Master of Public Health - Celebrating 10 years of local, national and global impact

Melbourne School of Population and Global Health

MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH DELIVERING 10 YEARS OF LOCAL, NATIONAL AND GLOBAL IMPACT

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CONTENTS

Foreword 4 Our history

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2011: New beginnings

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2012: The first graduating class of the new program

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2013: Going global, expanding horizons

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2014: Building cultural community locally and globally

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2015: Launch of the Sustainable Development Goals

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2016: Trailblazing remote study, travel and Global Health Competitions

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2017: Advancing First Nations Health and a Nobel Peace Prize! 30 2018: The Declaration of Astana: A shift towards primary health? 34 2019: Accelerating the future of public health

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2020: Public health and pandemic preparedness

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2021: A new focus on prevention and wellbeing in health

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Celebrating 10 years of experiential learning

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Experiential learning in the field

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A new chapter: A new decade of impact

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Our teaching team 56

This digital magazine has been prepared as a living document that can be updated to continue to build and share the knowledge, enriching the experiences and impact of the Melbourne Master of Public Health. This content is designed to be illustrative of the culture, community and local and global reach of the Master of Public Health over the past 10 years.

We have presented a range of student and staff experiences and achievements. We invite you to add your story and thank those who have already done so. Please contact Professor Rosemary McKenzie or Associate Professor Helen Jordan to share your story.

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FOREWORD CELEBRATING THE MELBOURNE MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH

This year we celebrate ten years of the Melbourne Master of Public

For a decade, the Melbourne MPH has produced graduates and

Health. From modest beginnings in 2011 the MPH has grown to one of

attracted academic staff that have significant impact in many ways,

the largest postgraduate public health degrees in Australia with more

in many places, improving and protecting the health of communities

than 2000 graduates from 66 countries achieving global impact in

and advocating for a fairer, healthier society. Our MPH has been

protecting and improving the health of populations.

transformative for graduates and faculty. It is a source of pride, fond

Over the past decade Melbourne School of Population and Global

memories, enduring friendships and global professional networks.

Health has steadily climbed the Shanghai Rankings and is now the

Please join us in celebrating 10 years of the Melbourne MPH as we

number one School of Public Health in Australia and 16th worldwide.

showcase the collective impact of alumni and staff across the shared

The rapid growth in enrolments in the MPH over the past 10 years

global priorities expressed in the Sustainable Development Goals.

reflects our international stature.

Our vision today, as it was in 2011, is that the MPH produces graduates

Finally, a big thank you to all of those who have helped to make our MPH the world class public health education program that it is today.

who are global citizens, skilled in the application of the methods and principles of public health to address inequality and achieve better health outcomes for all.

In every part of the MPH we support diversity and seek to develop adaptable public health professionals ready for work in diverse settings, whether in community, healthcare, government or nongovernment organisations in Australia and internationally.

As a leading School of Public Health we tackle the major population health challenges of our time. Over the course of the Covid-19 pandemic we have seen that public health training has never been more important. Our School has provided critical leadership on public health policy and our MPH students and graduates have been a vital part of the public health workforce in Victoria and overseas.

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Professor Nancy Baxter, Head of School Professor Rosemary McKenzie Deputy Head of School, Director of Teaching & Learning

OUR HISTORY

While the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health was first established in 2001. the involvement of the University in post graduate public health education began well before, under the auspice of the Public Health Education and Research Program (PHERP). This national program was established in 1987 to further develop public health education and research capacity in Australia. It funded a Victorian consortium of Universities comprising the University of Melbourne, Deakin, La Trobe and Monash Universities to deliver a single Master of Public Health across Victoria with specialities offered by each University partner.

In 2009, the end of PHERP funding was flagged and the members of the Victorian MPH Consortium began a transition to stand alone graduate public health degrees in each University.

In MSPGH a rigorous planning and development process was set in train to shape the content of a modern Master of Public Health, responsive to public health challenges and workforce needs in Australia and around the world. Planning was led by Professor Dallas English and the inaugural head of MSPGH, Professor Terry Nolan.

In a highly collaborative process through 2009 and 2010, the MPH Working Group spanned research centres and disciplines, building a new MPH with core competencies and diverse elective offerings, reflecting the research strengths and breadth of the School. The inclusion of qualitative as well as quantitative methods as core in the degree differentiated MSPGH from other schools of public health and cemented our MPH as truly multidisciplinary.

The combination of high-quality teaching and world leading research that underpinned the new degree ensured a highly successful launch of the Melbourne MPH in 2011.

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2011: NEW BEGINNINGS THE MELBOURNE MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH

The newly developed Master of Public Health (MPH) started in 2011 with both trepidation and excitement! Imagine the delight when the School surpassed 100 enrolments, the highest number enrolled on the program to-date!

In our first year, 128 students joined the program in total. Forty-four were international students from 21 countries. With such a diversity of international students, for many it was

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the first time in Australia at an Australian University. The Melbourne School of Population and Global Health (MSPGH) has continued to develop a cohort of global MPH graduates who demonstrate and deliver social and health impact enshrining the Principles set out in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Constitution of 1948.

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STUDENTS REPRESENTING 21 COUNTRIES

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“Melissa was in place as MPH coordinator when the program began and it was Melissa who from that first year did a fantastic job of selling our program, improving it to deliver more efficiency and better accountability as well as adherence to standards and much more”.

Professor Dallas English

“2011 was a very exciting year. The MPH Working Group, chaired by Professor Dallas English, had worked tirelessly to put together the new MPH. The first student orientation in 2011 was a one hour evening event on the 4th floor Hub of 207 Bouverie Street with food and drinks afterwards. Meeting the students and hearing of about their goals in studying the MPH and what lead them to join us was a highlight. I recall meeting two students from Bhutan and was humbled they had travelled so far to study with us. I spent part of the evening trying to advise them on where they could find bulk chilli supplies to make Ema Datshi (translation: chilli cheese) the national dish of Bhutan in which the main ingredient is chilli. This inaugural orientation was a wonderful start to my role as MPH Coordinator setting the scene for the next ten years. Meeting each the new cohort of students has been a highlight of each semester.”

Associate Professor Melissa Russell

“I was the last cohort going through the multi-university MPH. I enjoyed every subject, with two in particular standing out for me. They were the Sexual Reproductive Health subject taught by Henrietta Williams and Evaluation taught by Rosemary McKenzie. Both teachers were amazing!

Rosemary became a mentor for me and was instrumental in assisting me to transition careers from science to evaluation. I have moved into my chosen field and have worked in a Medicare Local, Royal District Nursing Service, Burnet Institute (Public Health team), Alcohol and Drug Foundation and now I am a part of the Centre for Evaluation and Research Evidence which supports both the Department of Health and Department of Families, Fairness and Housing. It is a great position and I work with an amazing team of professionals with diverse skills and experiences. We have a privileged position to be able to conduct evaluations that support the departments to deliver programs that benefit Victorians and also build the evaluative culture within departments through advisory support and training”.

Jane Howard, Australia

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“In commencing my MPH at the University of Melbourne, I had to leave my country and family and move to Melbourne, a place I knew nothing about. I started learning with peers, met teachers and experts in Australia, whom I would have never thought of meeting even in my dreams. I came to learn that almost every faculty had their own students’ clubs or associations but the School of Public Health did not. The thought of having our own reverberated in my mind and as many of our fellow students would gather in the Graduate Students Association (GSA) rooms I shared my thoughts with them. Nine of us went forward with the idea and by the end of the second semester, we had significant interest! Following up with the University of Melbourne Student Union (UMSU), I prepared our application and in February 2012 arranged a gathering in the Gryphon Gallery of the GSA to sign a petition to form the club in the presence of a UMSU official. We required 40 signatories and >100 students turned up! Our application and the Melbourne Population Health Student Association (MPHSA) was born! We formed our constitution, held our first election and invited our beloved Public Health Leadership and Management teacher (Professor Rob Moodie) an patron of the club. This was my last semester in the School of Population Health and in enabling the President’s role to pass to the newer students, I acted as an Election Commissioner to help the MPHSA to form its first office. The day we could form our club was one of many fond memories during my time in the University of Melbourne”.

On finishing my MPH, I returned to Bangladesh, joining a government-private platform in infectious diseases and outbreak investigation research and surveillance, the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Research (IEDRC). MERS-CoV and the Ebola pandemic were on the rise and our activities soon turned into country wide preparations working with the WHO. I contributed to the Field Epidemiology Training Program, declared as a Global Disease Detection (GDD) site for the US-CDC during my tenure. I am a founder member of the One Health Initiatives, Bangladesh encompassing several ministries, institutes, organizations at national and international levels including human health, animal health, fisheries, livestock and forestry. In 2016, I joined the Nutrition and Clinical Services Division in the International Center of Diarrheal Disease Research, Bangladesh (icddr,b) as a study coordinator and co-investigator of a large multi country, trial investigating antibiotic use on severe diarrhea in children (ABCD trial) working with the WHO and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF). The ABCD trial officially has ended in 2020 and the trial proceedings are being published in peer reviewed international journals”.

