This online unit that can be undertaken either face-to-face, fully online, or in intensive block mode, introduces the concept of clinical epidemiology and provides students with core skills in clinical epidemiology at an introductory level. The unit is aimed at clinician learners and as such some clinical experience is required. Topics covered include asking and answering clinical questions; basic and accessible literature searching techniques; study designs used in clinical epidemiological research; confounding and effect modification; sources of bias; interpretation of results including odds ratios, relative risks, confidence intervals and p values; applicability of results to individual patients; critical appraisal of clinical epidemiological research literature used to answer questions of therapy (RCTs and systematic reviews), harm, prognosis, diagnosis and screening; applicability of results to individual patients; and evidence-based use of health resources.

This unit introduces students to statistical methods relevant in medicine and health. Students will learn how to build datasets and basic data management procedures, summarise and visualise data, choose the correct statistical analysis, conduct this analysis using statistical software, interpret its results, and report statistical findings in a format suitable for inclusion in scientific publications. Students will also learn to consider the difference between statistical significance and practical importance, and how to determine the appropriate sample size when planning a research study. Specific analysis methods covered in this unit include: descriptive methods; hypothesis tests for one sample, paired samples and two independent groups for continuous and categorical data; correlation and linear regression; power and sample size estimation for simple studies. All these topics are introduced with an emphasis on practical application and interpretation and are supported using statistical software. The general principles developed in this unit can be easily extended to more advanced methods; students who wish to continue with their statistical learning after this unit are encouraged to take PUBH5217 Biostatistics: Statistical Modelling.

The aim of this unit is to provide students with the knowledge and skills required to undertake moderate to high level data manipulation and management in preparation for statistical analysis of data typically arising in health and medical research. Specific objectives are for students to: gain experience in data manipulation and management using two major statistical software packages (Stata and R); learn how to display and summarise data using statistical software; become familiar with the checking and cleaning of data; learn how to link files through use of unique and non-unique identifiers; acquire fundamental programming skills for efficient use of software packages; and learn key principles of confidentiality and privacy in data storage, management and analysis. The topics covered are: Module 1 - Stata and R: The basics (importing and exporting data, recoding data, formatting data, labelling variable names and data values; using dates, data display and summary presentation); and creating programs. Module 2 - Stata and R: graphs, data management and statistical quality assurance methods (including advanced graphics to produce publication-quality graphs); Module 3 - Data management using Stata and R (using functions to generate new variables, appending, merging, transposing longitudinal data; programming skills for efficient and reproducible use of these packages, including loops and arguments.

This course is specifically designed for health professionals working in health care. It will equip participants with underpinning knowledge about patient safety. The course modules cover quality and safety principles, professionalism and ethics, the blame culture, risk information, health care as a system, the impact of adverse events, methods to measure and make improvements in health care. The modules, tools and the discussions are designed to enable participants to change behaviour by understanding the main causes of adverse events. The course provides foundation knowledge about quality and safety. Governments around the world are concerned to address unsafe care. The course will prepare health professional to understand the complexity of health care and take steps to minimise the opportunities for errors and address vulnerabilities in the system.

In this unit of study, we aim to introduce you to systematic reviews and meta-analyses of relevance to healthcare with a particular focus on systematic reviews of randomized controlled trials. Students can choose to learn in online or normal day (on-campus) mode. All students will work through four online modules, delivered over twelve weeks, addressing the following topics at an introductory level: What and why systematic reviews (and meta-analysis); How to formulate answerable healthcare questions and searching for systematic reviews; How a systematic review is conducted and understanding the principles of meta-analysis; and How to appraise, interpret and apply the results of systematic reviews (and meta-analyses). Students will have the opportunity to discuss unit of study learning materials in online tutorials or via weekly (on-campus) tutorials. Readings and other learning materials will be available via eLearning.

This project unit provides an opportunity to apply skills learnt in other units and further develop knowledge and skills by undertaking a systematic review (ideally including a meta analysis) in a topic area nominated by the student. The unit is student-driven with no direct supervision, but the student will have three chances to interact with the unit coordinator, to define the research questions, to discuss the selected methodology, and prior to submission. The assessment task is to undertake a systematic review of randomised trials and present the review in the form of a paper suitable for submission to a peer reviewed scientific, academic or professional journal.

