[Decentralization of intermediate courses in public health]

The article describes the intermediate-level course in public health started in Venezuela thirty years ago to fill a need for trained personnel to work in clinics for expectant mothers, schoolchildren, and sufferers from tuberculosis and other diseases at health units and centers. The course have evolved with changing health conditions in the country, and the school's graduates are increasingly aware of and conversant with the health and social problems of the population. The course is now designed to turn out health administrators who can run health services and institutions of intermediate level like health units and district health centers and services, or functions as assistants or deputies to heads of services of greater complexity such as regional hospitals, epidemiology units, etc. The course is required, together with some employment experience in health services, for admission to the Advanced Course in Public Health.