Muhammad Waliur Rahman, Bangladesh

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2012: THE FIRST GRADUATING CLASS OF THE NEW PROGRAM Professor Rob Moodie took over the helm as Director of Teaching and Learning from the beginning of 2012 and highlights that the quality of teaching is a reflection of the importance and respect the School gives to its students.

“When I took on the role, I was really impressed by the wonderful commitment and skills of my fellow teachers. I learned a lot and remember Melissa Russell’s keen focus on highly

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practical job ready skills. So many of the MPH students have now become subject coordinators and leaders as well as teaching associates. A truly collaborative approach to teaching and learning, shows how much students (especially through the Student’s society) can contribute to the teaching, and to the overall student experience, and at the same time how much we as teachers can learn from the students. Public health is a team game, so the ability of students to work through the challenges of working in groups and teams is incredibly important. Many have done this so well that their MPH has created long term, enduring friendships. My most lasting impression is the joy of teaching highly motivated, enthusiastic and talented students”.

Qualitative Research was a relative newcomer to the MPH globally; the program previously had a strong focus on quantitative research only. This new program was quickly embedded into the

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Curriculum and soon achieved some of the highest student experience scores laying the future direction for this as a capability of the School.

To accommodate the different experiences of students and to ensure work readiness for career beginners, a review of the MPH program led to the development of the first Professional Placement Unit (PPU). The program in 2012 started with 9 students who were able to enjoy working with organisations such as VicHealth and the Victorian Department of Health. The placements were achieved by leveraging existing relationships. The PPUs then, as today, are most commonly for 6 months to ensure a robust Work Integrated Learning (WIL) experience.

STUDENTS REPRESENTING 23 COUNTRIES

These foundations have led to a significant take-up of the PPUs over the years, with Sue Durham now at the helm and students having had learning experiences in the UK, Denmark, Malawi, Thailand, Cambodia, Nepal, Myanmar, Bosnia, Vietnam, India, Indonesia and Australia.

It is thanks to Louise Bourchier, Muhammad Waliur Rahman and Syed Ariz that the “MPH Students’ Club” which would subsequently become the “Melbourne Population and Global Health Students’ Society” (MPGHSS) was formed to help bring together all those undertaking the program. It all started with a couple of low-key social events, just some BYO snacks and drinks, in a room in the GSA building. Over the next few months connections developed, momentum built, and in May 2012 the club was officially formed with Chris Bates as the inaugural president. The MPGHSS is now a vibrant and active non-profit organisation. The formation of the group has led the ongoing development of the student community over the decade with a strong focus on building professional connections, supporting students, and hosting many social events! Our sincere thanks to all those who have led and contributed to the student committees over these past 10 years, for building community and creating the positive culture we have across MSPGH today, and a special thanks to Lucy Westerman for her contribution to the club’s online presence. Here’s to many more years of successful MPGHSS activities and to continuing to build strong networks of alumni across the world!

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“Many of the early students who started with MSPGH were, in equal numbers, public health career beginners who came in through the Melbourne Model or those coming in as career changers. Whilst many came in from a clinical background, others came from journalism and law. The School also had a growing number of people looking to enhance their career in public health and this included an experienced cohort of international students supported by the Australian Government’s AusAward and Australia Award Scholarship programs. Many graduates in this cohort have returned to their home countries to hold senior positions in health system governance and policy.”

Professor Rob Moodie

“Students may be surprised to know that it was Professor Dallas English, the king of epidemiology, who was adamant that MPH students should also learn about qualitative research. As a result, I have had the privilege to work with Richard Chenhall, Emma Barnard and our amazing tutors to introduce MPH students to the value of qualitative research in public health and the importance of critical thinking. We have loved the teaching, and have learnt so much from the MPH cohorts we have taught.”

Professor Louise Keogh

“The teaching and learning community at MSPGH is a great place to work. We have great leadership which is supportive and extremely cognisant and protective of evidence-based emerging pedagogy. Many different teaching specialists contribute to a tight knit and highly functioning team and whilst students no doubt benefit from this hugely, for staff such as myself I feel privileged to continue to learn from day to day about many different aspects of teaching and learning. It’s a really stimulating environment professionally. I think this is reflected to all students from the teaching staff at MSPGH. There is so much expertise available to students in so many different areas whether its quantitative or qualitative research, clinical topics or epidemiology.

I, and the students, are very lucky to have such a range of experts available to provide debate, support and inspiration”.

Dr Henrietta Williams

There are so many memories! Certainly, one that is stuck in my mind is that of my first time being on campus! I looked at all those buildings and people around and I was so amazed! I thought to myself “will I be able to do this”? And I did! It was a wonderful adventure all the way through!

Sara Pauline Saija, Mozambique

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YOUR VOICE MATTERS “Completing my MPH in 2012 was the culmination of previous years’ exploration through science, health sciences, international development and education. I landed in the MPH and knew I’d found my place. I loved combining my previous understandings of science and culture with behaviour change and social justice issues.

The MPH brought rigour to my use of epidemiology and biostatistics, and a critical eye to program design and evaluation. I was challenged learning about complex behaviour and systems change and inspired by the social justice and equity issues raised.

I continue to apply these learnings throughout my professional career in health promotion. The practical and analytical skills I developed in my MPH have been highly relevant to my chosen career and my practicum at Melbourne Sexual Health Centre served as a valuable entrée into a professional workplace. Throughout, I also maintained my link to the MPH through tutoring and lecturing in health promotion and developing a series of online Health Advocacy modules that are currently in use.

The pandemic has shown the world how important public health is globally, in terms of social, societal and economic impact. It is time for us to use our voice and show our impact. Advocacy Matters!

Almost 10 years on, I can also look back and see the value of interpersonal skills I developed such as communication, leadership and networking. I run into MPH colleagues in all sectors of my professional life and still make time to catch up with MPH friends. I am encouraged to see a new network of MPH graduates take on the many public health challenges of our time”.

Clara Adams, Australia

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2013: GOING GLOBAL, EXPANDING HORIZONS 2013 was an extremely busy year with significant changes including consolidation of teaching and research with the School moving from 12 centres, units, groups and institutes into 4 centres, one institute and two partnership groups.

It was during these changes that the Nossal Institute for Global Health became part

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of the School with the renaming of the new organisation as the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health (MSPGH). 2013 was a significant time in population health globally with the approved resolution for Universal Health Coverage (UHC) at the end of the preceding year urging governments to move towards providing all people with access to affordable, quality healthcare services.

It was also in this year that two new student programs were started:

• the international student exchanges and • the intercalated Medical Degree and Master of Public Health (MD/MPH).

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The intercalated MD/MPH degree was introduced to provide medical students an opportunity to take the MPH in a compressed time frame and represents the shortest educational pathway to membership of the Australasian Faculty of Public Health Medicine, a chapter of the Royal Australian College of Physicians. The first year saw seven students enrolled. The first cohort were an impressive group who dived into the unknown, took a year out of their medical studies and are now emerging as leaders in their chosen fields, paediatrics, general practice, cardiology and public health physician training. Those that have done the MD/MPH are at a real advantage whether they go into clinical medicine or public health. Not only do they have greatly refined

STUDENTS REPRESENTING 23 COUNTRIES

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skills in research methodologies, but they are enfranchised by new skills in planning, project management and leadership, and by their broad and deep understanding of the local and global health systems they operate in.

“A strong motivation for me entering the MPH was the prospect of cancer epidemiology and how I could get involved in resource distribution in the health system. I was mainly thinking in Australia at that time, especially Indigenous populations, but when I got into the MPH and learnt so much about global health and met so many people, I realised the knowledge available is much broader than I previously experienced. It was a real eye-opener. I was immediately drawn to the course in Jamkhed especially and without a doubt it was life changing. I took that overseas opportunity to do an internship in epidemiology in India also and ever since then I have worked in global health.

I look back on my time with the MSPGH as a time of great change and expansion which someday I would like to return to. But for now, I’m working on cancer control across all the Pacific islands, contributing to the NCD aspect of SDG 3, which is a huge burden of disease in the islands. The great thing about working across a large area with a multinational organisation is the networks that I have built to help reduce cancer incidence, SDG 17, and I have a role coordinating these agencies to work towards a shared multinational goal. I’m learning a lot more about gender equity and engaging with women’s groups in order to eliminate cervical cancer, a key WHO strategy and SDG 5.

Lastly, maintaining a connection with the MSPGH has been really valuable to be able to call on the expertise available and catch up with old friends who also work in the Pacific.”

