Switzerland's first master's program in public health was established in the fall of 1990 at the University of Geneva School of Medicine. The 3‐year program is fully learner centered and community oriented. The process of problem‐based learning (PBL), around which the program is designed, is well accepted by students and staff. In the summer of 1993, the first cohort of students was certified as competent public health specialists who have acquired relevant professional skills as well as a holistic “public health culture.”Throughout the curriculum, students plan, implement, and evaluate projects related to health problems they have encountered in their own employment as health professionals. Individual and group work, discussions and seminars with teachers and other students, and brainstorming sessions with the program's specially trained facilitators allow students to identify and achieve individual educational objectives while working on community‐related health projects.Beyond its internal objectives, this program may assist the spirit of change emerging in those Swiss medical schools that are considering ways to reform their approach to traditional undergraduate medical training and to adopt a more community‐oriented and PBL perspective.