Evaluating Indigenous public health competencies in a Master of Public Health

Andrea Clarke; Leanne Coombe; Emily Darnett; Helen Jordan; Cath Chamberlain

doi:10.55146/ajie.v55i1.1093

Authors

Andrea Clarke The University of Melbourne https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5627-9379
Leanne Coombe The University of Queensland https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3304-0503
Emily Darnett Queensland University of Technology https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4673-999X
Helen Jordan The University of Melbourne
Cath Chamberlain The University of Melbourne

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55146/ajie.v55i1.1093

Abstract

The Melbourne School of Population and Global Health (MSPGH) offers postgraduate qualifications that enable a highly skilled public health workforce. Through the university’s Master of Public Health (MPH) program, students gain comprehensive skills and knowledge, with specialist fields that include biostatistics, gerontology, global health, health economics, health policy, Indigenous health, infectious disease epidemiology and sexual health. While Indigenous health is a specialist area that students can choose to study, this evaluation, led by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander academics, examined the degree to which Indigenous health-related competencies are embedded across the core, capstone and Indigenous Health specialisation units.

The review identified strong horizontal integration of teaching Indigenous public health competencies as topics across the core, capstone and Indigenous Health specialisation units. However, inclusion within capstone units was variable and often opportunistic, resulting in inconsistent student exposure to Indigenous public health learning. While it also identified a diversity of learning opportunities to engage with Indigenous knowledges, the evaluation highlighted ongoing gaps in systematic embedding of Indigenous leadership, governance and accountability within curriculum design. Overall, embedding a dedicated Indigenous public health unit as a core subject is recommended to ensure all MPH graduates develop deeper, critically informed competencies.

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Author Biographies

Andrea Clarke, The University of Melbourne

Dr Andrea Clarke (Aranda and Arabana) is currently the Senior Academic Teaching Specialist and Senior Research Fellow for the Indigenous Studies Unit at The University of Melbourne. Her career to date has been quite intersectional through education, policy and governance. Andrea dedicates her work to improving health and educational outcomes for Aboriginal people, including engagement, addressing the impact of colonisation and looking for opportunities to reconnect to build relationships for the future, with the aim of contributing to improved health outcomes for Indigenous people across the region. Her current research is focused on alcohol-related family violence and Indigenous data governance and sovereignty.

Leanne Coombe, The University of Queensland

Dr Leanne Coombe is an academic specialising in Indigenous public health. She has a strong background as a health practitioner, executive manager in both the Australian Government and Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Services, and as an international public health consultant. She has extensive experience teaching using a strength-based approach, as opposed to the deficit model, and supports other staff to utilise culturally safe teaching practices across health professional education programs at both the undergraduate and postgraduate level. She was a co-lead on the Game Changing Education – Embedding Indigenous Knowledges in the Training and Development of the Health Workforce in a Culturally Safe Transformative Learning Environment project.

Emily Darnett, Queensland University of Technology

Emily Darnett is a proud Palawa woman, a postdoctoral fellow at Queensland University of Technology and a provisional psychologist. Her current research areas of interest include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social and emotional wellbeing, social injustices and cultural healing.

Helen Jordan, The University of Melbourne

Helen Jordan PhD, BSc(Hons), GDEpi&Biostat, DipEd, is a public health educator and researcher who specialises in public health planning, health program evaluation and health policy (including evidence-informed policy, policymaking theories and frameworks, and comparative health system analysis), and has a particular interest in the application of systems thinking within these fields. Helen was awarded the 2019 Dean’s Fellowship for Learning and Teaching Excellence, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne.

Cath Chamberlain, The University of Melbourne

Professor Catherine Chamberlain is descended from the Trawlwoolway people of Tasmania (Palawa), and a registered midwife and public health researcher (PhD, MPH, MSc Public Health Practice, Graduate Certificates in Health Service Management and Indigenous Research and Leadership). Professor Chamberlain draws on over 25 years’ experience in the health sector to facilitate collaborative solutions to complex health issues by applying expertise and evidence to specific contexts and needs of all stakeholders.

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