Chris Bates, Fiji

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“Having wanted to work in global health many years before starting my MPH, to me, it would allow me to combine what I had learnt and loved during my Arts and Science degrees, bringing together politics, sociology, cultural studies and languages with human health. It was the determinants of health, rather than health service delivery itself that interested me most and the MPH allowed me to explore that interest in a multitude of ways. I dived straight into all the global health courses offered by the Nossal Institute that my electives would allow. Not only did I get to delve into sex workers’ rights in Papua New Guinea, to understanding how health services were provided to all in Chile, to reducing harm related to drug use in prisons in Uganda, I got to study alongside fellow students from all over the world. It was this richness of learning from the University as well as my peers that built the networks and foundations for my future work.

The determinants of health have continued to be my focus, especially environmental determinants of health. After my degree, I went on to work for WaterAid, leading their health policy, research, advocacy and programs across the Asia Pacific region, and spent three years seconded to WHO in Geneva to work on water, sanitation and hygiene in health care facilities. My work has focussed on how to best foster effective coordination and action across SDG 6, focussed on water and sanitation services, and SDG 3, focussed on human health. My fondest memories so far have been running into colleagues and working with them, especially at global events such as the World Health Assembly in Geneva. I never would have thought, only a few years after my MPH that I would be working with countries such as Zambia, Tanzania and Australia to pose a Resolution at the World Health Assembly in 2019 on water and sanitation services in health care facilities. Thinking back to drafting the Resolution with these countries, I had to lean on what I had learnt about health systems, how to strengthen them, accountability, and the global health architecture, all of which I had studied during my degree. The Resolution was successfully passed, and I also got to celebrate briefly with Tedros, the Director General of WHO! Recently, I have returned to my Alma Mater and am working in applied research at the Nossal Institute and have the privilege of teaching on some of the courses that I adored during my degree. It is an absolute pleasure to reconnect with former MPH friends, students and academics to inspire my next years of global health work ahead.”

Alison Macintyre, Australia

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2014: BUILDING CULTURAL COMMUNITY LOCALLY AND GLOBALLY In 2014, MSPGH and the broader Faculty supported the enrolment of Indigenous students who held senior positions in Indigenous Health in Shepparton and the surrounding Goulburn Valley.

Whilst students were enrolled in the MPH, the pathway allowed those without undergraduate degrees to apply. Fond memories are reported by the staff of

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this time and the program. There is a current Graduate Certificate in Indigenous Communities, run out of the Department of Rural Health in Shepparton.

Several of rural PPUs commenced in 2014 and the MSPGH has worked with the Department of Rural Health to increase the opportunities for students to have rural experiences. The number of placements has risen steadily with students undertaking some excellent projects. PPUs have included working with the Aboriginal District Cooperative in rural Victoria and the Aboriginal Corporation in remote Western Australia. It is a testament to the students and hosting agencies that placements have been able to continue throughout the challenges of the 2020-2021 pandemic with an onsite and online blended approach with extremely

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positive feedback from the hosting agencies.

It was in late 2014 that Professor Rob Moodie took leave to take up a position in Malawi and the School welcomed Rosemary McKenzie as Director of Teaching and Learning (and as of 2021 the Deputy Head of School).

STUDENTS REPRESENTING 29 COUNTRIES

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Lynette Phuong recalls “my parents’ refugee experience inspired me to pursue a Master of Public Health and aspire to helping empower communities globally and locally to progress in health and life. This has seen my public health career span working in health promotion and advocacy, and digital health across Australia, Mongolia and most recently with the World Health Organization in Geneva, Switzerland. Health Promotion, with the charismatic Professor Rob Moodie, was my first subject in the Master’s degree – it was fantastic! I appreciated the introduction to models of health and health promotion, as well as the fundamental elements of successful health promotion in Australia and overseas settings.

Fast forward to my final semester in 2014, I’m ever grateful to have chosen the semester-long ‘Public Health in Practice’ subject led by Professor Helen Jordan alongside my final four elective subjects from the Nossal Institute (yes, it was an intense final semester!). This unit gave us an opportunity to solve current and active public health problems in an encouraging learning environment.

Like the ‘Health Promotion’ subject in my first semester, we were lucky to be spoiled with an inspiring line up of guest speakers and classmates. One of our assigned group assessments required us to put together strategies for a Medicare Local to address the problem of poor oral health among children in their catchment area. One of my group members worked at the Barwon Medicare Local Region so it was almost a no-brainer to pick this region with a ‘champion’ in the group and, of course, pick Slammin’ Sam Tomcat (Geelong Football Club’s mascot) as our mascot with his big smile for our proposed roadshow throughout the region to raise awareness of the importance of oral health with children and their families.

With my creative cap on, I stayed up the night before our final presentation to put together the ‘Keep Kids Smiling Resource Kit,’ which we had envisioned distributing to children during the roadshow through the region to help them develop and enjoy a healthy tooth brushing habit. I was ultraexcited when my supervisor at North Richmond Community Health asked to keep the kit and help look at ways of incorporating these resources into their Chompas and Pearly Whites’ programs”.

Lynette Phuong, Australia

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“As a medical student, I watched patients present at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital with both communicable and non-communicable diseases. Most times, these patients had no money to pay for medical bills and many of them were presenting late with advanced form of diseases. It was a helpless situation. I started thinking seriously about how to fix this problem.

That was when I made the decision to practice the medical profession from the preventive side.

On the other hand, I am a socially active person, so I did not think that sitting in a lonely cubicle in a hospital and seeing patients one at a time was going to be a rewarding career for me. I decided to specialize in public health so that I can learn how to prevent diseases at the population level. I was always drawn to the social, environmental, political and commercial determinants of health in my community.

The MPH at the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health helped me fulfill this career goal. More importantly, the MPH was aimed at developing and nurturing public health leaders who will fit into resource constrained settings. The learning experience was aimed at empowering students to think deeply to identify the root causes of health problems, provided them with tools to conceptualize simple and feasible solutions (ideas) for these problems and at the same time empowered them with the skills and boldness to catalyze the enablers that will make the solutions come to live and confront the contextual barriers that will prevent these solutions to materialize. In addition to learning, the MPH program understood the value of promoting diversity and freedom. Most lecturers understood that we were coming from diverse backgrounds and this had an impact on social circles, learning experience and extra-curricular activities.

The MPHSA (now MPHSS) provided the opportunity to embrace diversity and culture. The high point of my time was serving as the President of the MPHSA from September 2013 to October 2014. I succeeded Lucinda Westermann and handed over to Laura Thomas. It was a rewarding leadership experience.”

Dr Bridget Nwagbara, Nigeria

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2015: LAUNCH OF THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

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2015 saw the United Nations transition globally from the previous 8 Millennium Development Goals to announce 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a central focus on good health and wellbeing through Sustainable Development Goal 3. For all of us in public health, the SDG wheel provides an accessible way to conceptualise population and global health and articulate the social, societal and economic impact whether working locally, nationally or globally.

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STUDENTS REPRESENTING 25 COUNTRIES

In discussing the Sustainable Development Goals Professor Grant Blashki outlines the impact of teaching and also the imperatives and impact of all in achieving Planetary and Global Health “It’s been a privilege to lead the Planetary and Global Health subject for over a decade within the Master of Public Health at the University of Melbourne, an opportunity to meet vibrant intelligent and inspiring young people honing their skills for a rapidly transforming world. This generation of students are highly attuned to the urgency and centrality of planetary health in sustaining global health. As recognised in the SDG’s, human health requires at a minimum a safe climate, clean water and sanitation, sustainable cities and responsible production and consumption. Our students come predominantly from disciplines of health and environment and other fields such as business, arts and engineering reflecting the multi-disciplinary nature of a planetary health issues. We’ve worked hard with my fellow coordinator Dr Naomi Francis and previous co-coordinators A/Prof Tilman Ruff and A/Prof Jim Black to provide a vocational focus for our students whether they are going into research, policy advice, advocacy, media, working with business or other fields. It’s gratifying and energising to see so many of them attain fulfilling and satisfying careers and making substantial contributions to the emerging discipline of planetary health.”

Professor Grant Blashki

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“I’ve become part of an absolutely incredible global community of smart, caring tenacious people who are working really hard every day to promote the health of everyone. I’ve helped to mobilise communities and call for action on non-communicable diseases through global leadership at the NCD Alliance and now at Vic Health, shining a spotlight on practices that are contributing to the high-burden of preventable disease and death all around the world in every country.”

Lucy Westerman, Australia, Instigator of the MPH alumni community on LinkedIn!

