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Career outcomes
Overview
The Graduate Certificate of Sexual Health will give you a comprehensive understanding of sexual health from both a clinical and public health perspective. As a graduate of this course, you will possess highly desired knowledge, skills and expertise needed in the industry.
You will have the opportunity to meet and network with other students who also have aspirations of working in sexual health, most of whom will be from health-related fields and who have a wide range of interests within clinical and public health related fields.
This qualification also counts as graduate training for nurses.
Career advancement opportunities
The Graduate Certificate in Sexual Health offers many opportunities for graduates wishing to specialise in this area of health.
Previous graduates of this course have successfully obtained work in:
- Specialist sexual health clinical services
- Sexual health promotion in community health centres
- Local government and sexuality education in schools
- NGOs in the area of sexual health.
If you’re looking to gain in-depth knowledge and awareness around sexual health, this course will provide you with the grounding you need to expand your skillset and develop your career.
If you are a nursing student who graduates from this course, you will gain a sexual health qualification that counts towards extra training and increases your eligibility for career advancement.
An internationally recognised qualification
As the only course of its kind in Australia, this qualification is an ideal foundation for your local or international career in a sexual health. Previous graduates from this program have also gone on to participate in sexual health management programs overseas for various NGOs.
If you are an international student, you can take subjects from the Graduate Certificate in Sexual Health if you are currently enrolled in the Master of Public Health.
Susan Rose
I was working as a registered nurse at the Royal Women’s Hospital and I wanted to consolidate my knowledge and have a specialist qualification, so I chose to study the Graduate Certificate in Sexual Health.
My end goal was to work at Melbourne Sexual Health, and I’m pleased to have achieved that. Completing the Certificate certainly helped me get the job - it meant I was well-qualified and I also knew some people who worked there through the placements.
The teaching was exceptional, I was really impressed. There were a lot of guest lecturers from Melbourne Sexual Health and they all had up-to-date, relevant knowledge.
There was also a nice balance between academic theory and practical learning. In our seminars the lecturers would set up clinical scenarios to demonstrate skills like taking a sexual health history. But we also referred to the literature and the assignments were challenging, so it was a nice mix.
The course has given me a new perspective in some areas of my work. Previously I didn’t have much experience in the testing and treatment of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and it helped me think about the area from a more epidemiological, public health perspective rather than just considering the individual patient.
I also really enjoyed the focus on teen health and I use a lot of what I learned about working with younger patients in my day-to-day role now. Because the pre-frontal cortex doesn’t develop until our early 20s, I am conscious that adolescents’ ability to weigh up risk versus benefit is very different to my own as an adult. So I use different language and I reserve judgement. Going in with an “I know best” attitude doesn’t work!