This unit of study will appeal to anyone wanting to write medical papers for conferences or journals, or to improve their paper writing skills. Students will work at their own pace through 9 modules covering research integrity, medical style, abstracts, presentations and posters, constructing a paper, data visualisation, manuscript submission, responding to reviewers' comments, post-publication research dissemination, and peer- reviewing a paper. This unit aims to teach students the principles of research integrity in writing for medical journals, typical issues they may face, and link to resources to help them maintain integrity through their publishing careers. It will guide them to reliable evidence-based resources to improve their conference abstract, presentation and poster design, and manuscript style and writing. Students will learn about reporting guidelines, common pitfalls in writing and presenting research, choosing a journal, keywords, improving tables and figures for manuscripts through open source software, copyright, writing cover letters and response letters to reviewers. Students will learn about measuring research impact and ways to improve research reach, dealing with the media and press releases, using social media in dissemination, digital archiving and basic skills needed to act as a peer-reviewer. This is an online unit, but those needing to study in block mode will do online study as well as a workshop.

In this unit of study, the student will develop his/her own research proposal, to a standard suitable for a peer-reviewed granting body. Each section of a grant proposal (Abstract, Aims, Background, Significance, Methods) will be discussed, with the student presenting and refining the corresponding section of his/her own proposal in a synchronous online workshop setting. This will be complemented by online presentations from experienced researchers on the practical aspects of clinical research. Topics include: observational studies, randomised controlled trials, diagnostic test evaluation, qualitative studies, economic evaluation, and process evaluation. The unit will conclude with a one-day, face-to-face, mandatory workshop where students will learn about budgeting, qualitative research, strategies and grant administration, research ethics and peer review of research grants.

This unit of study introduces the student to basic concepts behind diagnostic and screening tests, including: test accuracy, sources of bias in test evaluation, critical appraisal of test evaluation studies, application of test results to individual patients, place of tests in diagnostic pathways, impact of tests on patient outcomes, principles and use of evidence in population screening, overdiagnosis, systematic review of diagnostic tests and meta-analysis. After completing this unit of study, the student should have a comprehensive understanding of contemporary issues and the methodology underlying, diagnostic and screening test evaluation and application.

The aim of this student-driven capstone unit is either:
1. to conduct a clinical epidemiology research project and to write a research report on the project in the form of a paper suitable for publication
2. to conduct a teaching project to produce a teaching and learning resource.
Research Project:
A research project will involve: drafting and refining the project proposal; data collection; data analysis; and produce a report suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. This project unit is a capstone unit and student driven. It is the responsibility of the student to identify a suitable project and SPH supervisor, in consultation with a local clinical supervisor and the unit coordinator, based upon area of interest to the student. Feasibility is a critical criterion for selection of the topic given the tight time frame. Students who are unable to find a local research supervisor may contact the unit coordinator as a limited number of research projects may be offered.
Teaching Project:
A teaching project will involve development, teaching and evaluation of a teaching and learning resource equivalent to at least 9 hours of face-to-face teaching time, with a minimum of three hours of this to be delivered online. Supervision for a teaching project will be provided by a clinical epidemiology teaching team member. Supervision is flexible but will include face to face meetings, email and telephone support.
For both projects a minimum of five meetings are required and to be organised by the student, including one at the beginning and one at the end of semester (five meetings with local supervisor and Unit Coordinator combined).

This unit of study introduces you to qualitative research in health. It is designed for beginners and people who want an advanced level introduction. We will examine core concepts like methodology and reflexivity; consider approaches to research design (including sampling and developing research questions), data collection (including interviewing, focus group, observation, visual methods) and analysis; and discuss frameworks for thinking about research ethics and research quality. You will get practical experience in research design, data collection, data analysis and evaluating published qualitative literature. Throughout we will consider the value of qualitative approaches for constructing knowledge about health and hear from working qualitative researchers about how they use qualitative methods in their work.