“When I sat down at the MPH Orientation Day in February 2014, I truthfully had no real concept of what Public Health was, let alone what impact MSPGH, the MPH and my peers would have in my life both professionally and personally. I had moved to Melbourne after a short career working as a commercial lawyer in Auckland, New Zealand intending to do a Master of Health Law. I wanted to focus my career on doing something that helped others in the health area - but exactly what opportunities these interests could lead were completely unknown. After a brief (and inspiring) coffee with now Professor Marie Bismark (at the time a Senior Research Fellow in the Law and Public Health Unit), I changed my mind and enrolled in the MPH. That first orientation day opened my eyes: a room full of people from over 50 countries, speaking as many languages, from an even wider range of professional backgrounds. Public health was in everything, and the opportunities were endless. At the time, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were due to expire in 2015, and those 8 goals were weaved throughout all of the subjects that I studied. They provided a tangible framework for someone new to the public health sector. It also brought with it an air of reflection and critical evaluation for whether the world had succeeded in the lofty ambitions of the MDGs to ‘shape the 21st century’. It also felt electric insofar that we were at the forefront of a shift in the global prioritisation of health; what would we expect to see at the end of 2015 when the MDGs expired, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) were announced? How could we shape and implement this next phase of global priorities for development? I look back on this now and see a similar parallel in my life. Completing the MPH at the end of 2015 saw the single clearest shift in my career so far, and helped me to understand what was important, how I could contribute to the community, and how I cany do all of this while doing something I love and I am passionate about.

The MSPGH faculty and my fellow students helped form me into an engaged, curious, and enthusiastic member of the public health community, and I have not looked back. Since graduating I have taught into the MPH, had the opportunity to travel around the world as a consultant for WHO working in viral hepatitis, surveillance and systems strengthening capacities (SGD 3), been an advisor for Australian Red Cross Lifeblood for their engagement with governments and industry to promote innovative health solutions (SDG 17), published a range of peer-reviewed articles that have been used to influence policy in Australia for the regulation of health practitioners, and highlighting gender inequality in health (SDG 10), and now as a strategy manager for CSIRO Futures developing roadmaps for Australia’s science and technology innovation and development (SDG 9). I can track all of these opportunities back to the first day at orientation when I realised the unlimited impact that an MPH can have (for the individual and the community), and I would do it all again in a heartbeat”.

Laura Thomas, Australia

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Professor Kathryn Bowen is an international expert on the science and policy of sustainability (particularly climate change) and health and speaks to a topic that we are all highly attuned to – climate change and SDG13. She will work with teaching colleagues to bring to the MPH a research informed perspective and an even stronger focus on health, climate change and sustainability.

“Rewind to 2006 and I was working at the School on a range of global health issues – mainly in the Indo-Pacific, including HIV/AIDs, surveillance of communicable diseases and women’s health.

I had recently completed my MSc (International Health) in Berlin and was looking to continue my interests in global health. I was also trying to figure out how I could meld my two passions of global health and environmental sustainability, which to me, were absolutely crucial areas to work in in order to address the health of human society and the health of our planet. Fast forward to 2015 and the year of the Paris Agreement – the international treaty on climate change which was negotiated at the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris, 2015. This was a turning point for climate change action – the first time the vast majority of countries (195) had agreed to “keep global warming to well below 2degrees C”. It was an incredible time also for the health community, as we had come together in our strongest partnership yet to tackle climate change and the inequitable distribution of its impacts. Since then, the WHO has identified climate change as the single biggest health threat facing humanity. Alongside the ramping up of action within the health sector, I had concurrently completed my PhD in this field of health and climate change while also directly working with Ministries of Health, Environment, Agriculture, Water, Womens’ Affairs and many others – all part of the solution – to work towards ways of better understanding and responding to the health impacts of climate change. My work has been with the WHO, UNDP, UNEP, the Asian Development Bank, the German Development Agency (GIZ), DFAT, amongst others. Work has taken me to the beautiful mountains of Bhutan and Nepal, and the energetic cities of Delhi, Yogyakarta, Bangkok, Colombo among many more. I’ve worked with most countries in the Indo-Pacific and learnt so much along the way! My work is incredibly fulfilling, as I meet local officials and we work together to address their country’s fundamental health issues – which will be exacerbated by climate change. My career highlight to date is my nomination by the Australian Government to be Lead Author on the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, due for release in March 2022.”

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2016: TRAILBLAZING REMOTE STUDY, TRAVEL AND GLOBAL HEALTH COMPETITIONS One of the recurring themes about the MPH is the flexibility and friendships formed. The program is very much one of recognising and accommodating individual needs where possible. Whilst we have all experienced the need to be flexible through the years of the pandemic, Gareth Durrant was already trailblazing a remote global education approach in 2016!

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Repeated themes from past students have been about the long-lasting friendships and strong connections made throughout the MPH. Tan Nguyen took this a step further with a group of MPH friends going on holiday to play football.

The Emory Global Health Case Competition is an international competition where each year six postgraduate students from the Melbourne Global Health Case Competition are selected to represent the University the following year to compete against teams around the world in a pre-set case study. A shout out for the teams in 2016, 2019 and 2020 who received third, first and second places respectively. An amazing achievement!

• In 2016, the competing team won third place – with MPH student Mashaal Chaudhri and Dr 43 STUDENTS FROM OVERSEAS

Jenn Lacy-Nichols, then PhD student in Agricultural Sciences and now with MSPGH.

• In 2019, the competing team won first place – with 1 of the 6 students, David Morgan, from the intercalated MD/MPH program.

• In 2020 the presenting team won second place with Hannah Morgan, MPH student and Hayden Burch, Olivia Baenziger and Travis Lines all doing the intercalated MD/MPH.

And congratulations to Mariam Hachem, an MPH student for being part of the 2021 team examining the challenges of COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

“With backgrounds ranging from political science, medicine, public health and research, the six of us

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came together to work on COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy. The experience taught me the importance of listening, critical thinking and working with individuals from different domain specialisations. This is the only University experience that I’d had in my entire tertiary education history where I have had this chance. I strongly encourage anyone who is thinking of applying for the Emory competition to just go for it!”

Mariam Hachem, Melbourne 2021 team member

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“For me, my MPH is not a static past event that I reflect on and remember. It is an ongoing network of collaborators who I have seen grow professionally and personally over the years.

We still seem to collide and share work and contract opportunities, weigh in on new projects or celebrate milestones. I think I was somewhat of a trailblazer in terms of doing my biostatistics, epidemiology, evaluation and capstone units while overseas. What was the point of studying Global Health if you couldn’t do that while also pursuing work opportunities overseas? I’m grateful I was supported in those endeavours by faculty and staff. Throughout my MPH and shortly after I worked primarily in large International Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) in the health and human rights space in Asia-Pacific but left in 2018 to join a smaller consultancy co-op. Since my MPH I’ve been building a body of work using emergent strategy and facilitation, equity-based design and systems thinking to envision a more radical future in global public health. That includes improving random control trials for healthcare interventions in Thailand by designing with folks who have participated in them, reimagining what it means to age in China, designing age-friendly cities and communities with 79-year-olds in the Philippines. The SDGs that most resonate with my experience are 3, 5, 9 and 16.”

Gareth Durrant, Taiwan

“I enjoyed everything about the MPH. It gave me a renewed focus on advancing dental public health. I particularly enjoyed the company of three friends with a shared passion for football and our memorable trip to Langkawi, Malaysia. My current research interests aligned with the SDGs are improving population oral health and reducing oral health inequities. My future focus will be to contribute towards the integration of oral health as part of universal healthcare in Australia.”

Tan Nguyen, Australia

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VOLUNTEERING WITH HEPATITIS VICTORIA Volunteering has always been a big part of the MPH community. The picture depicts alumni, MPH students and Professor Rosemary McKenzie at the 25 Year Anniversary celebrations of Hepatitis Victoria.

From 2011 to 2016 more than a dozen MPH students volunteered in the health promotion and Hepatitis B prevention campaigns conducted by Hepatitis Victoria, with the multilingual skills and cultural understanding of our international student volunteers making a real difference in reaching CALD communities. Several of these volunteers went on to gain employment with the NGO and all have gone on to significant roles in health promotion and prevention programs in Australia and in home countries.

The MSPGH continues to work with a number of Not For Profit organisations and government departments within the PPU program. For example this year with LiverWELL (formerly Hepatitis Victoria), Diabetes Victoria, Orygen, Australian Red Cross, Lifeblood, STREAT, the International Planned Parenthood Foundation, Victorian Healthcare Association, mental and public health services, breast screening and a number of primary care partnerships, for example in social prescribing evaluation.

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2017: ADVANCING FIRST NATIONS HEALTH AND A NOBEL PEACE PRIZE! 2017 was a significant year for the MPH, with a strategic review, development of new curriculum on First Nations Health and academic staff member Dr Tilman Ruff winning a Nobel Peace Prize for his campaigning for nuclear disarmament.

In an ongoing refresh to ensure the program was delivering contemporary, relevant learning

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outcomes, a strategic review of all subjects was undertaken with the “University’s core mission being to teach, to graduate students who go on to pursue meaningful careers and make important contributions to society.”

