2021: A NEW FOCUS ON PREVENTION AND WELLBEING IN HEALTH
128 NEW STUDENTS
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
57 STUDENTS FROM OVERSEAS
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
STUDENTS REPRESENTING 12 COUNTRIES
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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MASTER OF PUBLIC HEALTH
