A new chapter: A new decade of impact

2200 STUDENTS

700 STUDENTS FROM OVERSEAS

STUDENTS REPRESENTING 67 COUNTRIES

WORKING LOCALLY, NATIONALLY AND GLOBALLY

SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS IMPACTED: ALL 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.

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 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

“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