Public Health Informatics PG Dip

pg00002 EDUCATIONAL AIMS OF THE PROGRAMME The overall aims of the award are to develop individuáis who are capable of advancing the boundaries of professional public health practice through research, innovation and the integration and dissemination of new ideas from sound theoretical and knowledge bases. Achievement of these attributes are reflected in the following broad educational aims: □ To assist you to acquire a defined body of advanced knowledge and skills relevant to practice but with a basis in the research process, rigorous gathering and critical evaluation of evidence, demonstrating creative thought in the planning, implementation and application of public health practice, including specialism in the use and promotion of physical activity, or health informatics. □ To enable you to develop as a confident, dynamic and creative member of the public health care team, intrínsically motivated to respond to the prevailing political and contextual health care issues and, through critical appraisal of a variety of strategies for decisión making, recognise new ways of managing risk, uncertainty and change. o To enable you to contribute to the knowledge base of your practice discipline through scientific investigation. This will include, at Masters level, the production of a comprehensive project report, synthesised in such a way as to advance your own professional practice and that of others. o To extend your confidence and competence to act as a professional resource and skilled facilitator of learning in others as a result of increases in your knowledge and skills and through the dissemination of your own learning. The specific award outcomes have been mapped to the University '8+2' generic postgraduate learning outcomes (see Table 1). The overall challenge involved in taking any Master's degree is to achieve an advanced level of analysis of the concepts and problems in your chosen área of study and to be able to critically assess the achievements and limitations of practice and to explain differences between theory, policy and practical implementation. Masters students should be actively challenging orthodoxies, displaying creativity and innovation and ultimately producing material of a publishable standard. Learning outcomes are also specified for each module (available to see in the Module Descriptors). Module learning outcomes have been mapped to generic outcomes (see Table 2). Public Health Skills and Career Framework (Public Health Resource Unit, 2008) The framework consists of a combination of statements related to competencies and knowledge for the 9 levéis of public health national occupational standards. The competencies are as follows (note that 1-4 are categorised as core with 5-9 defined): 1. Surveillance and assessment [of the population's health and well-being] 2. Assessing the evidence 3. Policy and strategy 4. Leadership and collaborative working 5. Health improvement 6. Health protection 7. Public health intelligence 8. Academic public health 9. Health and social care quality </div>