This Postgraduate Certificate in Health Protection is a part-time programme, delivered online, running from January to June. The programme is designed on a module basis to meet the needs of working professionals. A student who subsequently applies and is admitted to continue to Master's level (Master of Public Health) will hold exemptions in passed modules taken in the Postgraduate Certificate in Health Protection if she/he applies for the Master of Public Health within 5 years from the date of successful completion of the Certificate Examinations.

Candidates must have the following:

• Students accepted on the course would normally be expected to hold an Honours primary degree in a relevant subject (minimum Second Class Honours) or an Honours primary degree in any discipline (minimum Second Class Honours) or an appropriate degree or professional qualification in healthcare or health services management (such as registered nurses, pharmacists, midwives, health services managers).
• The Department of Epidemiology and Public Health course is open to registered health care professionals in Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy and Allied Health care disciplines or applicants who hold a relevant primary degree. Applicants must provide evidence of current registration with the relevant professional regulatory body (e.g. the Irish Medical Council, the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Ireland (active registration) and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland). Applicants not registered with one of the above professional bodies must provide evidence of level 8 qualification in a relevant health care discipline.
• Candidates whose first language is not English must have a minimum of IELTS 6.5 with scores in no individual sections less than 6.0. All applicants are required to complete an application form and provide evidence of either current professional registration or primary degree. In all cases, decisions will be based on qualifications and quality of application.

Admission to the programme will be subject to the approval of the College of Medicine and Health. Application for entry should be made online at http://www.pac.ie.

To access and interact with the course content, assignments and assessments etc. students will require access to at least a PC/ Laptop running Windows 7 or later and Mac OSX 10.7.4. Students will be required to have internet access. Common plug-ins such as Microsoft Silverlight, Java and Flash will also be required. Students must have access to MS Office or an equivalent suite of applications such as Liber Office. They must also have access to a modern standards compliant web browser. UCC recommends either Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox.

To engage productively and successfully with the content, basic technical computer skills such as familiarity with word processing, web browsing and email is recommended.

Students must satisfactorily complete modules to the value of 30 credits.

Core modules
EH6092 Introduction to Public Health (Online) (10 credits)
EH6096 Principles and Practice of Multi-disciplinary Health Protection (Online) (10 credits)
EH6101 Microbiology, the Environment and Infectious Disease (Online) (10 credits)

Module Semester Information may be found here. Module Descriptions may be found here.

Examinations
Full details and regulations governing Examinations for each programme will be contained in the Marks and Standards 2017 Book and for each module in the Book of Modules 2016/2017.

Programme Learning Outcomes for Postgraduate Certificate in Health Protection (NFQ Level 9, Minor Award)
On successful completion of this programme, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate an understanding of the principles of public health;
• Demonstrate an understanding of the appropriate management of infections caused by different pathogenic microorganisms;
• Investigate the transmission of endemic and epidemic infections from sufficient knowledge of the characteristics and transmission of causative organisms;
• Select appropriate methods for control of hospital and community acquired infectious disease;
• Design, implement and evaluate co-ordinated control methods utilising tools such as audit and surveillance;
• Assess constraints of health protection delivery services and provide possible solutions to barriers;
• Describe the global impact of infectious diseases and strategies which are effective, partially effective and ineffective in management and prevention;
• Discuss the wider aspects of Health Protection;
• Discuss and identify effective methods to bring about practice change.