Graduate Certificate in Health Management

This course aims to meet the needs of health professionals who are required to document evidence of continuing education in order to maintain active membership in their professional associations, the Australasian College of Health Service Management.

It is designed to serve as a flexible, self-directed entry into other advanced academic courses such as a the Master of Health Management.

Course Aims

This course aims to meet the needs of health professionals working within the general health, aged care or community health service sector who wish to expand their knowledge and skills in the management of health services. It provides core competencies in health services management, including leadership, human resource, systems operations and the financial management of health services. It is designed to serve as a flexible, self-directed entry into other advanced academic courses such as the Master of Health Management. The course prepares graduates for membership to the Australasian College of Health Service Management.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: appraise the interface between health care management theory and practice; understand the analysis of management problems and problem solving techniques; understand specialist knowledge of management methods in managing people and resources; understand the policy and system dynamics driving change in the health sector; and critically analyse available evidence to address problems and opportunities in health and aged care policy and practice.

Graduate Attributes

Knowledge of a Discipline Graduates will demonstrate knowledge of their health management discipline including a global perspective. Knowledge of the discipline is categorised into several areas, including leading and managing systems and services, leading and managing people, facilitating interprofessional collaboration, and managing oneself as an effective and ethical leader. This knowledge of the discipline of health management is taught, practised and assessed across the unit content via written assessments and group work. Communication Skills Graduates will convey ideas and information effectively to a range of audiences and stakeholders throughout the health care system. Health managers rely on effective communication to perform as effective leaders and therefore there is a great emphasis on developing communication skills in the Graduate Certificate in Health Management. Graduates will be able to foster interprofessional practice and collaboration through development of frameworks and models suitable for interprofessional health care with awareness of financial, legal and information systems that enable and constrain interprofessional practice. Problem Solving Graduates will apply logical, and critical thinking to solve a range of problems which confront health managers. They will identify critical issues in the discipline or professional area, and formulate a range of solutions that are appropriate to the national or cultural context of the problem. Information Literacy Graduates will recognise when information is needed, and identify, evaluate, and effectively use information as required. Leading and managing in the health care sector means being engaged with a great deal of information from a great many sources. Ethical Conduct and Social Responsibility Graduates will understand how to behave ethically within their health management discipline and in the broader context of health care. Demonstrate ethical action and social responsibility in their personal, professional and community lives; demonstrate respect for, and acknowledgement of, ideas and knowledge of others; acknowledge the social and ethical implications of their actions; appreciate the impact of social change; recognise social justice issues relevant to their discipline and professional area. Lifelong Learning Graduates will be prepared for lifelong learning in pursuit of personal and professional development in health management. Continuous learning is important for self and system improvement. An essential component of continuous learning is being able to monitor performance and evaluate systems services, and projects, as the health industry is led by safety and quality concerns. The Graduate Certificate in Health Management is committed to establishing life-long learning as part of the graduate's skill base. Life-long learning will be taught, practised and assessed throughout the course. Independence and Collaboration Graduates will work independently and collaboratively to achieve individual and common goals. This includes networking effectively to achieve common goals and to solve problems; appreciate the different approaches that different cultures have to collaborative work; take responsibility and carry out agreed tasks; take initiative and lead others; operate in a range of supportive roles within teams; negotiate, assert their own values and respect the values and contributions of others; evaluate team performance.