AIM STEP 10
Student Memory Support
Health Systems, Primary Health Care, Health Education, Planning and Policy
4th Year MBBS • Community Medicine • High-yield memory reinforcement and last-minute revision
1. High-Yield Flashcards
Tap each question to reveal the answer.
What are the six WHO health-system building blocks?
Service delivery, health workforce, health information, medical products and technologies, financing, and leadership/governance.
What are the four core principles of primary health care?
Equitable distribution, community participation, intersectoral coordination, and appropriate technology.
How does comprehensive PHC differ from selective PHC?
Comprehensive PHC addresses broad community needs; selective PHC focuses on a limited number of high-priority interventions.
Which PHC principle is demonstrated when health services work with education, sanitation and water sectors?
Intersectoral coordination.
What does PHC coverage measure?
The proportion of the eligible target population that actually receives the intended service.
What are the basic elements of a communication process in health education?
Communicator, message, channel, audience and feedback.
What is the traditional adoption sequence for a new health practice?
Awareness → interest → evaluation → trial → adoption.
What is the main purpose of an HMIS?
To convert health data into useful information for management decisions and action.
Which HMIS property is deficient when accurate reports arrive too late to guide decisions?
Timeliness.
Which management level translates senior policy into departmental programmes?
Middle management.
What is the basic sequence of the health-planning cycle?
Situation analysis → problems → priorities → objectives → resources → plan → implementation → evaluation → re-planning.
How does health policy differ from health planning?
Policy sets broad direction; planning converts that direction into objectives, activities and resource decisions.
What is opportunity cost in health economics?
The benefit forgone from the best alternative use of the same limited resources.
Which economic evaluation expresses outcomes as QALYs?
Cost-utility analysis.
Which SDG is directly centred on health and well-being?
SDG 3: Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages.
2. Mnemonics
Mnemonic Title: PHC Principles
ECIA
Meaning: Equitable distribution • Community participation • Intersectoral coordination • Appropriate technology.
Mnemonic Title: Adoption Stages
AIETA
Meaning: Awareness • Interest • Evaluation • Trial • Adoption.
Mnemonic Title: Core Management Functions
POSDCORB
Meaning: Planning • Organizing • Staffing • Directing • Coordinating • Reporting • Budgeting.
3. Memory Tables
Comprehensive PHC vs Selective PHC
| Feature | Comprehensive PHC | Selective PHC |
|---|---|---|
| Scope | Broad health needs | Limited priorities |
| Approach | Integrated | Focused interventions |
| Determinants | Broader determinants addressed | Narrower disease focus |
| Main concern | Needs stronger system capacity | May fragment services |
Economic Evaluation Tools
| Method | Outcome Measure | Key Memory Point |
|---|---|---|
| Cost-minimization | Equivalent outcomes | Choose lower cost |
| Cost-effectiveness | Natural health units | e.g. cases prevented |
| Cost-utility | Utility measure | e.g. QALYs |
| Cost-benefit | Money | Costs and benefits monetized |
4. Rapid Revision Points — Last-Minute Revision
Must Remember:
- WHO health systems are understood through six interconnected building blocks.
- PHC is a broad approach; primary care is the first-contact level within the system.
- Equity means distributing health resources according to need.
- Health education requires understandable messages, suitable channels and feedback.
- HMIS is useful only when collected data are converted into decisions and action.
- Policy gives direction; planning converts direction into objectives and activities.
- A rolling plan is periodically updated as time progresses.
- Opportunity cost is the benefit lost from the best alternative use of resources.
- MDGs covered 2000–2015; SDGs cover 2015–2030.
- Universal health coverage combines service access with financial protection.
KMU Trap: Do not equate primary health care with a Basic Health Unit alone. PHC is a comprehensive philosophy of community-oriented care.
5. Clinical Memory Hooks
Remote district has facilities but very few health workers
→
Health workforce weakness within the WHO health-system framework.
→
Health workforce weakness within the WHO health-system framework.
Women avoid a nearby affordable maternal-health centre because care feels culturally insensitive
→
Poor acceptability despite physical accessibility.
→
Poor acceptability despite physical accessibility.
Accurate district reports arrive after procurement decisions
→
HMIS timeliness failure.
→
HMIS timeliness failure.
Budget used for one programme means another programme cannot be funded
→
Opportunity cost.
→
Opportunity cost.
6. Starred High-Yield Exam Points
- ⭐ WHO framework: service delivery, workforce, information, medical products/technology, financing, and leadership/governance.
- ⭐ PHC principles: equitable distribution, community participation, intersectoral coordination and appropriate technology.
- ⭐ HMIS endpoint: management decision and action, not data collection alone.
- ⭐ Cost-effectiveness uses natural health outcomes; cost-utility commonly uses QALYs.
- ⭐ Universal health coverage means needed services without unacceptable financial hardship.
- ⭐ WHO has a broad international health mandate; UNICEF focuses especially on children, adolescents, mothers and families.