Antimicrobial resistance is an urgent global health priority. In the near future common treatable infections may become untreatable. Currently 1 out of 20 hospitalised patients’ contracts a healthcare associated infection, of which around 50% are preventable. These infections add to the functional disability and emotional stress of the patient and in some cases, lead to disabling conditions that reduce their quality of life. In addition, they contribute to increased hospital stays and added expense to the healthcare system. Infection prevention and control in healthcare settings is now of national priority endorsed by the Australian Government, Ministries of Health, the Australian Commission of Quality and Safety in Health Care, healthcare facility accreditation organisations, as well as internationally by the World Health Organization.

Healthcare managers, clinicians, planners, policy makers and related disciplines will benefit from this course as it aims provide an overview of the knowledge and skills associated with infection prevention and control, surveillance and infectious disease epidemiology. National and international trends in infection prevention and control will be addressed. The course draws on recognised experts with a breath of experience, is aligned with the National Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards 3 and has an emphasis on practical learning experiences using real case scenarios.

This course is an elective course of the Master of Health Management, Master of Public Health and Master of International Public Health programs. It is comprised of six units of credit towards the total required for the completion of these programs.

There are no pre-requisites for this course. However, it is an advantage if you have basic knowledge about the transmission routes of infectious diseases and an interest in infection prevention and control. Experience in healthcare settings or patient care-related field will be beneficial for this elective. This course complements the content of PHCM9781 Evidence Informed Decision Making, PHCM9782 Current Challenges in Infectious Diseases and PHCM9731 Outbreak Investigation.

Interested students, who are not enrolled in a Masters program offered by the School of Public Health and Community Medicine, will need to contact the course convenor, who will assess whether they have the appropriate background, before they can enrol in the course.