This advanced unit of study extends students' practical and theoretical knowledge of qualitative research to provide advanced concepts and skills in qualitative data analysis and writing. We will explore the principles of qualitative analysis, review different analytic strategies and key analytic tools. You will learn how to develop codes and themes, use memos and analytic maps, and interpret data through the process of writing. You will learn about starting writing, structuring articles, making analytic arguments, and editing your own work. Throughout, we will consider what it means to think and write 'qualitatively'. Students will conduct a Thematic Analysis on a portfolio of qualitative data and produce a results and discussion section for a journal article. After completing this unit, you will have increased your experience, skills and confidence in qualitative data analysis and writing.

There is a need to improve the efficient and cost-effective use of health care technologies and services at all levels of the health system. This unit covers all aspects of the policy, assessment, monitoring and re-assessment of technologies and services, and techniques to support investment and disinvestment decision-making by public payers and funders. Students will work through key concepts in health technology assessment as well as the key institutions and processes for regulating and managing the use of health technologies. Students will work through real world scenarios as case examples.

This unit caters for practitioners, policy and decision-makers, students and researchers in public health, public policy, journalism, law, epidemiology, medicine, science, industry, ethics, philosophy, screening, communication and advocacy. It gives a basic introduction to concepts in genetics and genomics, and covers real-life examples of how genetics and genomics is used in health settings including genomics for COVID-19 control, genomic testing and screening for cancer, familial hypercholesterolemia, newborns, community settings, and in outbreak investigations. It covers epidemiological, psychosocial, legal, ethical, education and policy aspects of genomic testing, and genetic determinants of disease.

Throughout our lives, information about our health and the care we receive is recorded and stored across various health-related databases, e.g., hospital admissions, ambulance service, cancer registry. Data linkage is a process that brings together information from different databases about the same individual, family, place or event. This process creates a chronological sequence of health events or individual 'health story' that can be combined into a much larger story about the health of people. This information can be used for research or to improve health services. This unit is suitable for health services researchers, policy makers, clinical practitioners, biostatisticians and data managers. We explain how data linkage is conducted, illustrate how data linkage can be used for research, highlighting the advantages, and the dangers and pitfalls. We describe how to design linked data studies, outline the data management steps required before analysing the data, and discuss some of the methods and issues of analysing linked data. Students will have access to data from a real data linkage and will gain hands-on experience to develop their programming skills for handling large complex dataset

This unit introduces the principles underpinning the design and conduct of high quality controlled clinical trials to generate good evidence for health care decision making. The topics include clinical trial design, randomisation, sample size, measures of treatment effect, methodological issues, trial protocols, and ethical principles.

In this unit, you will learn how to analyse health data using statistical models. In particular, how to fit and interpret the results of different statistical models which are commonly used in medicine and health research: linear models, logistic models, and survival models. This unit is ideal for those who wish to further develop their research skills and/or improve their literacy in reading and critiquing journal articles in medicine and health.
The focus of the unit is very applied and not mathematical. Students gain hands on experience in fitting statistical models in real data. You will learn how to clean data, build an appropriate model, and interpret results. This unit serves as a prerequisite for PUBH5218 Advanced Statistical Modelling.

All models are wrong, but some are useful. Developing a useful statistical model from the available data can be challenging! For example, what should you do if a model assumption is violated, or if data are missing? Your statistical toolkit will be expanded to include modern techniques for tackling challenging issues that often exist in health research data, e.g. missing observations, non-linear effects, confounding and correlation between observations in a dataset. The methods for correlated data are relevant for analysing some epidemiological observational study designs (e.g., matched case-control studies, longitudinal studies with repeated measurements), and clinical trial designs (e.g. cluster RCTs, cross-over RCTs). Techniques to help assess the usefulness of a model will also be covered. This unit of study focuses on the application of statistical methods using the statistical software R. Topics: fractional polynomials for non-linear effects; mixed or random effects and marginal models (e.g. GEE) for correlated data; multiple imputation for missing data; propensity score for confounding; tools to assess model performance and classification.

This unit of study is intended for students who have completed Epidemiology Methods and Uses (or an equivalent unit of study) at a credit or higher level. It is designed to extend students' practical and theoretical knowledge of epidemiology beyond basic principles and in particular to give them a practical understanding of how epidemiological principles and practices are used in real world settings. Students are given an opportunity to acquire some of the practical knowledge and skills needed to undertake epidemiological research and also to consolidate their critical appraisal skills.

