied to 'healthy’

people, customarily by actions affecting large numbers or

populations.
•Its primary objective is prevention of disease and promotion
of health.

•It deals with populations, and comprises those doctors who

try to measure the needs of the population, both sick and well,
who plan and administer services to meet those needs, and
those who are engaged in research and teaching in the
academic field.
•Public Health is defined as the process of mobilising local,
state, national and international resources to solve the major
health problems affecting
communities and to achieve Health For All by 2000 AD.

•Public Health made rapid strides in the western world, its

progress has been slow in the developing countries where
the main health problems continue to be those faced by the
western world 100 years ago.
 STRENGTH

• As significant new business initiatives available to a healthcare

organization.

• If properly used can provided a competitive advantage.

• Identification of opportunities is often recognized by the analysis of

weaknesses.

• For examples : collaboration among healthcare organizations through

the development of healthcare delivery networks,

• increased funding for healthcare informatics,

• community partnering to develop new healthcare programs,

• and the introduction of clinical protocols to improve quality and

efficiency.

• Integrated healthcare delivery networks have an opportunity to

influence healthcare policy at the local, state, and national levels.
They also have an opportunity to improve patient satisfaction by
increasing public involvement and ensuring patient representation on
boards and committees.
• Organizations that are successful at using data to improve clinical
processes have lower costs and higher-quality patient care. The
greater the number of organizations achieving such scores, the
greater patients’ access to quality healthcare. Such scores also
enhance an organization’s reputation in the community.
• ..

• These are the additional measure for the improvement

• Such as :

• Sanctioning and release of the budget in time

• Providing training for the concerned persons .

• Effective supervision and monitoring .

• Involvement of related person such as private practitioners,

medical college staff members.

• Chance to make greater profits in the environment external

attractive factors that represent the reason for an organization to
exit and develop .
• Arise when an organization can take benefit of conditions in its
take benefit of conditions in its environment to plan and execute
strategies that enable it to become more profitable .

• Is a precursor to the strategic planning process .

• Includes a comprehensive review of the healthcare literature,

• in-depth data analysis, and input from a panel of SWOT analysis

expert.
STRENGTHS IN COMMUNITY MEDICINE
• No hazard from patient party.
• Future is secured
• If anybody want to work with people and get into research they can
find various opportunities to be recognized as epidemiologist
• No emergency.
• No night duties.
• In future you might get opportunity to work with WHO. And abroad
in some of the dream places.
• More than abundant family time.
• There is no unmatched satisfaction from sedentary lifestyle
• There is no limitation of distance like clinical doctors ,can treat
patient even with essential drug at various Community level
Hospital.
 EXTERNAL FACTORS
External Factors – Opportunities

• Improvement in reporting and data presentation capabilities

• Improvement in quality of healthcare services

• Effective and efficient resources utilization procedures

• Improvement in patients trust and satisfaction

• Encouragement in proactive healthcare practices

• Public awareness and community support programs

Training programs and facilities

• Unification and integration of Public and Private sector
health records

• Improved support for knowledge management and decision

making

• Productive, efficient and effective healthcare management

• Better human resource management

• Costing and budget analysis for enhanced funds utilization

• Sufficient allocation of resources for supporting IT
infrastructure

• Internet availability and enhanced bandwidth

 Weaknesses in SWOT Analysis
• Weaknesses are the characteristics which act as barrier to
achieve success.
 Weakness of community
medicine
• The course itself is too vast, so academically in 3years
duration as a PG resident, which portion is given more
highlight is still a problem.

• Eventually, as a community medicine resident I will be "Jack

of all trades, master of none".
• During data collection, which is part and parcel of dissertation,
“Soft skills” are required.

• Soft skills are a combination of people skills, social skills,

communication skills, character traits, attitudes, career
attribute, social intelligence and emotional
intelligence quotients among others that enable people to
navigate their environment, work well with others, perform
well, and achieve their goals.
 Weakness of department of
Community medicine at KMC

• No posting at Emergency department on basis of disaster

management and concepts of Triage.

• No posting at OBGYN department on basis of antenatal visit;

use, skill and counseling of family planning methods
• No posting at Pediatric department on basis of immunization,
under-five children

• So, having trainings at clinical posting, we can diagnose and

manage common health problems ,arrange for timely referral
when necessary.
• So far, we have privilege to attend various workshop, at
Kathmandu Medical College and other workshop which is
held outside academic premises, which is an opportunity in our
career.
 OPPORTUNITIES
• Academics- 1st choice until now

• NGOs and INGOs

• Health care service/Hospitals

• Governmental areas such as policy making.

• Nutritional /occupational /Environmental health/ Behavioral

science

• Public health practice

 We can work as
• Epidemiologist in health service /research organization.

• Research officer in medical research

organization/pharmaceutical company.

• Permanent/temporary job in WHO,UNICEF etc.

• Temporary /contract based job in government projects.

• Teacher in medical college, public health school as faculty

member.