The areas of strategic focus were:

• Quality: Delivery of the highest quality learning, teaching through regular reporting, monitoring, review and oversight.

• Student experience: Ensure the highest quality MSPGH student experience • Innovation and development: Support innovation and development in teaching and learning.

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• Professional development: Support and promote teaching excellence that is recognised and valued by MSPGH.

• Collaboration internal and external: Build a culture of interdisciplinary collaboration in MSPGH. Develop knowledge partnerships with international educational institutions and industry.

Based on employer feedback regarding knowledge and skills application, Prioritising and Planning in Public Health was introduced as a core subject into the program. The program was developed with reference to international public health standards to ensure curriculum and

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learning outcomes were benchmarked globally.

Dr Sheila Scopis joined MSPGH to work with Alister Thorpe on the development of videos focused on leadership in Indigenous Health as well as developing a new subject in Indigenous Health called ‘Indigenous Health in a Global Context’. Professor Shaun Ewen, Professor Marcia Langton, Professor Richard Chenhall, Professor Janet MacCalman and Professor Ian Anderson (the former head of the Centre for Health and Society, the predecessor of the Centre for Health Equity) all contributed advice in developing the Indigenous Health curriculum for the MPH. Natalie Ironfield was selected for The Aurora Indigenous Scholars International Study Tour in October and November 2017. This study tour taking Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander university students and graduates to visit leading universities in the UK and US. The group of successful applicants left Australia in late October 2017 and spent approximately three weeks in the US visiting Berkeley, Stanford, Harvard, Columbia and NYU, and approximately ten days in the UK at Cambridge, Oxford, London Business School and the London School of Economics. The initiative provides opportunities for students to gain insight into the realities of undertaking postgraduate study at these leading institutions and involves meetings with key academics and administrators at each university, as well as current students in the areas of the participants’ interest.

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A highlight for Kate Chalmers, MPH and Past President of the MPGSHA was the International Student Night. Again, a wonderful celebration of community and diversity, a theme that runs throughout the 10 years of the MPH at Melbourne.

Kate cites with pride the development of skills programs for students such as EndNote training course that is still running today. Following her MPH, Kate became an integral member of the Teaching & Learning team working as a Project Officer in the Capstone, PPU and Public Health in Practice electives.

Kate Chalmers

The challenges of the pandemic have exacerbated the many, growing challenges of Mental Health. For Dr Stephen Carbone embarking on an MPH ignited a passion and focus on mental health promotion.

“After graduating with a medical degree in 1985, I embarked on the fairly traditional path of becoming a clinician and GP with a special interest in mental health. While I enjoyed working on the frontline in primary care, I found myself being drawn towards exploring the ‘bigger picture’ side of things. Following a degree in social work I became involved in mental health policy including the privilege of working on service reforms such as the development of Orygen and headspace youth mental health services. I then started the Master of Public Health course at the University of Melbourne. I decided to do the course because it seemed to bring all my interests together under the one umbrella – understanding the biological, psychological, social, cultural and economic factors that shape our wellbeing and the programs, services, policies, laws and societal changes that can create better health and mental health outcomes. While completing the course, I landed a job at VicHealth and then Beyond Blue where I was able to apply the skills I was learning in the course to the real-life world of mental health promotion. Mental health promotion is basically the mental health equivalent of health promotion, and it is more broadly focused on promoting positive mental health, preventing mental ill-health, and improving mental health literacy. Undertaking the MPH allowed me to see a major gap in the way we were approaching mental health and even public health in Australia. In the physical health realm, we’ve been focusing on health promotion and illness prevention for decades, while the promotion of mental wellbeing and the prevention of mental health conditions is barely on the mental health or even the public health radar. And so, I decided to establish a new mental health promotion charity called Prevention United focused on preventing mental health conditions through efforts to modify the underlying risk and protective factors that contribute to mental ill-health. I absolutely loved doing the MPH at the University of Melbourne. It was one of the most useful courses I’ve done.”

Dr Stephen Carbone, Australia

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OUR FIRST NOBEL PEACE PRIZE: DR TILMAN RUFF Whilst many of you may know that SDG 16 is Peace and Justice, many may not know that Dr Tilman Ruff, an infectious diseases and public health physician, with a particular focus on the urgent planetary health imperative to eradicate nuclear weapons, established with others, the International Campaign Against Nuclear Weapons( (ICAN) and won the Nobel Peace Prize for their role in nuclear disarmament.

Tilman’s work addresses the broader public health dimensions of nuclear technology and is featured in this moving film from the National Portrait Gallery.

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2018: THE DECLARATION OF ASTANA: A SHIFT TOWARDS PRIMARY HEALTH? On 25–26 October 2018, ministers, health workers, academics, partners and civil society came together to recommit to primary health care as the cornerstone of UHC (first announced in 2012) in the bold new Declaration of Astana.

The Declaration was a focus to renew political commitment to primary health care from

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governments, non-governmental organizations, professional organizations, academia and global health and development organisations. The WHO in partnership with UNICEF and the Ministry of Health of Kazakhstan hosted this Global Conference on Primary Health Care 40 years after the adoption of the historic Declaration of Alma-Ata. Building on the theme of global health and previous programs of health systems and global health systems run by Helen Jordan and Peter Annear, the new Comparative Health Systems program was launched in 2018. A week-long intensive looking at global health systems, how they are financed, how responsive they are and how we need to take on a more systems focused approach to health not just focusing on diseases or pillars.

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In 2018, a team led by Dr Alison Morgan together with Ms Prarthna Dayal, Dr Matthew Reeve, Professor Peter Annear, Dr Krishna Hort, Professor Barbara McPake, Professor Ajay Mahal and Ms Katherine Gilbert at the Nossal Institute were awarded the Norman Curry Award which recognises programs and initiatives in innovation and excellence in support of, and service to, teaching and learning including distinctiveness, coherence and clarity of purpose; a positive influence on student learning and student engagement; breadth of impact; and concern for equity and diversity. Recognising the role of technology in enabling this shift, since joining the MPH teaching team in 2009, Dr Enes Makalic has endeavoured to deepen the connection between teaching and research.

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In 2018, Dr Enes Makalic was awarded the inaugural MDHS Dean’s Fellowship for Learning and Teaching. The Fellowships develop and celebrate excellence in learning and teaching practice and innovation and provide enhanced professional development opportunities for teaching staff through funding short national or international visits that foster significant and lasting connections with internationally recognised leaders in learning and teaching. The plans at the time included a study visit to South Korea to look at the feasibility of a new elective subject focused on applied machine learning in public health. Congratulations are also due to Enes for winning the David White Award for Teaching Excellence as part of the 2020 Melbourne Excellence Awards Program.

Building on the student exchanges that started in Lund in Sweden in 2013, the Public Health Foundation India (PHFI) was set up 2018. The MPH Mentoring program, led by Sue Durham, was piloted in 2018 and has a variety of final year MPH students matched with a range of Alumni Mentors both within Australia and internationally.

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Past MPH student, Warwick Padgham, Program Manager, Indigenous Law and Justice Hub at Melbourne Law School was awarded the Award for Excellence for his work in social inclusion.

“The MPH provided a grounding for me in understanding the distinctions and importance of social inclusion and equity. Working in the Indigenous health space within the University of Melbourne, our core focus of work was directed towards improving the outcomes of Indigenous peoples through leadership in education. Our people have a wealth of knowledge and expertise, so advocating for their success in a higher education environment was really important for us. It was great to see the University recognise the work that we championed in growing the cohort of Indigenous health researchers through our familiarisation programs. The social inclusion award was a nice recognition for the work we had put in but more importantly it was great to see more and more Indigenous PhDs handing in their theses and graduating”.

Warwick Padgham, Australia

“I have incorporated research-informed teaching examples in my curriculum and by using technology (eg, mobile phones, web-based applications) to engage students and stimulate independent active learning. The future of education is digital and in the next few years we are about to witness the increasing use of data science and machine learning to aid in development and delivery of virtual learning solutions and personalised learning tailored to the needs of each student. With the advent of big data, we have seen an increasing number of students wanting to combine their public health and digital expertise and this has been incorporated into many Capstone research projects as well as the Professional Practice Unit.”

Associate Professor Enes Makalic

“I was so excited to start the MPH journey that I was already looking up course outlines while halfway through my undergraduate degree in Pharmacy. Like many of the other clinicians who turned to public health, I really enjoyed clinical work but left almost every patient interaction contemplating the broader social, political and cultural determinants of health that brought that patient to me. The MPH has equipped me with a toolkit of approaches, skills and most importantly, principles, for being a good practitioner of public health wherever I go. I also got to meet an incredible network of like-minded individuals who were all hoping to make an impact on public health. Through the MPH I discovered a passion for health policy and health reform, now having worked across Federal and State governments for 5 years. Surprisingly, not as many people working in health policy actually have a background in public health and so I have been able to integrate the things I learned through the MPH into my day-to-day work trying to make the health system more accessible, equitable, safe and high-performing for all. The great thing about working in the public service is that you have the opportunity to make a meaningful impact in the lives of millions.”