The overall aim of the course is to develop students' knowledge and skills of economic evaluation as an aid to priority setting in health care. Students will be introduced to the principles of economic evaluation and develop skills in the application of those principles to resource allocation choices. Emphasis will be placed on learning by case study analysis and problem solving in small groups. This unit covers: principles and different types of economic evaluation; critical appraisal guidelines; measuring and valuing benefits; methods of costing; modeling in economic evaluation, the role of the PBAC, introduction to advanced methods including use of patient-level data and data linkage. The workshops consist of interactive lectures, class exercises and quizzes.

This unit combines decision theory and more advanced health economic concepts to provide students with hands-on skills in specialised analysis methods, and modelling techniques, for evaluating healthcare options and reaching recommendations in the face of uncertainty. Students will calculate and analyse data from clinical studies, extrapolate clinical study results to other settings, and construct models that synthesise evidence (and expert opinion) from multiple sources. Specific topics of study include: decision trees; expected utility theory; sensitivity and threshold analysis; the value of information (including screening and diagnostic tests); the calculation and analysis of costs and quality-adjusted survival using individual patient data (including bootstrapping techniques); Markov processes and micro-simulation; and presenting and interpreting the results of (health economic) evaluations. Lectures are accompanied by practical exercises and readings. Students gain experience applying the methods presented in lectures via computer practicals using Excel and decision analysis software (TreeAge).

This unit introduces students to the concepts, methods and applications underpinning cancer prevention and control at the population level. It is designed to offer a broad-based perspective on public health approaches to cancer across the continuum from prevention through to screening, diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and palliative and supportive care. We will critically appraise policies and interventions that have the potential to reduce cancer incidence and mortality, prolong survival and improve quality of life. Although each topic will be presented in the context of specific cancers and the Australian health care system, the principles and frameworks will be relevant for regional and global cancer control efforts. At the completion of the unit, students will be equipped with the basic tools to design, plan, implement and evaluate cancer control strategies and programs.

This course provides a systems-informed and high-level public health approach to examining the global issue of chronic diseases (e.g. cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, cancer, chronic lung disease) and their prevention. The course examines why chronic disease is a global problem, and describes WHO frameworks for chronic disease prevention. It also reviews the epidemiology of specific chronic diseases including trends in and surveillance of these conditions, and their antecedent risk factors and conditions, and discusses the global (and country level) burden of disease. The unit will include some discussion of clinical prevention, in particular, the role of primary care, other clinicians and allied health professionals in providing lifestyle advice for people with chronic disease (tertiary prevention) and for people without chronic disease (primary prevention). Students will be involved in evaluating the effectiveness of different prevention strategies and will examine the role of health policy and strategic planning in developing effective and sustainable chronic disease management programs and health services in different settings (in Australia and the region). This unit is complementary to PUBH5555 Lifestyle and Chronic Disease Prevention, which focuses on addressing each of the major individual behavioural risk factors.

This unit will significantly advance your philosophical, theoretical and practical understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and societies within the context of public health. We will use case studies grounded in diverse urban, regional and remote communities and the life experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to explore key constructs. These include transgenerational psychic trauma, racism, political structures and systems, cultural determinants, ethics, and global indigenous epistemologies. Together we will investigate the reasons why Australia has so far been unable to close the gap across almost all indicators of health and wellbeing, and explore innovative, ethical and effective solutions. Throughout this unit you will be encouraged to interact with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics, health professionals and community members, and your unit coordinator, tutors and fellow students, and feel confident to ask difficult questions and debate the responses. Our aim is to give you the practical and conceptual knowledge and skills necessary to work respectfully and effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from across the nation.

The suite of epidemiological practices and methods unique to infectious diseases comprises a critical toolkit that is urgently needed by epidemiologists in our current pandemic era. This unit will provide students with a firm understanding of infectious disease processes, modes of transmission, and transmission dynamics in populations of diverse demographic characteristics. Students will learn a standardised framework of infectious disease epidemiology to understand how pathogens move through populations and from which we can derive key parameters such as the basic reproduction number, epidemic growth, epidemic thresholds, and herd immunity thresholds. We will also incorporate aspects of networks and ecology to understand the ways in which contacts, and other forms of interaction, between individuals or between individuals and vectors influence transmission dynamics. Finally, we will explore the ways in which various public health interventions can be used to arrest infection transmission within populations and how to monitor the effects of such interventions.

