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- Hi, my name's Dr. Katherine Baldock,
and I'm the health science public health program director at
the University of South Australia.
So, I've worked in this field now for 20 years.
- [Katherine] Starting out as an epidemiologist
with the department of health.
I think the thing that is most exciting to me about public
health and I hope it's exciting to you, is that rather than
focusing on treating individuals who are already unwell,
public health has the focus on promoting health and
wellbeing at the population level and preventing whole
populations and communities
from becoming ill in the first place.
- So, the aim of this degree is to develop you as a public
health practitioner.
And within this degree,
you'll develop competencies across
the six areas of practicing public health,
preparing you for a diverse range of career opportunities in
the health sphere.
- [Katherine] So, that your health science
public health is a three
year degree studying full-time on our city youth campus.
There are also part-time study options available.
We also have a 100% online bachelor of public health run
through Unisa online.
Three key features of the bachelor of health science,
public health.
First of all,
we have a really experienced team of academics who are
specialized in a range of areas of practicing public health.
That you'll be learning from the
whole way through your degree.
- [Katherine] We also offer over 200 hours
of industry-based projects and placements,
and those projects and placements will offer the opportunity
for you to develop a portfolio of work that you can take
with you once you graduate to demonstrate to your employers
that you are ready to be a public health practitioner.
We also have a curriculum informed by national industry
based standards.
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- We get a lot of questions about the
bachelor of health science,
public health.
So let me answer some of them for you now.
(upbeat music)
- Preparing for and responding to
global pandemics or even local
epidemics is just a small fraction of what's involved in
public health.
Public health is really about preventing illness and
promoting health and wellbeing at the population level, at
the same time as having a focus on ensuring that we're not
creating further inequities in health for different
population groups.
- [Katherine] And bringing health outcomes
closer together to ensure that
everybody has the opportunity for good health and wellbeing.
Some examples of what that looks like and things that you
might be familiar with would be say,
public health campaigns,
such as the Go for 2&5 around how many fruits
and vegetables should we be eating every day,
campaigns around physical activity, you know,
walking yourself well and a range of other strategies to
prevent ill health and detect diseases early,
such as cancer screening programs, things like that.
- [Katherine] So the public health workforce
comprises a really diverse
range of people often coming from different backgrounds and
they may be health-related or may not be health-related.
I think the biggest thing for you,
if you're thinking about a career in public health is
looking at whether you're interested in making a difference
at the system level or the population level,
having an impact on health policies and,
and development of health programs,
working with communities to support their wellbeing.
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Most of our graduates will find work at in government.
So, that's in local government, state government,
or federal government in a range of areas.
It might be in health policy.
It might be in epidemiology,
might be in health promotion or community development type
roles.
- [Katherine] Our graduates often gain
employment also in the
non-government sector in organizations,
such as the Australian Red Cross,
where the focus is really about the wellness of communities.
Our graduates do often also go on to further research,
particularly through a masters by research or PhD and gain
additional advanced research skills that they either go on
to use in a research career or take back with them out into
the main public health workforce.
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So, the public health programs at Unisa
are very strongly
aligned with national curriculum,
frameworks in public health.
And this means that through your three years of study,
you'll develop skills based on national standards for public
health practice that employers are
looking for in our graduates.
- [Katherine] We also have a really strong
connection with industry.
So through this degree,
we offer lots of opportunities for you to rehearse,
practice, get used to what things will
look like when you enter the workforce.
- If you have any other questions about
the bachelor of health science, public health,
or would like to know more information,
please get in contact with us.
We'll see you on campus.
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