Australian Health Services Research Institute

Graduate Certificate in Health Services Research and Development - now in block mode

The Graduate Certificate in Health Services Research and Development will be offered in block mode in 2013 to make it more readily accessible to students from around Australia. 

This is an exciting time to be considering further education in this field – particularly with the continuing emphasis, dialogue and interest in national health reform.

What does the course aim to teach?

The Graduate Certificate in Health Services Research and Development is designed to equip students with essential skills required to both understand and conduct health services research.

What are the subject areas?

It consists of 4 core subjects:

  •  Research studies design
  •  Health service research analysis
  •  Health services evaluation and development
  •  Health economic principles and research methods

Who would benefit from this course?

These courses are aimed to suit the needs of a wide variety of careers including those people working in:

  •  Medicare Locals
  •  Health or hospital districts
  •  Policy, planning and public health units of health agencies
  •  Policy, planning and public health units of government agencies within the health portfolio
  •  Universities
  •  Health research units and centres
  •  Clinical units

Course delivery has been designed to meet the needs of those students who will be balancing their studies with their current employment obligations.

What are the pre-requisites for entry?

Applicants must have a bachelor degree in a relevant discipline from a recognised institution and at least two years relevant professional work experience.

Where and when are the subjects taught?

In 2013, courses will be offered at the University of Wollongong’s Sydney Business School, conveniently located at 1 Macquarie Place, Circular Quay in Sydney's CBD.

There will be two blocks of a fortnight each. The first block will be held on March 11-22 and will cover the first two subjects; Health Services Research Design, and Quantitative Analysis for Health Services Research. The second block will be held on September 2-13 and will cover Health Economics: Principles and Research Methods, and Health Services Evaluation and Development . This is convenient for those who are working full-time and can make arrangements for study-leave during these times, or for those who currently work in a part-time arrangement. Block mode minimises travel and overlap between work and study commitments and also facilitates mutual learning between the health professionals who undertake the course.

Teaching staff:

The staff teaching the subjects are senior staff with extensive practical experience including:

Professor Kathy Eagar: Professor Eagar is Director of the Australian Health Services Research Institute (AHSRI) and is involved in all aspects of the Institute’s work. Kathy has over twenty five years experience in the health and community care systems, during which she has divided her time almost equally between being a clinician, a senior manager and a health academic.

Professor David Steel: Professor Steel is Professor in Statistics and Director of the Centre for Statistical and Survey Methodology, University of Wollongong. Professor Steel has active links with industry, which includes projects with the Australian Bureau of Statistics, NZ Ministry of Health, NSW Health and Statistics New Zealand.

Professor Simon Eckermann: Professor Eckermann is Professor of Health Economics at the University of Wollongong and a member of the Centre for Health Service Development. Simon has extensive experience in teaching and applying decision analytic methods for economic analysis. 

A/Professor Janette Green: A/Professor Janette Green is head of the Centre for Applied Statistics in Health within AHSRI and has extensive experience in the conduct and teaching of statistical aspects of health services research.

 

A/Professor Andrew Sense: A/Professor Andrew Sense lectures in qualitative research and has research interests in project based learning, innovation and change management, organisational learning, and project management.

Dr Marijka Batterham: Dr Marijka Batterham lectures in quantitative research methods and has research interests in meta-analysis and evidence synthesis, clinical trials, and health and nutrition.

Pathways

After completing the Graduate Certificate, students can continue on to complete the Master of Health Services Research program.

When is the next intake?

The next course intake begins in March 2013.

An enrolment form can be downloaded here (please note: intake at the start of 2013 corresponds with "Annual Intake" and location "Sydney").

For more details on the enrolment process please see the Application and Admission page.

For more information:

For more information on the Sydney Business School facilities, please visit our homepage.

Subject outlines:

Subject outlines can be downloaded from the following links. Please note, these outlines may be amended prior to the next intake.

Contact Details:

For further information on this program, please contact:

Professor Ian Ring
Australian Health Services Research Institute
University of Wollongong
Wollongong NSW 2522
Phone: +61 2 4221 4411
E-mail: iring@uow.edu.au

Last reviewed: 5 March, 2013