This unit of study critically examines research ethics in its wider context, from how research is structured to its dissemination. It explores the ethical underpinnings of a variety of research methods and their uses in
humans and non-human animals including the justifications for engaging in research, key concepts in research ethics and research integrity. The unit also briefly examines the history of research and the impact of research abuse on participants, both human and non-human animal.

This unit provides students with an overview of the ethical and political issues that underlie public health policy and practice. The unit begins with some fundamentals about the nature of public health. We then explore key concepts in public health ethics including equity, liberty, utility, justice, and solidarity, and consider different ways of reasoning about the ethics of public health. A range of current public health problems and issues are presented and discussed, including ‘lifestyle’ diseases, screening, public mental health, health communication, and pandemics. Throughout, the emphasis is on learning to make sound arguments about the ethical aspects of public health policy, practice and research. Students will be encouraged to ask questions, and to compare and debate competing answers to those questions. What is public health? To what extent should we each be free to engage in practices that harm our health? What is the proper role of the state in attempting to change the health of populations? What is equity and why does it matter (and why aren’t we doing more about it)? Most learning occurs in the context of five teaching interactive intensives and the assigned course readings, which focus on the development and application of reasoning skills.

This unit will facilitate students to critically review the ethical issues that underlie the delivery of healthcare. Students will explore: dominant theoretical approaches relevant to ethical reasoning in the clinical context; key ethical concepts in the clinical encounter (such as autonomy, professionalism and confidentiality); major contexts in which ethical issues arise in clinical practice (such as the start and end of life); and the role of clinical ethics consultation. The unit will also consider specific issues and populations within clinical practice, such as healthcare in underserved populations. This Unit is taught predominantly online. Depending on student interest, periodic interactive workshops will also be offered. These can be attended in person, or via Zoom (synchronously or asynchronously).

This unit of study introduces students to human research ethics in its wider context It explores the ethical underpinnings of the research endeavour including the justifications for engaging in research and research integrity The unit also briefly reviews the history of research and the impact of research abuse on human participants

Medicines save lives but they can be costly and can have serious adverse effects. Value-laden decisions are continuously being made at individual, institutional, national and international levels regarding the medicines we need, want and can afford. In this unit of study, we will explore and critique global and national policies and processes related to medicines, examining how research and development agendas are set; how medicines are assessed and evaluated; and how new technologies are translated into practice. We will also explore broader trends such as globalisation, commercialisation and changing consumer expectations. By the end of the course, students will understand the forces shaping the development, regulation, funding and uptake of medicines both nationally and internationally, and the political, ethical, legal and economic issues that are at stake. This course is designed to appeal to a wide range of students from ethics, law, public health, health care, policy, communications, economics, business, politics, administration, and biomedical science.

This unit aims to develop a critical and comparative understanding of the history, theory and practice of health policy as well as provide students with an understanding of the main concepts and analytical methods of health economics and political economy. It gives an overview of the political choices and frameworks that shape decision making in health. By the end of this unit students will be able to: Define the boundaries and key features of health policy; Identify policy instruments and how they function; Understand the main frameworks used for analysing health policy, and different approaches and perspectives regarding setting priorities in health policy; Apply methods and principles of health economics e.g. resource scarcity, opportunity cost, efficiency and equity to practical real-life examples; Critically analyse the role of economic evidence in informing policy decisions in health decision-making in Australia.

This unit aims to equip students with operational knowledge of the structures and financing of health systems. The focus will be on Australia and comparable countries. However, we will also look at particular issues around lower income and aid dependent health systems. Topics covered include funding priorities and mechanisms, the debates over the public-private mix, governance and accountability. The unit addresses questions such as: Who makes decisions about funding priorities? To whom should decision makers be held accountable and for what aspects of their work? How does health financing shape universal health coverage? By the end of this unit students will be able to: Apply a critical understanding of the basic history and features of the Australian and comparable health systems; Debate the main models and principles of health system funding, including principles of insurance, risk-pooling, equity, delivery and governance; Undertake a cross-country comparative analysis of health system features and outcomes, including low and middle income countries; Critically analyse national health budgets and funding programs; Locate finance policy in the wider context of health systems and economies.