• Public health project manager in private NGOS

• Community/family physician.

• Infectious disease specialist.

• Occupational medicine expert.

• Epidemic/disaster expert.

• Palliative medicine expert.

• Preventive cardiologist/nephrologist/neurologist/
endocrinologist/oncologist.
In Government sector:

• Public Health Administrator

• DPH Administrator, Senior PHA

• Health Secretary

Advanced Course :

• Ph. D. (Community medicine)

 WHAT IS THREAT ?
•Threats refer to elements in the environment that

could cause trouble for the business or project.

•arise when conditions in external environment

jeopardize there liability and profitability of the

organization’s business
 Threats
• What obstacles do you face?

• What are your competitors doing?

• Are quality standards or specifications for your job, products

or services changing?

• Is changing technology threatening your position?

• Do you have bad debt or cash-flow problems?

• Could any of your weaknesses seriously threaten your

business?
•Threats are uncontrollable.

•When a threat comes, the stability and survival can be at

stake.

•For example, a drought is a threat to a wheat-producing

company, as it may destroy or reduce the crop yield.

•Other common threats include things like rising costs for

inputs, increasing competition, tight labor supply and so on.

•examples: entry of foreign competitors, introduction of new

substitute products, rival firms adopt new strategies.

•Community Medicine is not about the textbook of Park which
MBBS students read, it is even less about anything to do with
Park at all.

•But opinions and conclusions are drawn because Park is what

medical students end up reading, they do not go 50 kms from
the area of the medical college to understand the human face
behind disease and death, poverty and pathogens,
•They have not visited institutes of national importance, do not
engage with UN agencies and civil society organisations and lack
the will to volunteer.
•Public Health is defined as the process of mobilising local, state,

national and international resources to solve the major health

problems affecting communities and to achieve Health For All

by 2000 AD.

•Public Health made rapid strides in the western world, its

progress has been slow in the developing countries where the
main health problems continue to be those faced by the western
world 100 years ago.
THREAT IN COMMUNITY MEDICINE IS FROM
PUBLIC HEALTH:

•Community Medicine professionals in India feel both

“confused” and “threatened” by schools of public health and
departments of family medicine.

• Community medicine practitioners not only diagnose and treat

diseases in their health center clinics but their practices also

include prevention of diseases and disabilities and promotion of
health in the community served by their health centers
• MPH from some of the western universities are really good
with good job prospects.

• MPH are typically one year long (in UK) or two years (Rest
of the world). Students usually undertake PhD post Masters
or join jobs on similar salary scale as a MD Community
Medicine(3years).

• Public Health deals with the health of the general population

and uses the principles of epidemiology, biostatistics etc to
identify the public health problems and finding solutions to
these problems by promotion of health or preventing health.
• Public Health as the discipline incorporates epidemiology
and disease prevention and control. Community health is the
practice of improving the health of the community that draws
on public health, clinical care, sociology and a range of other
disciplines

• Public health is to improve health of its population in which

large scale interventions as that of a national level (role of
government) is implied as different from community health
where it is at a smaller level (a city, a village and so on).
• Community medicine people do teaching and the public health
people carry out the programmes in real!

• Public health work through their community centric clinics, for

others it’s through policy reforms, for others it’s through
research, for some others it’s through training and for many
others it’s through academia

• Most of the time students and physicians think about patients

as individuals who present themselves one at a time to a doctor
in a clinic or a hospital.
•Community can be localized in an area e.g. urban population,
rural population or even indigenous population. At these levels
we use primary prevention, secondary prevention, and tertiary
prevention to promote health. We often get confused with
Primary health care which is a tool to achieve Health for All
(WHO)

•In Community medicine , community is our patient and we can

go about diagnosing and treating the community using much the
same thought processes as we do in treating individuals.
•General crowd think only OBG, medicine people are doctors
•People think doctors are those who can write prescriptions and
do operations

• NO ONE KNOWS THAT:

• A community medicine doctor touches thousand souls at a time

rather than single individual.

References:

1.Park K. Park’s Textbook of Preventive and Social

Medicine.Jabalpur,India.:M/s Banarsidas Bhanot;2017.

2.Kumar R. Clinical Practice in Community Medicine:

Challenges and Opportunities. Indian Journal of Community
Medicine. 2017 Jul-Sep; 42(3): 131–133.

3.Singh G, Agarwal B and Misra S.K. Analysis of Medical

Students Perception for Community Medicine as Career
Option and Subject. Indian Journal of Community Medicine.
2018 Jan-Mar; 43(1): 56–57.
4.Edmond Fernandes.Why community medicine (public health)
is the sexiest profession of the 21st century. Global Health
Focus. 2017 July 03.cited 2018.10.25

5.Community Medicine with recent advances , AH Suryakantha,

3rd edition.

6. Harrison’s Principles of Internal Medicine:20ed :Strategic

Planning and SWOT analysis; page no.91-7