Handbook For Postgraduate Studies 2013 - UP

Handbook forPostgraduate Studies2013The School of HealthSystems and Public HealthUNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA144

Handbook for Postgraduate Studies 2013Every attempt has been made to ensure that the informationcontained in this handbook is accurate. In the event ofdiscrepancies, the University of Pretoria’s regulations and /or the decision of the SHSPH Academic ProgrammeCommittee is considered as the authoritative source.ii

Handbook for Postgraduate Studies 2013INDEXINTRODUCTION . 1ACADEMIC STAFF. 2SUPPORT STAFF . 3Generic E-Mail Addresses . 3POSTGRADUATE STUDIES IN PUBLIC HEALTH: AN OVERVIEW . 4POSTGRADUATE STUDY PROGRAMMES IN PUBLIC HEALTH: FLOW CHART . 7POSTGRADUATE DIPLOMAS IN PUBLIC HEALTH . 8Diploma in Tropical Medicine and Health (DTM&H) . 9Diploma in Public Health Medicine (DipPHM) . 11Diploma in Public Health (DPH) . 11Diploma in Health Systems Management (DHSM). 15Diploma in Occupational Medicine and Health (DOMH) . 17Diploma in Occupational Health (DipOH) . 17RESEARCH PROJECT FOR DIPLOMA STUDENTS . 19HONOURS DEGREES IN PUBLIC HEALTH . 31The Baccalaureus Scientiae Honours (Bsc Hons) with specialisation Biostatistics(Public Health) . 31The Baccalaureus Scientiae Honours (Bsc Hons) with specialisation in AerospaceMedicine . 33MASTERS DEGREES IN PUBLIC HEALTH . 34Master of Public Health (MPH) . 35MPH Curriculum structure . 38Basic components of the MPH programme . 40Assessment and examinations . 44List and description of MPH tracks . 48Biostatistics and Epidemiology . 49Subtrack: Monitoring and Evaluation . 53Subtrack: Field Epidemiology and Laboratory Training (FELTP) . 55Disease Control . 58Environmental and Occupational Health . 60Environmental and Occupational Health - Occupational Hygiene . 62Environmental and Occupational Health - Aerospace Medicine . 64Health Policy and Management. 65Health Promotion. 67MAGISTER SCIENTIAE (MSc) PROGRAMME . 69MSc Epidemiology. 73MSc Clinical Epidemiology . 74MSc Community Health . 75MSc Biostatistics (Public Health) . 76MSc in Aerospace Medicine . 76MASTER OF MEDICINE (MMED) PROGRAMME . 77DOCTORAL DEGREES IN PUBLIC HEALTH . 84GENERAL ACADEMIC INFORMATION . 88iii

Handbook for Postgraduate Studies 2013Academic literacy and numeracy. 89Module outlines and prerequisites . 91Module enrolment. 91SHSPH Module enrolment form (also available on-line) . 93Assignments . 94Mark page for assignments . 98Plagiarism . 99Applied research methods (TNM 800). 99Faculty Day . 100Procedure for writing up a research protocol . 101Faculty of Health Sciences Research Ethics Committee. 102Dissertation specifications (final report). 103Accreditation of modules . 107Concurrent registration for two study programmes. 109Prescribed books. 110Demystifying the academic code . 117GENERAL ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION . 125Cost of courses and financial support . 126Student support, facilities and services . 127Things to do and places to go . 134Health services and hospitals in Pretoria . 135Other useful information . 136Notes . 140iv

Handbook for Postgraduate Studies 2013The University of PretoriaSCHOOL OF HEALTH SYSTEMS AND PUBLIC HEALTHINTRODUCTIONIn 1998, the School of Health Systems and Public Health (SHSPH) was establishedby the University to enhance its ability to engage one of society's most valued goals:health. The SHSPH grew out of the Department of Community Health and wastasked with preventing diseases, and promoting and restoring health.The School has taken over the programmes of the Department of CommunityHealth and has increased the scope and depth of these in its efforts to ensure thatits postgraduate students contribute to a better health system in South Africa andother African countries.The SHSPH is a multi-disciplinary School and is staffed by experts from a number ofuniversity faculties and from numerous outside institutions that have public healthpromotion as one of their core components. This blend of expertise and interestsmakes for an exciting postgraduate learning experience for the students who enrolwith us.We are confident that students will enjoy the programmes we offer and enrich theirprofessional lives in the course of their learning. We encourage students to makethe best use of the resources that the SHSPH has to offer and to view theirpostgraduate studies with us as an entry point into further exploration of healthsystems and public health at the University.1

Handbook for Postgraduate Studies 2013ACADEMIC ieDrExtraordinary ofExtraordinary Professor bamfordlj@mweb.co.zaBekeAndyProfAdjunct nary ordinary Professor riana.bornman.up.ac.zaClaassenNicoDrExtraordinary Lecturernico.claassen@up.ac.zaDe tiLoveness rendanProfExtraordinary Professor brendangirdlerbrown@gmail.comHarrisBerniceDrSenior LecturerHendricksStephenProfExtraordinary Professor stephen.hendricks@up.ac.zaHyeraFrancisDrSenior Lecturerfrancis.hyera@up.ac.zaKamungoma-Dada uJoshuaDrExtraordinary nary Lecturerlazarusk@nicd.ac.zaLouwagieGoedeleDrSenior raordinary Professor cheryl.mccrindle@gmail.comMoodleySaiendhra DrSenior unior Senior rofProfessor & aDrExtraordinary traordinary Professor ary enior traordinary za2