Daniel Roitman, Australia

“One of the most rewarding aspects was the people – I really enjoyed meeting and getting to know the lecturers involved in delivering the program, seeing the work they do day-to-day was really incredible.”

Paediatric Infectious Diseases Paediatrician, Linny is the Founder and Director (Chair) of The Water Well Project. Named 2017 Australian Medical Association Doctor in Training of the Year, 2013 Victorian State Finalist for Young Australian of the Year and recognised as a 2016 Victorian Premier’s Volunteer Champion and is a current Australia Day Ambassador.

Linny Kimly Phuong, Australia

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FROM CSIRO "THE FUTURE OF HEALTH" 2018

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2019: ACCELERATING THE FUTURE OF PUBLIC HEALTH 2019 was one of the highest intake years of the Melbourne MPH with 254 new students starting the program. For many students starting the MPH, the welcome meeting holds many memories and a first introduction to the (then) Melbourne Population and Global Health Student Association (formerly known as MPHSA).

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Leadership is a core component of the MPH and has become more of a focus with colleagues managing large teams and country collaborations. In 2019 the teaching staff were awarded a number of accolades for their leadeship and it was a wonderful year for recognition of teaching staff, Associate Professor Helen Jordan was awarded the 2019 Dean’s Fellowship for Learning and Teaching Excellence, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and is pictured below with Enes Makalic, Barbara McPake, Katherine Gilbert, Peter Annear.

At the end of 2019, MSPGH celebrated 20 years of making a difference in public health. The first school of its kind in Australia, the vision was to make a difference in the population and public health sphere, to advance public health in communities nationally and internationally,

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with a strong focus on Indigenous peoples. Articulating the success of the many programs and partnerships made over the tenure the timing also marked Professor Terry Nolan stepping down as the Head of School and the search for a of a new Head of School announced.

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“The best thing about my MPH was meeting new people with an enthusiasm in tackling key social, economic and cultural challenges to public health. I specialised in Health Economics and Economic Evaluation. I also undertook subjects in health policy and biostatistics. I am now doing a PhD in health economics and genomics. I am interested in developing advanced simulation models to analyse individual patient care pathways and to evaluate the economic impact of new interventions for the healthcare system. I provide insight into the many activities that the School are engaged in working with partners across the precision health ecosystem and the future implications for health moving towards a model of more preventive health versus the current biomedical model.”

Martin Vu, Australia

“I was desperately looking for a public health course after I led the Public Health Programs as a director of Child Health Division of Nepal Ministry of Health and Population, and I was undoubtedly looking for courses that can help sharpen my leadership role and definitely expand my horizon outside of clinical medicine. This dream of mine was fulfilled with the University of Melbourne’s MPH program, with courses like Foundations of Public Health, Global Challenges of Adolescent Health, Public Health Leadership Management and later Practice of Public Health Leadership. The last and the best one I did was Practice of Public Health Leadership which gave me confidence to lead Public Health in my country as the COVID-19 pandemic began, and motivated me to lead the efforts to save more lives with all the skills and knowledge I gained to practice with appropriate local level innovations and modifications shaping my career as a Public Health Paediatrician/Physician.”

Dr Krishna Paudel, Nepal

“My role in the MPH teaching program is driven by my commitment to supporting and building our MPH students to be the next generation of evaluation change agents- inspiring, motivating and supporting evaluation thinking to inform decisions in practice. I have always used research-and industry-informed examples of evaluation in practice to expose our MPH students to real-world evaluations. My proudest moments are when previous MPH students inform me that the health program evaluation teaching or their research capstone project helped them secure leading real-world evaluation positions (e.g., Global Fund HIV Evaluation). I am also most proud of when I received the 2019 MSPGH Teaching Excellence Award in recognition of my innovation in teaching and learning in the field of health services evaluation. To be seen as leader in our MPH teaching program is a humbling experience, as teaching evaluation for me is part of a journey - where I too am learning about evaluation in practice - from our MPH students, guest lecturers and teaching associates.”

Associate Professor Lucio Naccarella

“The public health workforce is vital to achieving SDG5. I love bringing our research to teaching in subjects like Gender and Health, Women and Global Health, and Preventing Violence Against Women – and our students are passionate about making a difference, bringing their diverse experiences to class discussions about what we can all do to empower women and girls and achieve gender equality” Associate Professor Cathy Vaughan

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DEVELOPING EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS TO REDUCE SALT INTAKE IN CHINA

“I began my Master of Public Health in 2018 and graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2019. As an international student at the University of Melbourne, the biggest change for me was the language barrier, but it was still a great experience for me to study in Australia. I completed my undergraduate degree in China and decided to take a Master’s degree in Australia. At the beginning, especially the first semester, it was not easy for me to study in a different country, with the language barrier, different teaching style, and strange environment, as most international students encounter, but the University and School gave many supports. Public health was also a new area for me as I majored in Sports Science during my undergraduate study, but the MPH is an interesting and meaningful area. I chose many courses from different areas to gain insight into public health. The structure of the curriculum is also flexible and practical, which now helps me a lot in my current work. Compared to the students with work experience, I had difficulty understanding some points during my study, but I now apply the theories that I learnt in the classroom to my work. Outside of study, I travelled around Australia with my friends, I met so many people locally and internationally, so this is an incredible memory for me! I really encourage Chinese students to take an MPH in Australia, especially in Melbourne, such a cosy city! Currently, I am a research assistant at The George Institute for Global Health at Peking University Health Science Centre, one of the major centres of the George Institute. The George Institute is a leading independent global medical research institute with the mission to improve the health of millions of people worldwide, particularly those living in disadvantaged circumstances, by challenging the status quo and using innovative approaches to prevent and treat non-communicable diseases and injury. I am a member of the Nutrition & Lifestyle program in China, which mainly focuses on promoting a healthier lifestyle.

Currently, we are responsible for salt reduction in China. There are two ongoing projects currently, one is called Action on Salt China, and another is called School-based education programme to reduce salt: Scaling-up in China (EduSaltS). I am mainly responsible for EduSaltS. Excessive dietary salt consumption is one of the risk factors for elevated blood pressure and other non-communicable diseases. And population salt reduction is considered as one of the best preventive strategies. After many years working in this field, our group has explored an innovation to reduce salt intake, which is to deliver a school-based educational programme among schoolchildren and their families.

EduSaltS is built on our previous studies and aims to first deliver education on salt reduction via the existing school health education system in three cities in China. This research will involve at least 100 schools per city, covering a population of 3.2M (1.1M children and 2.1M adults) in rural and urban areas. Participating schools will be able to choose between the in-person educational package or the app developed as part of the ASC, depending on local context and preference.

While the COVID-19 pandemic has led to delays, we have prepared the intervention materials and completed one of the study pilots as planned. We are planning to start the scale-up study at the end of November 2021. The final phase for 2023 will be rolled out nationwide in 2023.”

Jingwen Sun, China

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2020: PUBLIC HEALTH AND PANDEMIC PREPAREDNESS

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As new Head of School Professor Nancy Baxter arrived from Canada, the year started with terrifying bushfires and horrific scenes in Victoria and New South Wales. This was followed by the outbreak of the global pandemic COVID-19 and the subsequent closing of international borders. For those teaching and studying public health during a pandemic it was a surreal and challenging experience. With the University campus effectively locked down in midMarch, we all adapted to a life on Zoom which is now all too familiar.

Moving to online as well as subsequent closure of borders created a huge impact on teaching staff and students alike and the dedication and professionalism of all during this time is testament to the culture of the MSPGH community. Zoom meetings were set up to check in, catch up, chat with students to ensure everyone felt connected and part of the broader community. Staff and students demonstrated a strong sense of shared accountability in supporting each other through the challenging times.

At times like these, the strength of the community is paramount. Professor Lisa Gibbs, Director

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of the Child and Community Wellbeing Program in the Centre for Health Equity also leads on Community Resilience in the Centre for Disaster Management and Public Safety and many resources are provided to support the community.

In recognition of teaching excellence, leadership across the University and a decade of dedication to coordination of the MPH, the MSPGH celebrated Melissa Russell being awarded the GEM Scott Teaching Fellowship. Melissa was instrumental in ensuring the MPH program was able to move swiftly in terms of new delivery and particularly to understand the needs of students in challenging circumstances whilst maintaining support for the teaching staff and subject continuity

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The Student Society continued to go from strength to strength. Under the leadership of Zainab Korashi, the organisation moved to an Incorporated Association structure and launched a vibrant social media presence with new logo and vitality. In September 2020, the Student Society hosted a highly successful webinar “Personalising Care for Population Health” chaired

by Professors Nancy Baxter and Rob Moodie, with international and national speakers, attracting an audience of 600 people.