Healthcare is now one of the largest employers and sectors in the Australian economy. Approximately two thirds of its funding comes from government, while two thirds of services are provided by the private sector. This unit explores this complex mix, building an understanding of the inter-relationships among the players in the industry, public and private. The course will explore the financial and regulatory environment in which providers operate and identify the main business models used by different players in the industry, including service providers, private insurers, employers, and government regulators. The unit draws on expert lecturers, international comparisons and case studies to give an understanding of the incentives and constraints that shape strategies to create value in health care. By the end of the unit students will: Have an understanding of the 'eco-system' of health care; Be able to navigate the regulatory and technological aspects of business in the health sector; Be able to identify and evaluate public and private business strategies and business plans in the main health care sectors.

This project unit provides an opportunity to apply skills learnt in other units and further develop knowledge and skills by undertaking a systematic review (ideally including a meta analysis) in a topic area nominated by the student. The unit is student-driven with no direct supervision, but the student will have three chances to interact with the unit coordinator, to define the research questions, to discuss the selected methodology, and prior to submission. The assessment task is to undertake a systematic review of randomised trials and present the review in the form of a paper suitable for submission to a peer reviewed scientific, academic or professional journal.

This unit of study will appeal to anyone wanting to write medical papers for conferences or journals, or to improve their paper writing skills. Students will work at their own pace through 9 modules covering research integrity, medical style, abstracts, presentations and posters, constructing a paper, data visualisation, manuscript submission, responding to reviewers' comments, post-publication research dissemination, and peer- reviewing a paper. This unit aims to teach students the principles of research integrity in writing for medical journals, typical issues they may face, and link to resources to help them maintain integrity through their publishing careers. It will guide them to reliable evidence-based resources to improve their conference abstract, presentation and poster design, and manuscript style and writing. Students will learn about reporting guidelines, common pitfalls in writing and presenting research, choosing a journal, keywords, improving tables and figures for manuscripts through open source software, copyright, writing cover letters and response letters to reviewers. Students will learn about measuring research impact and ways to improve research reach, dealing with the media and press releases, using social media in dissemination, digital archiving and basic skills needed to act as a peer-reviewer. This is an online unit, but those needing to study in block mode will do online study as well as a workshop.

In this unit of study, the student will develop his/her own research proposal, to a standard suitable for a peer-reviewed granting body. Each section of a grant proposal (Abstract, Aims, Background, Significance, Methods) will be discussed, with the student presenting and refining the corresponding section of his/her own proposal in a synchronous online workshop setting. This will be complemented by online presentations from experienced researchers on the practical aspects of clinical research. Topics include: observational studies, randomised controlled trials, diagnostic test evaluation, qualitative studies, economic evaluation, and process evaluation. The unit will conclude with a one-day, face-to-face, mandatory workshop where students will learn about budgeting, qualitative research, strategies and grant administration, research ethics and peer review of research grants.

The aim of this student-driven capstone unit is either:
1. to conduct a clinical epidemiology research project and to write a research report on the project in the form of a paper suitable for publication
2. to conduct a teaching project to produce a teaching and learning resource.
Research Project:
A research project will involve: drafting and refining the project proposal; data collection; data analysis; and produce a report suitable for publication in a peer-reviewed journal. This project unit is a capstone unit and student driven. It is the responsibility of the student to identify a suitable project and SPH supervisor, in consultation with a local clinical supervisor and the unit coordinator, based upon area of interest to the student. Feasibility is a critical criterion for selection of the topic given the tight time frame. Students who are unable to find a local research supervisor may contact the unit coordinator as a limited number of research projects may be offered.
Teaching Project:
A teaching project will involve development, teaching and evaluation of a teaching and learning resource equivalent to at least 9 hours of face-to-face teaching time, with a minimum of three hours of this to be delivered online. Supervision for a teaching project will be provided by a clinical epidemiology teaching team member. Supervision is flexible but will include face to face meetings, email and telephone support.
For both projects a minimum of five meetings are required and to be organised by the student, including one at the beginning and one at the end of semester (five meetings with local supervisor and Unit Coordinator combined).