Handbook for Postgraduate Studies 2013TerblanchePetroProfExtraordinary Professor shsph@up.ac.zaTintKhinDrExtraordinary Lecturerkhint@nicd.ac.zaVoyiKukuProfAssociate ze.webb@up.ac.zaWestawayMargaret ProfExtraordinary Professor margaret.westaway@mrc.ac.zaWichmannJanineDrSenior ior Lecturerliz.wolvaardt@up.ac.zaZunguMuziDrSenior lecturermuzimkhulu.zungu@nioh.nhls.ac.zaSUPPORT STAFFSurnameNameTitle etzer@up.ac.zaDe WaalRenéMrsStudent rational anestelle.grobler@up.ac.zaMagolegoDamarisMsGeneral so zaSehoneReubenMrStudent Administratorreuben.sehone@up.ac.zaGeneric E-Mail AddressesThe following e-mail addresses are specifically for student administration:Student administrationApplication enquiriesSubmission of assignmentsStudent administrationLettersApplication .za3

Handbook for Postgraduate Studies 2013POSTGRADUATE STUDIES IN PUBLIC HEALTH: ANOVERVIEWStudents may enrol for postgraduate studies in the field of health systems andpublic health on the basis of their previous training in the health sciences or in anyother field relevant to health systems, public health, or health care, or with relevantexperience in the health field.Those with previous learning in the health sciences are traditionally considered as“health professionals” in comparison to other professionals such as educators, whoare often not considered to be part of the health professions. For the purposes ofour definition of a “health professional”, we do include this latter group. Anydiscipline that can be applied to the health field and is relevant to improving health isof interest to us. Examples of the type of previous training in this second groupinclude sociology, economics, engineering, veterinary science, environmentalsciences, biology, nutrition, education and communication, law, medical technology,psychology, business administration, management and commercial sciences,accountancy, and chemistry, to name a few.The essence of postgraduate training in public health is the obtaining by students ofknowledge, skills, attitudes, and competencies that enable these students tooptimise the use of their expertise (gained through basic tertiary education andhealth sector experience) to the benefit of the complex and broad field of healthsystems and public health.Both staff and students in the public health learning environment are mature andgoal oriented, and come from a large variety of professional backgrounds. Thepostgraduate study programmes need to accommodate this to prevent unnecessaryduplication of previous learning, and to increase the efficiency of learning byencouraging students to identify their own level, intensity, and direction of learning.In addition, most students occupy senior positions in the public or private healthsector and thus do not have the option of taking time off for studies.4

Handbook for Postgraduate Studies 2013Expectations of all Postgraduate Students of the SHSPHNo matter the diversity of professional backgrounds of students of the SHSPH orwhether they are studying part time or full time, all students are expected to devotemuch of their ‘free’ time to reading academic reports and journal articles. Manyassignments that form part of coursework (if the degree selected includescoursework) require students to read prescribed material on which to base theiranswers. Naturally, a research protocol and a research report requireextensivereading that relates to the topic chosen for research.An attitude of “I’m going to read what I have to and no more” is incompatible withsuccess in postgraduate studies. When students write they have to do so with anauthority that might have little to do with their experience as public healthpractitioners or practitioners in any other health-related field. This is not to say thatthe knowledge and experience of working in the field is of little value – far from it.The point is that the learning that happens in a course presented by the SHSPHcomes primarily from efforts made to gain in-depth knowledge through readingwidely and critically.Building Blocks of Learning – Course ModulesTo meet the needs of postgraduate students that are part of the School, theprogrammes in health systems and public health offered by the SHSPH areextensive and complex. The basic building block for learning is a “module”, which isa learning unit with its own objectives, learning opportunities and assessment. Bygrouping or “chaining” modules, students can build up substantial learning in manydifferent directions, at different levels of intensity, and at a pace that suits them.All our graduate programmes start with a first common module:Learning in Public Health (PHM 870 for masters students and PHM 770 forpostgraduate diploma students).Once it is understood that modules are the basic building blocks of graduatelearning in public health, it becomes easier to understand our programmes and toidentify which individual learning option is most appropriate for your career.5

Handbook for Postgraduate Studies 2013For calculation of credits for each module the guidelines of the NationalQualifications Framework (NQF) are used. This framework was established by theSouth African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) in 1995. The overall credit value ofthe MPH (in NQF units) is 200 credits at level 8 (post-primary degrees).The NQF credit allocation is based on”notional hours”, i.e. the time an averagestudent requires to master a subject. A module with a credit value of 5 units is basedon approximately 50 hours of work, including course preparation and assessment.Credits are allocated to a completed module and no partial accreditation is possible.The same applies to accreditation of modules previously studied. All components ofa module must be completed to the satisfaction of the School before any credits canbe given.All diploma and BSc Hons degree codes start with a “7” and all masters codes startwith an “8”.Given the unique nature in which the programmes are presented, it is required of allstudents enrolled for any postgraduate programme within the School to spend atleast one full calendar year within the programme before graduating.A graphic representation of all the graduate study programmes in health systemsand public health is displayed on the next page.6