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Master of Primary Health Care Practicum

The Master of Primary Health Care degree has a Practicum topic to round off and finalise the degree. Most, but not all, of our students are employed in jobs with relevance to primary health care. Hence, this topic allows students to either enhance their practice within their work situation, or to arrange to undertake voluntary or paid work in a setting in which they can gain relevant primary health care skills. Students generally work in health service settings, like hospitals, community or regional health services, or specialised health services, including mental health and drug and alcohol services.

As this is a post graduate topic, students already have well-developed practice skills. This topic provides them with an opportunity to enhance these skills and to develop higher level skills for leadership positions, or to make a career change and move into a primary health care field.

The Practicum topic provides students with space within their study to critically reflect on their work practice, in relation to primary health care principles. Students develop a plan to improve their professional practice, devise learning strategies, and evaluate their progress. Learning strategies for critical reflection include journalling, as well as more collaborative methods such as working with a mentor, critical friend or group.

Students also have the opportunity to consolidate the theory they have learned throughout the course and evaluate its usefulness to their practice. In addition, reflection on practice provides students with opportunities to better understand their personal theories of practice and evaluate them in the light of primary health care principles.

One Practicum student worked on development of IT skills to improve community mental health services to young people in rural areas. In this project, the student learnt as much from the young people as she did from the IT courses she attended. She was able to make new links with schools and better understand young peoples' access to technology and how it might be a useful tool in her work.

Another student worked on a program to re-orient a hospital-based service to be more responsive to the needs of the community. This student developed a work-group committee to evaluate a new structure and developed a proposal which was put to hospital management to address areas of need in the service.

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