Graduate Certificate of Health (GCHH)

Health and Community
GCHealth

Graduate Certificate of Health (GCHH) - GCHealth

Programs at USQ regularly undergo a comprehensive re-accreditation process to assure their relevance and quality. This program is currently being re-accredited and, as a consequence, is likely to undergo some changes. Full details will be made available when it is approved. If you have any questions, please .

	External#
Semester intake:	Semester 1 (February) Semester 2 (July)
Fees:	Domestic full fee paying place International full fee paying place
Standard duration:	1 year part-time
Program articulation:	To: Graduate Diploma of Health; ; Master of Health

Footnotes
#	The Graduate Certificate of Health (Rural and Remote) and (Scheduled Medicines) is only available to students who hold current nursing registration with the Australian Health Professional Registration Authority (AHPRA) and who are located in Australia.

Contact us

Future Australian and New Zealand students	Future International students	Current students
Freecall (within Australia): 1800 269 500 Phone (from outside Australia): +61 7 4631 5315 Email: study@usq.edu.au	Phone: +61 7 4631 5543 Email: international@usq.edu.au	Freecall (within Australia): 1800 007 252 Phone (from outside Australia): +61 7 4631 2285 Email: usq.support@usq.edu.au

Professional accreditation

The Graduate Certificate of Health (Scheduled Medicines) is accredited with the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) to enable graduates to apply for ‘scheduled medicines endorsement’ through the Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Program aims

The aim of the Graduate Certificate of Health is to enable health professionals to extend their professional knowledge, expertise and capacity within one of the following specialised areas of health care:

Rural and remote health
Scheduled Medicines (for nurses)
Community health
General

Program objectives

Graduates of the Graduate Certificate of Health will be able to:

critically reflect on their own clinical and educational practices
engage in effective, supportive, collaborative practice within a specialised context
practice in a professional, legal and ethically justifiable manner according to professional requirements and standards, within a specialised context
advocate and protect the rights of individuals or groups regardless of their cultural background, age and/or geographical situation
critically analyse relevant (i.e. clinical data, government policy, research findings), and apply this knowledge to their selected specialised area
develop a professional identity including independence, interdependence, authority and partnership
demonstrate competence in and appropriate use of language and literacy including spelling, grammar, punctuation and bibliographic referencing.

Australian Qualifications Framework

The Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF) is a single national, comprehensive system of qualifications offered by higher education institutions (including universities), vocational education and training institutions and secondary schools. Each AQF qualification has a set of descriptors which define the type and complexity of knowledge, skills and application of knowledge and skills that a graduate who has been awarded that qualification has attained, and the typical volume of learning associated with that qualification type.

This program is at AQF Qualification Level 08. Graduates at this level will have advanced knowledge and skills for professional or highly skilled work and/or further learning.

The full set of levels criteria and qualification type descriptors can be found by visiting .

Admission requirements

To be eligible for admission, applicants must satisfy the following requirements:

Completion of an Australian university three year Bachelor degree in a health related field, or equivalent.
English Language Proficiency requirements for Category 3.

Admission Criteria

To be eligible for admission to the Graduate Certificate of Health (Rural & Remote) specialisation, applicants must:

hold current Division 1 Nursing registration with the Australian Health Professional Registration Authority (AHPRA).

To be eligible for admission to the Graduate Certificate of Health (Scheduled Medicines) specialisation, applicants must:

be registered as a nurse in Division One of the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA) and must be able to demonstrate at least one years' full-time clinical experience. Applicants must provide a detailed CV including education, clinical experience, professional development, and full time equivalent for each employer.
USQ requires written confirmation that the applicant is currently practicing as a RN and can complete required hours of clinical mentorship in their workplace.

All students are required to satisfy the applicable .

If students do not meet the English language requirements they may apply to study a ��ýapp-approved . On successful completion of the English language program, students may be admitted to an award program.

Requirements for professional experience placements

There is a compulsory clinical requirement for GCHH (Rural & Remote) only. This placement is coordinated through the USQ Professional Placements Office.

Program fees

Domestic full fee paying place

Domestic full fee paying places are funded entirely through the full fees paid by the student. Full fees vary depending on the courses that are taken. Students are able to calculate the fees for a particular course via the

Domestic full fee paying students may be eligible to defer their fees through a Government loan called provided they meet the residency and citizenship requirements.

Australian citizens, Permanent Humanitarian Visa holders, Permanent Resident visa holders and New Zealand citizens who will be resident outside Australia for the duration of their program pay full tuition fees and are not eligible for .

International full fee paying place

International students pay full fees. Full fees vary depending on the courses that are taken and whether they are studied on-campus, via distance education/online. Students are able to calculate the fees for a particular course via the .

Program structure

The program consists of four courses each worth one unit. There is one core course ( ) common to all Graduate Certificate of Health specialisations and three courses specific to the chosen specialisation. HEA8001 Contexts of Practice is required for successful completion of the program.

