Graduate Diploma 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 association, 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 the Master of Health Management.

Course Aims

This course is an introduction to health services management and aims to expand students' knowledge and future career opportunities. The program develops students' knowledge and skills, which lead to an enhanced capacity to manage health services. It is designed to prepare new, aspiring and middle health managers for roles in health services management in a variety of health, aged care and community health service settings. The course prepares graduates for membership of the Australian College of Health Service Management.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, students will be able to: critically appraise the interface between health care management theory and practice; apply evidence based problem solving skills in the analysis of complex issues in health management; apply management methods in managing people and resources; apply specialist knowledge of health services management reform agendas to the healthcare industry; and critically analyse the policy and system dynamics driving change in the health sector.

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. Various aspects of communication are taught practised and assessed in this course including, seeking and assessing information, managing diversity, dealing with conflict, utilising appropriate channels of communication, evaluating content of messages, reporting effectively and presenting well. As a part of building communication skills functioning in groups is structured into the course and taught, practised and assessed through a range of methods. 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, critical and creative thinking to solve a range of problems which confront health managers. They will apply logical, critical and creative thinking to a range of problems; identify critical issues in the discipline or professional area; conceptualise problems and formulate a range of solutions that are appropriate to the national or cultural context of the problem; collect, collate and analyse relevant information to assist problem solving. 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. This includes critically evaluating information and the search process; managing information collected or generated; using information to construct new concepts or to create new understandings; using information with understanding and acknowledging cultural, ethical, economic, legal and social issues surrounding its use; acquiring, organising and presenting information using the latest technology. Ethical Conduct and Social Responsibility Graduates will be well equipped to behave ethically within their health management discipline and in the broader context of health care. They will 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; and, 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. 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; and, evaluate team performance.