Certificate

Specialist Certificate in Public Health

Where will this take me?

Overview

The Specialist Certificate in Public Health will provide skills that prepare students for public health practice and strengthen existing professional skills in health care practice, policy and management.

The Specialist Certificate will also provide a stepped pathway into Graduate Certificate in Public Health and the University’s flagship Master of Public Health (MPH) program.

Career outcomes

The Specialist Certificate in Public Health will widen or strengthen employment prospects across a range of sectors, as follows:

  • Non-Government Organisations, for example international health agencies (either based in Australia or overseas) and large and small local disease specific agencies
  • Government affiliated organisations, such as hospitals, primary health care organisation, large international health organisations;
  • Government (Local, State and Federal)
  • Universities and Research Institutions
  • Private companies, usually based in Australia. These can be larger consulting firms, smaller health focused consulting firms, health communication companies or the pharmaceutical industry.

Within each of these sectors, there are a variety of roles undertaken by public health professionals, including:

Community Health and Wellbeing Officer Data Analyst     Awareness Officer Epidemiologist
Health Promotion, Planning and Evaluation Officer Public Health Associate Public Health Consultant Health Coordinator
Health Economist Project Officer Policy Officer Ethics Officer
Monitoring and Evaluation Coordinator Capacity Building Officer Quality Advisor Senior Research Assistant

COVID-19 demonstrated the importance of public health practitioners in keeping communities safe and healthy. Many of our students and alumni worked as ‘disease detectives’ to assist the Victorian Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS), while our academic experts helped shape public policy to inform society’s understanding of the pandemic through the National Health and Medical Research Council.