University of Tasmania, Australia

Why is this course relevant to me?

Providing better care needs health professionals to engage with improvement. Any changes to practice or organisational delivery of care must be evidenced based. Health professionals who want to strengthen their research and implementation capacity can do so by studying for this degree. You get academic support so that your findings will be credible, you learn about which research method suits your initiative best, and how to do a good literature review and ethics application, and what is involved in evaluating the outcomes. Finally you are supported in the dissemination of your findings via publication/presentation.

How many units do I have to do?

Eight in all, seven of which are compulsory (but please contact us if you believe you've already covered the material in the core units elsewhere). The core ones are:

• CAM520 The Australian Health System in Context (because you need to situate your work in the wider context)
• CAM528 Translational Research in Health Service Innovation (because you need to know about implementing research into routine practice)
• CAM623 Introduction to Action research (where you do your literature review and ethics application)
• CAM720 Evidence Based Research Methods (because you need to know which methodology suits what you are doing), and
• CAM723/724 (three unit weighting) where you do the project itself

You pick one more from an extensive list of options. These cover topics like health policy, change management, leadership skills, public health, epidemiology, legal and ethical issues, health service evaluation, food safety and security, health economics.

What is the assessment like?

Assessment is geared to workplace learning, so we don't have exams but you have to be able to implement a project at work and write this up. The units are all online, so you have to participate in discussion boards (good for bouncing ideas around with others as well as the lecturer), do reports about what you are finding out, and, of course, the final project report which is assessed like a thesis but is not as long.

Where can I go with this course?

There are three pathways for graduates. One is entry to the Doctor of Health (M9D Professional Doctorate) for which you get exemption from the first year of course work and go straight on to the research project. The other is a Masters degree, either Master of Clinical Leadership, Master of Health and Human Services, Master of Public Health, Master of Health for which you get credit for all the units you have studied so far in the Bachelor of Health, and are left with just four more electives to qualify at Masters level. The last one is entry to a PhD which differs from the Professional Doctorate in that the research focus is not necessarily connected with your role at work.

How much does it cost?

All units in this degree are HECS-funded, so if you are actually thinking of doing a degree at Master level, it's a cost effective way of doing it. Talk to us about this strategy.

When does it start and how do I get started?

We start in either in Semester 1 (end February) or Semester 2 (July) of every year. Apply online and don't forget to scan in your qualifications as we only accept people with a bachelors degree or equivalent. Then, when you are accepted, divert your uni email to your work one, enrol in your units, log into our online learning system (MyLO), and check out what we want you to do. Other than your acceptance letter, you don't get any more paper stuff from us, so make sure you stay tuned electronically.

What if I have problems?

Depends what these are! If it's enrolment or fee issues contact Student Services, if it's academic, contact Wendy Quinn (Wendy.Quinn@utas.edu.au) or Stella Stevens (Stella.Stevens@utas.edu.au). Email always works best for us.

What if my question has not been answered on this page?

Contact (Stella.Stevens@utas.edu.au)
Associate Professor Stella Stevens
Associate Head, Postgraduate
School of Medicine
University of Tasmania