Specialist Certificate in Public Health (SC-PUBHLTH)

Specialist CertificateYear: 2025 Delivered: Mixed Attendance Mode (Parkville)

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Overview

Award titleSpecialist Certificate in Public Health
Year & campus2025 — Parkville
Fees informationSubject EFTSL, level, discipline and census date
Study level & typeGraduate Coursework
AQF level Non-AQF
Credit points25 credit points
Duration6 months part-time

The Specialist Certificate in Public Health will provide skills that prepare students for public health practice and augment existing professional skills in health care practice, policy and management. The Specialist Certificate will provide a stepped pathway into the Graduate Certificate in Public Health and/or the University’s flagship Master of Public Health (MPH) program. It will also provide an opportunity for current health sector professionals to gain a valuable skills-based qualification that strengthens their career path, enables them to respond to public health challenges in a variety of health and social policy contexts and responds to an Australia-wide urgent workforce need for health professionals with public health training. The Specialist Certificate in Public Health will provide full credit into the Master of Public Health.

Entry requirements

1.  In order to be considered for entry, applicants must have completed:

  • A pass-level undergraduate degree in any discipline

     Meeting these requirements does not guarantee selection.

2.  In ranking applications, the Selection Committee will consider:

  • Prior academic performance

3.  The Selection Committee may seek further information to clarify any aspect of an application in accordance with the Academic Board rules on the use of selection instruments.

4.  Applicants are required to satisfy the university’s English language requirements for postgraduate courses. For those applicants seeking to meet these requirements by one of the standard tests approved by the Academic Board, performance band 6.5 is required.

 

Notes:

This Certificate is used as a pathway to the MPH only and as an exit point from an incomplete MPH. Students will not be able to take this Certificate concurrently with the Master of Public Health.

Inherent requirements (core participation requirements)

Inherent requirements are the abilities, knowledge and skills needed to complete this course that must be met by all students. For information on the inherent requirements specific to this course contact the course/program coordinator. In some circumstances reasonable adjustments may be available to enable students to meet these requirements while still preserving the academic integrity of the university's learning, assessment and accreditation processes. For more information on how to seek these adjustments refer to the Student Equity and Disability Support website: https://services.unimelb.edu.au/student-equity/home

Intended learning outcomes

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

Knowledge

  • Discuss public health conceptual foundations
  • Identify current public health challenges in global communities
  • Describe the ways in which biology, the environment, Indigenous status, society and culture interact and determine health status
  • Identify population-based health strategies in public health

Skills

  • Analyse appraise and synthesise public health evidence in specific disciplinary areas

Application

  • Apply knowledge of public health disciplinary areas to contribute to solutions to complex public health problems

Generic skills

  • Application of theory to practical problems
  • Evidence-based decision making
  • Critical reasoning and thinking
  • Communication of a scientific argument to a variety of audiences

Graduate attributes

The following Graduate Attributes will have been developed through successful completion of the course:

Academically excellent:

  • Have a strong sense of intellectual integrity and the ethics of scholarship
  • Have in-depth knowledge of their specialist discipline(s
  • Reach a high level of achievement in writing, generic research activities, problem-solving and communication
  • Be critical and creative thinkers, with an aptitude for continued self-directed learning
  • Be adept at learning in a range of ways, including through information and communication technologies.

Knowledgeable across disciplines:

  • Expand their analytical and cognitive skills through learning experiences in diverse subjects
  • Examine critically, synthesise and evaluate knowledge across a broad range of disciplines
  • Have the capacity to participate fully in collaborative learning and to confront unfamiliar problems
  • Have a set of flexible and transferable skills for different types of employment.

Leaders in communities:

  • Initiate and implement constructive change in their communities, including professions and workplaces
  • Have excellent interpersonal and decision-making skills, including an awareness of personal strengths and limitations
  • Mentor future generations of learners
  • Engage in meaningful public discourse, with a profound awareness of community needs.

Attuned to cultural diversity:

  • Value different cultures
  • Be well-informed citizens able to contribute to their communities wherever they choose to live and work
  • Have an understanding of the social and cultural diversity in our community
  • Respect indigenous knowledge, cultures and values.

Active global citizens:

  • Accept social and civic responsibilities
  • Be advocates for improving the sustainability of the environment
  • Have a broad global understanding, with a high regard for human rights, equity and ethics.

Course structure

One compulsory subject:

Code Name Study period Credit Points
POPH90217 Foundations of Public Health
February (Dual-Delivery - Parkville)
 12.5

One elective subject (1 x 12.5 points)  chosen from the core and/or elective list of subjects available in the Master of Public Health - see attached list derived from https://handbook.unimelb.edu.au/courses/244cw/course-structure 

Further study

Subjects completed within this degree from the University of Melbourne may receive advanced standing (with credit) within the Master of Public Health.

This Specialist Certificate cannot be taken concurrently with the Master of Public Health. The Specialist Certificate cannot be claimed retrospectively when the relevant subjects are taken as part of a completed Master of Public Health.

Last updated: 27 February 2025