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“Some highpoints of the last 10 years have been supporting students particularly those from overseas. We started to see much bigger international cohorts from 2016 and needed to rethink our student support plan to that which we had implemented previously. This included empathy, cultural training and First Nations people cultural awareness. People felt much more included in the student experience. We had such wonderful feedback from the students”.

Associate Professor Melissa Russell

“My passion for the MPH stems from my drive to be part of sustainably and effectively reducing inequality through innovative means. To me, this meant starting locally through a leadership opportunity with the Student Society. This meant leaving a legacy behind through ensuring the society exists as a beneficial entity promoting professional development for fellow students whilst providing collaborative opportunities for public facing events that utilize a health promotion approach to convey key public health messaging. I feel this work contributed greatly towards building my passion and understanding of SDGs 9 and 10. Completing my MPH throughout a global pandemic also provided the unique opportunity of working within the COVID-19 response team at the Victorian Department of Health, where my passion for reducing inequality through sustainable and innovative health systems reform strategies has deepened immensely.”

Zainab Korashi, Australia

“The Melbourne MPH units were so beneficial and helped me appreciate the scope of public health. I really valued the top-notch lecturers and collaborative nature of the degree. In my second year, getting to do a PPU helped confirm the type of work and organisation I liked and allowed me to meet my amazing supervisor and colleagues who went on to be referees for me.

After finishing, I contributed to the COVID-19 surge workforce at the Department of Health for a few months. I then accepted my current role with Monash Public Health and Preventive Medicine (Monash-Cabrini Department of Musculoskeletal Health and Clinical Epidemiology). Part of my role is managing a clinical trials network which brings researchers from Australia and New Zealand together to collaborate and avoid duplication of efforts. I also do work with Cochrane, authoring systematic reviews and maintaining ‘living guidelines’.”

Helen Ramsay, Australia

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Our Head of School, Professor Nancy Baxter started in 2020. Whilst transitioning to life in a new country and a pandemic starting 6 weeks into a new role, Nancy worked tirelessly with Rosemary, the teaching and student teams to ensure supports both physical and emotional were in place.

Developing an active media presence on radio, television and Twitter, Nancy championed advocating for public health, emphasising that “there has never been a more important time to be studying public health” to the MSPGH students, the health sector and the wider community.

Watch the interview here Nancy Baxter

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2021: A NEW FOCUS ON PREVENTION AND WELLBEING IN HEALTH

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With the challenges of 2020 seemingly under control, 2021 started well but with the continued challenges of the pandemic as countries sought to ensure vaccination supply and roll-out to the population. The arrival of the Delta variant, causing challenges worldwide, arrived in Australia with ensuing lockdowns, ongoing challenges to mental health and the acceleration of vaccine roll-out.

Associate Professor Helen Jordan took on the additional role of MPH Coordinator in March in a year where, driven by the pandemic, the MPH had its biggest enrolment ever with a total of 381 students starting and a total of 585 in the whole program. The immediate focus was ensuring the wellbeing of both staff and students in what was to become another rollercoaster of a year.

Many of the MPH staff and students have been involved in the COVID-19 effort both in Australia and overseas, involved in contact tracing but now also vaccine roll-out and administration.

And our MPH community regularly listened to or watched with pride our leaders Professors

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Nancy Baxter and Tony Blakely on the radio, television or kept updated via Twitter knowing that we were in knowledgeable hands. Ever prepared, MSPGH developed and ran the Pandemic Preparedness elective, in a team led by Associate Professor Linda Bennett, which ran for the first time in 2021 attended by 35 students. Osayande (Osa) Osagie (MPH 2013) was appointed Head of Medical Services at the Federal Capital Territory, Hospitals Management Board, Abuja in Nigeria and is featured in the DFAT Australia Awards Global Tracer Facility Alumni contributions to the COVID-19 pandemic response.

Dr Rosalind McDougall was awarded a Dean’s Fellowship in early 2021 which will support the learning and teaching of interprofessional ethical decision making in healthcare

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settings. Ros will engage with Sydney Health Ethics, a global leader in health ethics education, and will form a community of practice focused on online health ethics teaching. A key outcome for our students will be the development of a cross-school learning opportunity to support interprofessional ethical decision making.

The MD/MPH program, first launched in 2013, is now proud to have trained a total of 66 MD/ MPH students. One of these students is Grace Newman, who in March this year, as part of team with Professor Rob Moodie, past MPH student Siân Slade and MD/MPH Jasmine Davis together with leads from the Royal Australian College of General Practioners (RACGP), launched the Social Prescribing Student Collective. This is part of an international approach based on and in collaboration with the UK Social Prescribing Champions Scheme. Launched on the World Health Innovation Summit platform, this group has now grown to include 19 medical schools across Australia.

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“The most rewarding part of my teaching is hearing students’ feedback about the impact of learning bioethics. For many MPH students, engaging with bioethics opens up a different way of thinking. In the core and elective ethics content in the MPH, we explore ways of analysing problems that are new to the majority of MPH students and completely different to the biomedical or quantitative disciplines that many are used to. It can sometimes be initially unsettling for students to enter this world of grey areas, value conflicts and longstanding questions – but engaging with the ethical dimensions of public health is fundamental. Like my colleagues and predecessors in ethics teaching in the MPH (Prof Lynn Gillam, Prof Marilys Guillemin, A/ Prof Dominique Martin and A/Prof Giuliana Fuscaldo), ethics is an essential part of training in public health. The ethical dimensions of public health work have never been starker for our students than in 2020 and 2021, when the COVID-19 pandemic meant that questions of balancing individuals’ autonomy with the health of the community became very real issues in our everyday lives. MPH students need transferable skills for navigating ethical challenges in their future public health work, and will continue to do so as the health landscape evolves.”

Dr Rosalind McDougall “The opportunity to complete the Master of Public Health at the University of Melbourne during my medical studies has provided me with strong a foundation of a systems-based and multisectoral understanding of health. Each unit has not only given me a greater appreciation for the complexities of health and our healthcare system but has equipped me with the passion and the skills to begin to address them. During the year we were able to establish the Social Prescribing Student Collective, a student group aiming to educate others and advocate for integrating social prescribing into our healthcare system. Social prescribing embodies the principles I learnt during the MD/MPH, taking a multidisciplinary and holistic approach to health and addressing the social determinants of health that inform a person’s presentation. We have been able to engage a variety of students from various disciplines in the movement towards an evidence-based, broader understanding of wellbeing and how it can be supported. Meeting people with such a variety of backgrounds and experiences has been such an enriching experience and one of my highlights of the past year. I am incredibly grateful to have had the opportunity to complete my Master of Public Health at The University of Melbourne in the formative stages of my career.”

Grace Newman, MD/MPH Student Australia

“My MPH journey started in 2019 after my desire to learn more about how health works at a population level and how to develop projects with a global focus. I reflect fondly on some key memories, taking part in the GSA Lead Program (2019), Emory Global Health Case Competition (2021) and in my role as interim President of the Melbourne Population and Global Health Students Society in the last semester of my degree in 2021! As part of that role, in Semester 2, 2021, the MPGHSS held the First Annual Student Conference with the theme: “A New Era in Public Health: The Influence of Technology”. The theme emerged as COVID-19 forced us to rewire and reshape the way in which we live, work, study and play. We posed the question; given the unprecedented changes over 2020 and 2021, how have we been using technology to shape our understanding of, and work within, public health? Being part of the MPGHSS was a fantastic way to meet likeminded individuals and work together with a community focus. I strive to work towards reducing inequalities in healthcare throughout my career. I am very grateful to be part of a strong student alumni and wish anyone who may be considering the MPH to take the leap, you won’t regret it!”

Mariam Hachem, Australia

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CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING There are many valuable Work Integrated learning (WIL) opportunities within the MPH that help students to apply their learning into practice and develop skills needed to enter the workforce after graduation. Perhaps the most obvious of these are MPH Capstone experiences which are often the launching pad for students to consolidate their experiences, strengthen existing skills, learn new ones, create networks and develop career pathway opportunities.

Since the beginning of the PPU placements in 2012 up to the end of this year, 215 MPH students have had placement experiences in a range of public health workplaces in Melbourne, rural and international contexts. Led by Sue Durham, many of these experiences have led to employment either directly via the hosting agency or networks, having references and often most importantly having passions realised. Valuable MPH alumni placement hosts continue their contributions to the school and extend and enrich the MSPGH community.

The Capstone research project has been running since the MPH started and for the last 3 years, Dr Alison Barr has been coordinating this with more than 300 students who have now come through the program.

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As the PPU Coordinator Sue Durham highlights “it is always extremely satisfying to see students grow in skills and confidence within their placements, to contribute to important projects and to transition into varied public health roles. Over the past two years students have made a large and valuable contribution to supporting the COVID response workforce. This year there is a graduating group heading to Canberra to work in Government and at the end of every year I am left wondering what amazing careers they are starting and what valuable contributions they will make!”

