Health Protection - Online

Course Outline
The programme aims to provide students, from a range of different professional backgrounds, with core knowledge and skills related to the practice of Public Health and Health Protection. This course supplies the knowledge and skills necessary for health protection (infection control) and public health on a global scale. The emphasis is on the use of evidence-based healthcare and practice that will enable participants to work in infection prevention and control, putting patient safety and public health principles into effect in both research and professional contexts.

Learning Outcomes/Objectives:
Completion of the course will equip students with the knowledge to support them in the coordination and management of infection prevention, control and health protection services in a broad number of settings.

On completion of the Postgraduate Certificate in Health Protection students should be able to;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of public health.
• Demonstrate an understanding of the appropriate management of infections caused by different pathogenic microorganisms.
• Investigate the transmission of endemic and epidemic infections from sufficient knowledge of the characteristics and transmission of causative organisms.
• Select appropriate methods for control of hospital and community acquired infectious disease.
• Design, implement and evaluate co-ordinated control methods utilising tools such as audit and surveillance.
• Assess constraints of health protection delivery services and provide possible solutions to barriers.
• Describe the global impact of infectious diseases and strategies which are effective, partially effective and ineffective in management and prevention.
• Discuss the wider aspects of Health Protection.
• Discuss and identify effective methods to bring about practice change.

Modules
The programme consists of a total of 30-credit modules; two 10-credit modules and two 5-credit modules. This is a structured online programme that requires approximately 15 to 25 hours of study commitment for the duration of each module. After successful completion and passing of the postgraduate certificate in health protection students will have the option of progressing to a Diploma and Master of Public Health.

Students take the following modules:
EH6094 Public Health: Principles and Practice (10 credits)
EH6150 Introduction to Health Protection (5 credits)
EH6151 Advanced Health Protection (5 credits)
EH6101 Microbiology, Environmental Health and Infectious Diseases (10 credits)

See College Calendar for additional information on the Programme and the Book of Modules for further information on the modules.

Modules
Further details on the modules listed above can be found in our book of modules. Any modules listed above are indicative of the current set of modules for this course but are subject to change from year to year.

University Calendar
You can find the full academic content for the current year of any given course in our University Calendar.

Requirements
- Candidates must possess a Second Class Honours Grade II in a primary honours degree (NFQ, Level 8) in a relevant subject area. Relevant subject areas are biological sciences, medical and health sciences, public health and social sciences.

Note: In some circumstances, applicants without a primary degree or applicants without a relevant primary degree may be recommended for entry to the programme under Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) following a review of their individual qualifications and experience by the course committee. Such applicants may be called for interview, and their admission will be subject to the approval of the School of Public Health's Executive Committee.

Technical Requirements
This programme will be delivered wholly online. As such, there are specific technical requirements that you need to meet.

1. You will need access to a laptop or desktop (either Mac OS or Windows) running a relatively recent operating system (Windows 7, 8, 8.1, 10 or Mac OSX 10.8, 10.9, 10.10 or later). Access to the Canvas Virtual Learning Environment is supported by

UCC through IOS and Android apps, which are available from the respective App stores.

2. You will need access to a reliable broadband connection with at least 2MB download speeds. You can test your broadband or 4G speeds by visiting http://www.speedtest.net.

3. You must have a modern web browser installed. The most reliable options for use with UCC online learning are Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome. Download and installation instructions will be provided. Safari is not suitable.

4. You must have Java and Flash Runtimes installed. Download and installation instructions will be provided.

5. You will require an Office suite of software (Microsoft Office 2003 or later or equivalent) and a PDF reader (preferably Adobe Acrobat Reader XI or later). Please note that registered UCC students have access to discounted software from Microsoft and Adobe.

To engage productively and successfully with the content, basic technical computer skills such as familiarity with word processing, web browsing and email is recommended.

English Language Requirements
Applicants that are non-native speakers of the English language must meet the university approved English language requirements.

For applicants with qualifications completed outside of Ireland:
Applicants must meet the required entry academic grade, equivalent to Irish requirements, please find our grades comparison by country.

International/non-EU applicants
For full details of the non-EU application procedure please visit our how to apply pages for international students. In UCC, we use the term programme and course interchangeably to describe what a person has registered to study in UCC and its constituent colleges, schools, and departments.

Not all courses are open to international/non-EU applicants, please check the fact file above.

For more information please contact the International Office.

How Do I Apply

1. Choose Course
Firstly choose your course. Applicants can apply for up to two courses under one application. Details of taught courses are available on our online prospectus.

2. Apply Online
Once you have chosen your course you can apply online at the online application portal. Applicants will need to apply before the course closing date. There is a non-refundable €50 application fee for all courses apart from the Education - Professional Master of Education - (Secondary School/Post-Primary Teacher Training) which has a €100 application fee.

Applicants for the Postgraduate Diploma in Public Health Nursing must apply on the PAC website when the programme opens for applications.

3. Gather Supporting Documents
Scanned copies of the following documents will need to be uploaded to the online application portal in support of your application. Applicants may need to produce the original documents if you are accepted onto a course and register at UCC.

- Original qualification documents listed on your application including transcripts of results from institutions other than UCC

- Any supplementary items requested for your course.

Please log into the online application portal for more details.

4. Application processing timeline
Our online application portal opens for applications for most courses in early November of each year. Check specific course details.

5. Rounds
For courses that are in the rounds system (Irish and EU applicants), please check the rounds closing dates.

Questions on how to apply?
Please use our web enquiry form to contact us.

Additional Requirements
Please note you will be required to provide additional information as part of the online application process for this programme. This will include the following questions:

You may enter the details of professional or voluntary positions held. We strongly encourage you to complete this section with all relevant work experiences that will support your application.

In addition to your previously declared qualifications, please outline any additional academic courses, self-learning and professional training relevant to this programme.

Please describe your motivation and readiness for this programme.

6 months Part-Time.

Additional Teaching Mode Information
This is a part-time course. This programme will be taught online over 7 months (September-March).

The course allows for progression to an Online Master of Public Health, also delivered by the School of Public Health.

Queries can be directed to Fiona Barry, School of Public Health, UCC at fionabarry@ucc.ie or Maura Smiddy, School of Public Health, UCC at m.smiddy@ucc.ie