Master of Women's Health (Coursework)

The Master of Women's Health provides students with a sophisticated understanding of the various dimensions of effective women's health practice, including health promotion and the multiple determinants of women's health. The course enhances the students' professional knowledge and skills in women's health and offers the opportunity for students to engage with new and emerging fields of study in women's health.

• the gendered nature of the attribution and burden of health and illness
• the significance and nature of evidence
• the intersection of biology with social and cultural contexts
• gendered approaches to health services and technologies
• human and reproductive rights discourses
• gender and health inequalities
• women's health in an international context
• the historical, theoretical and political contexts of women's health discourses
• the principles and processes of research design
• gender-sensitive design and evaluation of health care policies and programs
• gender sensitive approaches to health care practice

Students undertaking coursework subjects only must complete:

• Three 12.5-point core subjects, AND
• 62.5 points of elective subjects of which 25 points of approved subjects may be taken from outside the Key Centre for Women's Health in Society.

OPTION 2: Coursework and Research:

Students undertaking coursework and the research report option must complete:

• 505-948 Research Project Development (12.5 point subject)
• 505-947 Research Project in Women's Health (8,000-word, 25 point subject)
AND:
• Three 12.5 point core subjects in Women's Health
• Two 12.5 point elective subjects

CORE SUBJECTS:

Students must complete the following three CORE subjects for both option 1 and option 2:

ELECTIVE SUBJECTS:

Option 1: Students must complete FIVE electives for this Option of which TWO may be taken from outside the Key Centre for Women's Health in Society with approval.

Option 2: Students must complete THREE subjects from the following list one of which must be 505-948 Research Project Development.

ADDITIONAL CORE SUBJECT - OPTION 2

Students who choose Option 2 must also complete the following subject:

• an undergraduate degree in medicine;
• a 3 year undergraduate degree in a health related field or the social sciences, or equivalent cognate discipline and at least 50 credit points towards the Postgraduate Diploma in Women's Health with at least H2B (70%) average and one year of documented relevant work experience;
• a four year degree in a health related field or the social sciences, or equivalent.

The Selection Committee may conduct interviews and tests and may call for referee reports and employer references to elucidate any of the matters referred to above.

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the Disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Student Support and Engagement Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Overview, Learning Outcomes, Assessment and Generic Skills sections of this entry.

It is University policy to take all reasonable steps to minimise the impact of disability upon academic study, and reasonable adjustments will be made to enhance a student's participation in the University's programs. Students who feel their disability may impact on meeting the requirements of this subject are encouraged to discuss this matter with a Faculty Student Adviser and Student Equity and Disability Support: http://services.unimelb.edu.au/disability

• Highly-developed capacity to critical apply a social model of women's health to women's heath issues
• Sophisticated understanding of the key issues and social processes that influence the health of women
• Capacity to critically appraise evidence related to the health of women
• Advanced knowledge of the health status of women in national and international contexts
• Detailed understanding of the key principles that inform women's policy, practice and program development
• Ability to apply a range of methods to the investigation of women's health problems
• Knowledge of the ways in which women's health problems are constructed historically and in contemporary biomedical and public health practices
• Basic skills in data analysis
• Highly-developed oral and written communication skills
• Highly-developed skills in searching bibliographic databases and synthesizing evidence
• Profound respect for truth, intellectual integrity and the ethics of scholarship

Graduates of the Master of Women's Health will have professional skills enabling them to work effectively at a senior level in health services, health promotion, health policy and program development and research related to the health of women both nationally and internationally. The Master of Public Health provides graduates with advanced training in quantitative data analysis and epidemiological approaches to public health. In contrast the Master of Women's Health will equip graduates with critical capacity to integrate, synthesise and apply a range of evidence in a gendered approach to health practice, policy and program design.

This course is taught by face-to-face teaching in classrooms.

Mid-Year entry is available.