Health
Protection Principles and Practice
Tutors: The contributors are epidemiologists, consultants and specialists from the Health Protection Agency.
Duration: Four days.
Dates: 6 - 9 December 2010.
Course Fee: £720.
Due to demand for this course, there will be a selection process, based entirely on the downloadable application form.
Course aims and objectives: The aim of the course is to increase understanding of the principles of prevention and control of infectious diseases and environmental hazards and the management of incidents and outbreaks.
NB. Attending the course does not provide a certificate to be on call.
By the end of the course, students should be able to:
- Describe UK surveillance systems and their application to infectious diseases and environmental/radiation hazards;
- Understand the legislative framework underpinning health protection;
- Understand the roles of agencies involved in the management of incidents and outbreaks;
- Describe methods used in the prevention and control of important infectious diseases and chemical/radiological hazards;
- Apply key principles in the investigation and management of environmental incidents and infectious disease outbreaks in community and hospital settings.
Who the course is intended for: This course is intended for those who are involved in the control of infectious, environmental and/or radiological hazards. This includes those working in health protection, public health, environmental health and infection control.
It is a valuable introduction or update for those who will be on the on-call rota and is therefore recommended for public health trainees and for individuals who are new to working in health protection.
The course contributes to the development of the health protection competencies required for the Public Health Register.
Some knowledge of the epidemiology and microbiology of the major infectious diseases in the UK and relevant terminology is needed to gain full benefit from this course. A pre-reading list will be provided.
Course Outline: Topics to be covered will include:
- Surveillance and epidemiology of infectious diseases and environmental exposures;
- Investigation of single cases, incidents and outbreaks (including radiation);
- Introduction to health emergency planning.
Teaching Time: Teaching will make up a total of 24 hours, consisting of lectures and practical sessions.
What have previous students said about the course?
"I already had a strong infectious disease background, but I learnt about emergency planning, environmental hazards and radiation from this course. I consolidated knowledge extremely well."
"Good balance between lectures and group work."
"A really interesting, friendly and accessible course. It helped me understand the fundamentals of health protection. The lecturers were fun, knowledgeable and it was easy to ask questions."
For further information: please contact short-course@bristol.ac.uk