Sue Durham

“The Research Project students never fail to astound me. The project requires that students be very energetic and self-directed and work closely with their supervisors, they do such varied, exciting and accomplished research for beginner researchers. For example, this semester’s cohort have investigated contraceptive use among young Aboriginal people; Avian Influenza control in the Greater Mekong; the validity of COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness estimates; and factors associated with male perpetrators of family violence, as just a few of many amazing topics. Students usually form quite close bonds with their supervisors, and as well as learning important skills, this allows them opportunities to professionally network, a key outcome of the capstone in fostering employment opportunities. The networking and outreach that research project students undertake is also an important outcome for the school, with new research opportunities opened up and collaborations formed with external research agencies that would never have happened if it wasn’t for our talented and energetic Capstone students. The students and supervisors together form a wonderful cohort of people engaged in exciting and innovative research which often starts careers – a remarkable endeavour to be part of.”

Dr Alison Barr

A person we have all liaised with over the years is Elizabeth (Liz) Dent. As Manager of the Academic Programs Office, Liz is a lynch pin of the School and has been a huge contributor to the development of this report. Liz is pictured here with Sue Durham at a University Expo!

Sue Durham and Liz Dent

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EXPERIENTIAL LEARNING IN THE FIELD

In 2019, Paige Enright was one of 30 students who undertook the Professional Practice Unit (PPU) and writes “I ventured off to Shepparton (a town approximately 2 hours north of Melbourne) to work with the Numurkah Health Service. My PPU sought to understand how food insecurity was experienced by people living in the Moira Shire and what services and health promotion activities were available in the community. My PPU allowed me to explore the Murray region, where I drove over 1,000km in 6 weeks to interview different service providers and to visit different Food Banks. I highly valued my PPU experience because I was able to work in an area I am very passionate about and embed myself in the local community to learn about service provider’s experiences to ensure I made practical recommendations in my final report”.

Paige Enright, Australia

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“During my time in the MPH programme, I had the privilege to be able to undertake two overseas experiences, firstly through the study abroad subject in Jamkhed, India, and then through an exchange semester at Lund University, Sweden. Both were absolutely wonderful experiences and left significant impacts on me both personally and professionally.

My time in Sweden allowed me to get a better understanding of the fantastic Nordic public health systems, as well as their way of life. It had reaffirmed my strong belief in the necessity of a wellfunded national public healthcare system, as well as the importance of ensuring that all parts of our societies work in conjunction to promote good health - whether through urban infrastructure, social security, education, transport, food systems, or migration policies.

Similarly, my time in Jamkhed was incredibly educational. The selfless work that the staff at the Comprehensive Rural Health Project undertake has been a source of continued inspiration, and the clear improvements they have delivered for the health of people in the surrounding towns and villages were remarkable, despite their limited budgets. To be perfectly honest, I cannot possibly even begin to describe the indelible impacts that the people at CRHP Jamkhed have left on me. It proved to me that public health was definitely the right choice of career for me, and the moral and material significance of helping marginalised and under-served populations.

Recognising that global health is not simply “public health somewhere else”, these two experiences revealed to me that despite our geographical separation, for all of us in Australia, India, Sweden, and the rest of the world, the struggle to attain good health for all and to reduce health inequities is a common one. And perhaps that is the greatest impact of all from my two overseas experiences during the MPH - the affirmation that our struggles for a healthier people and a healthier planet are interlinked, and that we must work together with humility and mutual respect to overcome the immense challenges that face us.”

Edwin Kwong, Australia

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A NEW CHAPTER: A NEW DECADE OF IMPACT At the end of another busy year which has seen the world start to build towards recovery, the events of COP26 in Scotland firmly in mind and the international borders opening up again, we hope life will return to some semblance of the pre-2020 normality albeit with the continued challenges of new variants of COVID-19 such as Omicron.

2200 STUDENTS

As the school develops the new strategic plan, the strong engagement with alumni who comprise over 75% of people who have attended the MPH and across 67 countries shows the strong and lasting connection that remains.

For those of us based in Australia, following the formation of a National Cabinet last year, 2021 has seen the Australian National Health Reform Agreement signed and the Long Term Health Roadmap released. Similarly, active focus has been on Primary Care Taskforce 10 Year Planning and particularly importantly for all involved in public health, the National Preventive Health Strategy consultation in which many of the staff were involved in coordinating a response. In the Future of Health, CSIRO cite that the health system will start to shift and our

700 STUDENTS FROM OVERSEAS

STUDENTS REPRESENTING 67 COUNTRIES

WORKING LOCALLY, NATIONALLY AND GLOBALLY

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IMPACTED: ALL

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expertise in public health to achieve this is keenly felt as one with a more distinct possibility given the learnings of the pandemic and the imperative to change.

Associate Professor Helen Jordan took over as MPH Coordinator in 2021 and reflects on the learnings of the year and aspirations for the future.

“A year into the role of MPH Coordinator has helped me appreciate the combined effort and dedication of our School leadership; teaching, research training, administrative support staff, students and alumni in making the University of Melbourne’s MPH program what it is today. At the start of the pandemic, students and staff rallied together to quickly transition to an online teaching platform. The University responded with resources and supports for online learning, and staff and students worked together as they navigated the new learning environment. Many of our public health students were called to help with the COVID frontline response, taking on positions in government and the health system while continuing to complete their MPH studies. While we were successful on many fronts, there is no denying that it was a difficult time for all. Similar to the global community, staff and students were challenged in their own ways. Many lost their jobs, home school their children, and/or lived in lockdown far from home missing family, friends and social connections. COVID touched everyone in one way or other. Many international students missed out experiencing the on-campus experience at Melbourne. While we will be entering the new year (2022) not knowing how exactly the next 12 months will turn out, there are signs of optimism. International students are returning in readiness for on-campus learning. Subject coordinators are preparing for the return to on-campus classes (dual delivery mode). We are looking forward to connecting in person.

Having witnessed a global, Australian and Victorian response to the global pandemic, we now have a stronger sense of the importance of the role public health practitioners can make to health and wellbeing of populations. The community has a stronger sense of our role. We have people applying to undertake the MPH that would not have considered it prior to the pandemic. Many see the value of the MPH, particularly our program at the University of Melbourne, thanks to the many researchers and teaching staff who engaged with the media on a regular basis during the last two years. Everyone now knows what an epidemiologist is, why public health is important, and that it is multidisciplinary, involving social scientists, biostatisticians, infectious disease experts, ethicists, policy makers, evaluators, global health experts, modellers, program planners, economists, and more. Our MPH program is unique and special because it enables students to develop a solid foundation of population health knowledge and skills in epidemiology, biostatistics, qualitative research, prioritising and planning approaches, and leadership and management, while allowing students to further branch into any one or more public health related disciplines.

Over the next ten years we will continue to strengthen our links with the MPH alumni internationally and locally, focus on the student life experience and the connections with our alumni, fostering lifelong learning and engagement with the School and University. The MPH aims to continue to strengthen the internationalisation of its curriculum and engagement with the global community, workplace integrated learning capstone experiences, exchange programs, connections with our research training community, and opportunities for collaborative international comparative health policy and health system analyses. We aim to continue to strengthen our contributions to and impact towards policy decisions, health reforms, new technologies, global and local environmental health directions, and future pandemic responses.

Prevention will continue to be our focus. In doing this, we will continue to build our community of local and international public health leaders promoting the health and wellbeing of current and future populations. And we look forward to building our School community.”

Associate Professor Helen Jordan and MPH Coordinator

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“In 10 years of the MPH, we trained over 2200 Masters of Public Health students, a third of whom are international.

I am proud to say 1500 of our past students are part of our alumni. As we think about the challenges we are facing coming out of a pandemic, the world has never understood more the need for and importance of public health, the social and economic impact and our collective focus on impacting the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030.

The solid growth in student enrolments over the last years speaks to the quality of our MPH and the commitment of our teaching staff. Students and graduates are genuinely attached to the School and the increase in size in our international student cohort who come to Melbourne has improved the student experience. In this new world post-pandemic, our challenge and opportunity is to get the balance right between a face-to-face and online learning environment, between career starters, career enhancers, and career dvancers. Recent focus groups with our international students have shown the great strength of the bonds between staff and the students even through the challenges of distance and a pandemic.

Thank you to all our students, teaching staff and the communities we work with both locally and globally.

Particular thanks to Melissa Russell for leading the MPH Coordination for 10 years and to Helen Jordan for taking over as MPH Coordinator and leading the program into the next 10 years. 2020-2021 has been testament to the leadership and resilience of the future workforce in population and global health.”

Professor Rosemary McKenzie

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OUR TEACHING TEAM With thanks to the following staff without whom none of the MPH would be possible

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