Over the years of the Academy’s existence, the Department has covered the path  from a course of social hygiene (before 1934) which was taught by different teachers at various courses, through the  Departments of Social Hygiene (1935-1941), those of Public Health Management (1941-1966), Social Hygiene and Public Health Management (1966-1988), to the first Department of Public Health Management in Ukraine (resolution of the Academic Board of the Academy from June 7, 1988), which was declared by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine (1992) a leading one for teaching scientific fundamentals of public health management (order from February 24, 1992).

Since November 1965, the Department has been located in an office block of the Academy, occupying a separate wing of the first floor (a space of 400 m²).

The first head of the Department was K.F. Duplenko (1899-1990), elected on a basis of the announced vacancy in 1938.

The Department’s activities were recommenced in the middle of 1944. In the first post-war years, the Department mainly trained medical statisticians and methodologists of sanitary education. On October 1, 1947, there was started the first course for administrators of public health - heads of city and district health departments.

From 1953, the specific proportion of head physicians of district hospitals increased, which corresponded to basic directions of reorganization of district link of public health with the aim of intensifying of the role of a head physician of a district hospital and liquidating of the post of the head of district health department.

The middle 1950-es were characterized by an arrival of first trainees-doctors from other republics of the USSR: in 1954 - from Russia, Belorussia and Moldova, in 1956, in addition, from Baltic Republics and Central Asia. Thus, the international character of trainee-doctors of the Department had been determined long before the Institute became subordinate to the Ministry of Health of the USSR (1965).

In 1965, since Full Professor K.F. Duplenko retired, the Department was headed by the Minister of Health of Ukraine Full Professor P.L. Shupyk on a basis of social obligation. He held this position twice. Kyiv Medical Academy of Postgraduate Education was named after his name in 1998.

To the end of the 1960-ties, the Department chiefly trained the representatives of rural public health, and preference in training administrators was given to the problems of medical statistics and analysis of work of medical and prophylactic establishments.

In 1971, two new courses were introduced: for head physicians of republican, territorial and regional hospitals and their assistants, as well as for head physicians of city hospitals, where in January 1972, Associate Professor I.M. Andreieva delivered a lecture “Scientific Management Organization” for the first time and conducted the first practical training “Organization of Managerial Work of a Head Physician”.

In 1973, management was taught as an independent course “Theoretical Fundamentals of Management Science”, which from the very beginning envisaged using methods of systemic approach in activities of the heads of health bodies and institutions, management process technology, methods of management etc., which further became a direction of the Department’s activity.

The acquired experience in teaching of scientific fundamentals of management became a basis for introduction in 1978 by a resolution of the Ministry of Health of the USSR a new course of training for chiefs of a higher rank: the deputy ministers of the republics of the Soviet Union, ministers of autonomous republics, chiefs of territorial and regional public health departments and their deputies.

The end of the 1970-ties was marked by an introduction of two more 2-month courses: head doctors of city (district) sanitary epidemiological stations and their deputies (1979) and head physicians of city polyclinics and head physicians’ deputies for policlinic work (1979) with the purpose of training in management.

In 1979, as Full Professor P.L. Shupyk reached a pension age, he passed to a post of a Full Professor-Consultant (1980-1981), and the Department was headed by Full Professor A.D. Yarmenchuk. In 1985, Associate Professor I.M. Andreieva acted as a head of the Department provisionally.

In November 1986, MD, Dr. Sc. B.P. Kryshtopa (Full Professor since 1988) was elected as the Head of the Department before that he had worked as a Deputy Minister of Health of Ukraine (1974-1978). Then he was sent on a mission to democratic Republic of Afghanistan, where in 1978-1981, he headed a group of advisers of the USSR Ministry of Health and was a Counselor of the Minister of Health of Afghanistan.

In the second half of the 1980-ties, the Department, expanding a contingent of trainees, initiated courses of scientific fundamentals of management for administrative apparatus of management (1982), chiefs of public health bodies and institutions (1985), head doctors of republican, territorial, regional sanitary and epidemiologic stations (1988), chiefs of emergency medical care establishments (1989), and at the beginning of the 1990-ties – head specialists (1992), assistant chiefs for economic problems (1992). In addition, the beginning of the 80-ties was marked by initiation of a new form of work at the Department – visiting courses of advanced training and the end – by an introduction of self-supporting basis courses.

When the Institute became subordinate to the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in October-November 1991, the Department got the possibility to change Unified Syllabi of the USSR Ministry of Health (1980, 1986), which did not meet the increased requirements for improvement of level of knowledge of administrators of the public health system and to develop its own syllabus using basic fundamentals of up-to-date management. This syllabus makes emphasis on expansion of teaching peculiarities of the system management under new conditions; mastering special knowledge and proficiencies by administrators at the period of transition to market relations. Being approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine in 1992 this Program became a Program for pre-certification courses for chiefs of public health bodies and institutions in specialty “Public Health Management and Organization”.

The main contingent of the Department trainees consisted of chiefs (assistants) of public health bodies of state regional and municipal administrations, head physicians (assistants) of urban and rural medical and prophylactic and sanitary and anti-epidemic establishments, economists of public health system, heads (lecturers) of the departments of social medicine of medical higher educational institutions of Ukraine.

In 1997, the first course was held for advanced training of rectors of medical higher educational institutions of Ukraine on problems of scientific fundamentals of management; in 1998 there was held a course for advanced training of chiefs of regional public health bodies and directors of scientific research institutes.

Thus over the years of its existence the Department in its methodological trend has passed a complex creative way from teaching mainly the aspects of statistics to the highest level - teaching of scientific fundamentals of management and forming national management in public health system of Ukraine, which makes an integrant part of its reform under conditions of market relations.

The major scientific direction of the Department is a theoretical grounding of organizational structures’ improvement and optimization of the public health system management.

The joint work with public health bodies and institutions of Kyiv city, Kyiv region and other regions is realized in the following directions: organization of training and retraining doctors-administrators; providing organizational and methodological assistance for public health bodies and institutions with the purpose of improving the public health system’s management under conditions of increasing market relations (management consultations); implementation of scientific developments of the Department into the public health practice.

In January, 2004, the Department was headed by Academician of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine (since 2011 – Academician of the National Academy of Medical Sciences of Ukraine), Honoured Scientist and Technologist of Ukraine, MD, Dr. Sc., Full Professor Yuriy V. Voronenko.

In pursuance of order of the Ministry of Health of Ukraine No. 1179 dated from 31/12/2010, there were started the 18 month specialization courses in “Public Health Management” (full time and nonresident instruction) for chiefs of public health administrations as well as for chiefs and deputies of public health facilities of the tertiary level.

In March, 2012, the Department started training in “Organization and Management of Public Health” through full time and nonresident instruction thematic advance courses including distant learning according to the Standard Regulation on Training approved by the Ministry of Health of Ukraine and the Scientific Council of the Academy (Protocol No. 3 dated from 14/03/2012).