Program completion requirements

Students are required to successfully complete and three courses specified for the chosen. Students who select to study Graduate Certificate of Health (no specialisation) are required to successfully complete HEA8001 (core course) and three courses from the Graduate Certificate of Health approved by the Program Coordinator to meet the learning outcomes of the award.

Required time limits

Students have a maximum of 2 years to complete this program.

Specific specialisations

Graduate Certificate of Health (Community Health) - enables experienced health and social well-being practitioners to develop the necessary theoretical knowledge and practical application skills to analyse and address human health and social well-being issues within a community health framework.

Graduate Certificate of Health (Rural and Remote Health) - has been developed for registered nurses wishing to further their knowledge and advance their nursing skills in the area of rural and isolated practice. Options for other health professionals who wish to extend their expertise in this area are currently at planning stage.

Graduate Certificate of Health (Scheduled Medicines) - has been developed for registered nurses wishing to further their advanced knowledge and skills in the area of scheduled medicines, under protocol or permit.

Graduate Certificate of Health (General) - no specialisation - enables health professionals to complete the core course () and three courses of their choice approved by the Program Coordinator to meet their professional learning objectives as well as overall program objectives. This pathway may also be used by Registered Nurses with less than one year experience to take courses toward a or Master of Nursing. In this case students would enrol in , , and .

IT requirements

Students should refer to USQ (information about the minimum IT-related requirements necessary for the successful completion of the program).

Articulation

A student successfully completing all courses in the Graduate Certificate of Health program will receive full credit towards the Graduate Diploma of Health in the same major area or in the General stream. Students intending to continue with the Graduate Diploma must apply for separate admission and may EITHER Graduate with a Graduate Certificate and receive full credit as exemptions into the Graduate Diploma, OR choose not to graduate with the Graduate Certificate, in order to transfer their grades, maintain their GPA and articulate into the Graduate Diploma and ultimately qualify from this higher award only. Students who wish to transfer their grades and maintain their GPA into the Graduate Diploma, must advise the Faculty in writing (usq.support@usq.edu.au) of their intention to articulate and this must occur prior to completion of the Graduate Certificate of Health

Related programs

The Graduate Certificate of Health is nested in the Graduate Diploma of Health/Master of Health. The Graduate Certificate of Nursing is nested in the Graduate Diploma of Nursing.

Credit

Credit will only be considered where students have completed, within the last five years, a course which has at least 80% equivalency with courses in the GCHH (maximum two courses).

Enrolment

Part-Time Enrolment

This program is only offered as a part-time enrolment pattern of up to two (2) courses in each semester.

Mid-Year intake

Students may commence the program in Semester 2 as per the recommended enrolment pattern however in some instances may not be able to complete within 2 semesters. Refer to recommended enrolment pattern.

Recommended enrolment pattern

Recommended Enrolment Pattern

Students are able to enrol in any offered mode of a course (on-campus, external or online), regardless of the program mode of study they enrolled in.

Course	Year of program and semester in which course is normally studied						Enrolment requirements
	On-campus (ONC)		External (EXT)		Online (ONL)
	Year	Sem	Year	Sem	Year	Sem
Rural and Remote – Semester 1 intake
					1	1,2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or DOHH or GDNG
					1	1	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: PDEV or MNSG or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or GDNG
^{^}^**			1	2			Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: MNRS or MNSG or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or DOHH
					1	2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or MNSG or PDEV or GDNG
Rural and Remote – Semester 2 intake
					2	1	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or DOHH or GDNG
					2	1	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: PDEV or MNSG or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or GDNG
^{^}^**			1	2			Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: MNRS or MNSG or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or DOHH
					1	2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or MNSG or PDEV or GDNG
Scheduled Medicines - Semester 1 intake
					1	1	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or DOHH or GDNG
					1	1	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNSG or MNRS or PDEV or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH
					1	2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV
					1	2	Pre-requisite: and students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or MNSG or PDEV Co-requisite:
Scheduled Medicines - Semester 2 intake. Note this pathway will take 3 semesters to complete.
					1	2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or DOHH or GDNG
					2	1	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNSG or MNRS or PDEV or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH
					1	1,2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV
					2	2	Pre-requisite: and students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or MNSG or PDEV Co-requisite:
Community Health - Semester 1 intake
					1	1,2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or DOHH or GDNG
					1	2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV
HEA8301 Foundations of Community Health					1	1,2
					1	1	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNRS or PDEV or MNSG or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or GCCO or MCCO or GDCN
Community Health - Semester 2 intake
					1	2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or DOHH or GDNG
HEA8301 Foundations of Community Health					1	1,2
					2	2	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or MNRS or MNSG or PDEV
					2	1	Pre-requisite: Students must be enrolled in one of the following Programs: BHEH or MNRS or PDEV or MNSG or GCHH or GDHH or MOHH or GCCO or MCCO or GDCN

Footnotes
^	is only available to students who hold current nursing registration with the Australian Health Professional Registration Authority (AHPRA) and are located in Australia.
**	Clinical component

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